By Prof. Dr. Elizabeta Kitanovic-Broes, Founder and CEO of the Facta Est Lux Human Rights Institute and Member of the G20 Interfaith Forum Advisory Council
———
The following blog post is adapted from a conversation on the G20 Interfaith Forum Podcast, hosted by Stuart Bird and Marianna Richardson. Dr. Kitanovic-Broes spoke from Brussels about her newly founded institute, the state of human rights and freedom of religion or belief in the European Union, and the growing challenge of AI governance. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
In the autumn of 2025, I founded the Facta Est Lux Human Rights Institute — FEL-HRI — here in Belgium. The name means “truth has come to light,” and it captures what the institute is about: helping people and institutions understand human rights not just as a body of law, but as a living commitment rooted in the inherent dignity of every person.
FEL-HRI is an independent institute dedicated to strengthening democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Europe and beyond. We work to promote open, inclusive, and resilient societies where fundamental rights are respected and protected for all. Our work is grounded in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and other international human rights instruments and mechanisms. But at its core, the institute exists to close a gap that I have spent more than twenty years watching widen: the gap between what is written in constitutions and what people actually experience in their daily lives.
The Gap Between Law and Lived Reality
Human dignity is non-negotiable. It is the foundation of all human rights. Yet too often a gap persists between constitutional guarantees and lived realities.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights expresses this beautifully. If people would simply relate to one another with kindness and respect for the dignity of the other person, we would not need human rights law at all. We would not need international instruments or mechanisms. But that is not the case. And that is precisely why these frameworks exist — because of what we have seen humans do to one another, and the determination that it should never happen again.
Rights are inseparable from duties. When we talk about fundamental freedoms, we are also talking about the responsibilities of citizens as users of those rights. Every constitution guarantees a certain level of rights, but implementation varies enormously. Some countries have a very high democratic index. Others fall short. And in certain regimes, fundamental rights are actively constrained. We even saw during the pandemic that states can limit fundamental rights when public health, security, or the welfare of the entire population is genuinely at stake.
What concerns me more than outright violations, however, is a subtler problem: the politicization and instrumentalization of human rights that has been growing for more than a decade. Institutions we hoped would serve as guardians of fundamental rights are not always responding at the level required by their own laws and their own stated values. The gap between what the European Union promotes externally and what is sometimes practiced within its own member states is real, and it is deeply disappointing — especially when we see migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers confronted with conditions that do not reflect the principles the EU professes.
Freedom of Religion and Belief: Still a Work in Progress
Much of my work, both at the Conference of European Churches and now through FEL-HRI, has focused on freedom of religion or belief — one of the most complex fundamental rights in existence. I have encountered people who have worked in this field for thirty or forty years and still do not know everything about it. It is that rich, and that contested.
At the moment, FEL-HRI is closely monitoring developments around the EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU. After Baron Franz van Dalen’s term concluded, stakeholders across civil society — both faith-based and secular — have been calling for a transparent reappointment process. This broad coalition is actually a positive development: the fact that secular organizations are also invested in this post demonstrates growing recognition that freedom of religion or belief is a right for everyone, not only for religious communities.
A group of Members of the European Parliament, led by Greens MEPs Daniel Freund and Prasir Pappaitikanen, have written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner Magnus Brunner urging that the next Special Envoy have a proven commitment to defending human rights for all — including religious minorities, atheists, and those who are targeted in the name of religion. The message is clear: freedom of religion or belief cannot be weaponized to justify discrimination against others.
This debate illustrates precisely the challenge I described earlier: even in 2026, with a robust Charter of Fundamental Rights in place, we are still working through very different understandings of what freedom of religion or belief actually means, how universal it truly is, and where its boundaries lie.
There is also genuinely good news. The EU Fundamental Rights Agency, long based in Vienna at a distance from the center of EU decision-making, has recently opened an office in Brussels. For years, civil society organizations called for this. Having the agency closer to European institutions, to the advocacy corridors, and to the political processes that shape legislation matters enormously. I believe this presence will have a real impact on the quality of human rights-based decision-making inside the EU.
Artificial Intelligence: Technology Must Serve People, Not the Other Way Around
One of the areas FEL-HRI is investing in most seriously is the intersection of artificial intelligence and human rights. This is no longer simply a technological question — it has become a human rights question.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly involved in decisions that affect employment, access to services, education, and governance. The EU AI Act, alongside the Charter of Fundamental Rights, aims to ensure that AI systems respect human dignity, transparency, accountability, and human oversight. But AI systems can still pose serious risks when automated decision-making reduces individuals to data profiles or behavioral patterns. We must be very cautious here. The core challenge is to ensure that technology supports human autonomy rather than replacing human judgment.
Human rights law plays a crucial role in maintaining a fundamental principle: technology must remain subordinate to the dignity and freedom of human persons. Technology must serve people — not the other way around.
Artificial intelligence also affects religious freedom in ways that are not always immediately obvious. Technological systems may reshape social and cultural environments in ways that limit the autonomy of religious communities. Some technologies may conflict with deeply held religious and ethical convictions — and in those cases, individuals and communities must retain the right to a conscientious refusal, meaning the freedom not to adopt technologies that compromise their beliefs or spiritual practices. If AI systems begin to replace human roles in areas involving ethical or spiritual guidance, they can undermine religious traditions that emphasize human discernment, responsibility, and communal relationship.
There is also the question of what AI is doing to human connection itself: to families, to children, to the loneliness of people, to the fabric of human relationships. These are not peripheral concerns. The concept of the human person is central to AI governance, because AI governance ultimately depends on how we understand what a human being is. Human rights law is built on the principle that each individual is unique, ethically responsible, and capable of freedom and relational life. AI must be governed with that understanding at its center.
Why the G20 Interfaith Forum Matters
I have been a member of the G20 Interfaith Forum Advisory Council since 2014, when Professor Cole first invited me to join. What drew me in was the vision of having a genuine impact on the global stage — bringing the voices of faith communities into the conversations that shape international policy.
Over twelve years, IF20 has developed remarkably. It has grown into a diverse, enriching organization that embraces the full complexity of the world’s religious and belief landscape. There are an estimated 4,200 religions and belief traditions in the world. In most international forums, we speak about perhaps ten. The others — and there are many of them — are largely absent from the table. IF20 has the courage and the commitment to try to change that. There are not many processes in the world willing to do so.
And in today’s world, where AI is one of the central themes of the G20 USA 2026 presidency, conversations like this one matter more than ever. Ensuring that AI does not stop human flourishing — that it serves rather than diminishes us — is something that people of faith, of all traditions, feel deeply about. I hope to contribute to IF20’s policy work on AI and human rights in the year ahead.
Human dignity is non-negotiable. It always has been. Our task — in international law, in faith communities, in institutions, and in the choices we make every day — is to live up to that principle.
———
Prof. Dr. Elizabeta Kitanovic-Broes is the Founder and CEO of the Facta Est Lux Human Rights Institute (FEL-HRI), an independent institute based in Belgium dedicated to strengthening democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Europe and beyond. She has been a member of the G20 Interfaith Forum Advisory Council since 2014 and serves as a Senior Partner at LEAD Integrity (New York), a member of the Advisory Council of the International Academy of Multicultural Cooperation, and an advisor on AI and faith. From 2007 to 2025, she served at the Conference of European Churches as Programme Staff for Advocacy and Dialogue, leading the development of key human rights education and policy resources. She holds degrees in Orthodox Christian Theology and Political Science from the University of Belgrade, and teaches at the Orthodox Institute Apostle Paul in Brussels. Her research and advocacy focus on human rights, freedom of religion or belief, AI governance, and interreligious dialogue.