Article 19 of the Belgium Constitution states that "Freedom of worship, public practice of the latter, as well as freedom to demonstrate one’s opinions on all matters, are guaranteed, except for the repression of offenses committed when using this freedom." Likewise, Article 20. (No Forced Religion) declares, "No one can be obliged to contribute in any way whatsoever to the acts and ceremonies of a religion, nor to observe the days of rest."
The government of Belgium accords officially recognized status to Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Anglicanism, Islam, and Russian Orthodoxy. The government provides subsidies to these churches and they have the right to provide teachers for religious instruction in schools at government expense. Not all of the churches take advantage of this right. Taxpayers who object to the religious subsidies have no recourse. Until 1998, Islam, although recognized as an official religion, received no government support because it did not have an officially recognized representative organization. In late 1998, however, such a body was formed and elections were held amongst the Muslims of the country.
In 1995, in response to group suicides by members of "Temple Solitaire" in Switzerland and France, the government appointed a commission to combat the alleged dangers which some sects may pose to the society in general and to children in particular. In April 1997, the Parliamentary Commission issued its report. They defined a sect as "an organized group of persons who have the same doctrine at the heart of a religion," and listed 189 organizations fitting this description. The list included many Christian organizations such as Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Opus Dei, Quakers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Amish. The report differentiated between sects, harmful sectarian organizations, and criminal associations. However, no effort was made to determine which groups named on the list belonged in each of the three categories. The report recommended the formation of two entities to monitor sects: first, a task force to foster coordination and cooperation amongst law enforcement agencies on intelligence about sects; and second, an independent center to observe sects and propose policy to thwart any dangers they may pose. The government has formed an observatory connected to an interministerial cell to observe the activities of "cults."
According to Human Rights Without Frontiers, (Droits de l’Homme Sans Frontieres),
…negative consequences of the parliamentary report are already visible. A small inquiry carried … among some blacklisted cults has revealed that an end has been put to their rather peaceful relations with society, the media, and the state. Since the publication of the report, they have experienced a number of problems that were unknown to them until then; anonymous letters and threats, physical aggressions breaches of personal or professional reputation, job or promotional losses, dismissals, loss of the custody of children in divorce cases, difficult access to public and private halls, fiscal harassment, defiance of some banks leading in one case to a one-sided closure of a bank account, etc.
2003 US State Department International Religious Freedom Report on Belgium
The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief report on Belgium
International Christian Concern Report on Belgium
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