THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
Issue Statements are available in other languages.
Issue:
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review:
There are issues on human
rights and freedom of religion or belief that seem to be irreconcilable. One of
these is the issue of abortion, right to life vs. right to choice.
President-elect Barack Obama has been challenged by the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops over his support for the right to abortion as
defined by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade. This issue is an on-going challenge
to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops believes human life begins at conception and
trumps a woman’s right to individual choice which may be based on Article 18
paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This
involves a moral question relating to limitations to the manifestation of a
religion or belief in Article 18, paragraph three. Each
The
Interfaith dialogues show
encouraging signs at resolving seeming
irreconcilable issues. (Word Document attached). Now may be the time to
re-constitute the U.N. Working Group, deferred since 1968 because of the
complexity and sensitivity of religious issues, to draft a new International
Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Such a U.N. Working Group under
the Human Rights Council could be an inclusive international
universal forum for discussion of all matters relating to human
rights and freedom of religion or belief.
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Link to U.S. Bishops
Urged to Challenge Obama, by Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, November
11, 2008.
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Excerpts: Excerpts are presented under the Eight Articles of
the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Examples of extracts are presented
prior to an Issue Statement for each Review.
1. 1 Everyone shall have the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom
to have a religion or whatever belief of his choice, and freedom, either
individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest
his religion or belief in worship, observance, practices and teaching.
1. 2. No one shall be subject to
coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his
choice
1. 3 Freedom to manifest one’s
religion or belief may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by
law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, morals or the
fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
“The
common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society when those
waiting to be born can be legally killed at choice,” the president, Cardinal
Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, said in an opening address to about
300 bishops gathered here for their national meeting. “Common ground cannot be
found by destroying the common good.”
Cardinal
George’s remarks were a repudiation of the “common good” approach to the
abortion issue that President-elect Barack Obama and Democratic Party leaders,
including some prominent Roman Catholics, honed in the recent election.
Advocates
of the “common good” approach say that, rather than outlawing abortion — which
has polarized the American electorate for decades — they will try to reduce
abortions by strengthening the social and economic safety net to enable more
women to bring their pregnancies to term.
Cardinal
George said in a news conference that while the bishops supported “social welfare
programs that come to the aid of the poor,” they also would continue to lobby
for legislative and legal restrictions on abortion.
Abortion
is not the only issue on which the bishops plan to challenge the
president-elect. Over the weekend, aides to Mr. Obama said he was considering
overturning President Bush’s directive that banned most research on embryonic stem cells.
Cardinal George said the bishops would “be in conversation” with Mr. Obama on
this matter, too.
After
eight years of a Republican president who invoked Catholic language to cement
his anti-abortion platform, the bishops are now confronting an incoming
Democratic administration that has championed abortion rights.
In
the closing months of the presidential
race, several Catholic bishops skirted close to endorsing the Republican
candidate for president, Senator John McCain, by proclaiming that
Catholics could not in good conscience vote for a candidate who favored
abortion rights.
The
Rev. Thomas J. Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University,
and a longtime chronicler of the bishops, said, “The result was that the most
vocal bishops gave the appearance of speaking for all the bishops, and the
others just kept silent.”
Many
more bishops voiced their outrage, individually and collectively, at Mr.
Obama’s vice-presidential pick, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., and
the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who in interviews both
invoked Catholic teaching to justify their stance in favor of abortion rights.
Nevertheless,
after the election, exit polls found that 54 percent of Catholic voters had
voted for the Obama-Biden ticket.
Some
bishops meeting here said they did not view that outcome as a repudiation of
their guidance, but as a reflection of polls that showed that social and moral
issues were not primary concerns for voters, including Catholics, this year.
“At
the top of the list was the economic situation, and their own economic
situation,” said Archbishop George Niederauer of
Nevertheless,
the bishops will spend part of Tuesday debating whether they gave sufficient
guidance to Catholic voters. Last November, the bishops voted nearly
unanimously to issue “Faithful Citizenship,” a guide for Catholic voters. It
said that Catholics must pay attention to issues like poverty, war, the
environment and human rights, but that “the direct and intentional destruction
of innocent human life is always wrong and is not just one issue among many.”
The
“Faithful Citizenship” document was cited by some prominent lay Catholics to
justify their support for Mr. Obama. Archbishop Charles Chaput of
But
it is not clear that he has widespread support. Archbishop Donald Wuerl, who as
bishop of
“The
document does not make the judgment, ‘This is how you must vote,’ ”
Archbishop Wuerl said. “It offers the principles.”
“Different
people arrive at different conclusions from the same principles,” he said, and
the bishops must clarify and teach those principles.
The
bishops are also divided on whether to deny Communion to Catholic politicians
who support abortion rights.
“I
have never thought that was the way to proceed,” said Archbishop Wuerl, who is
confronted with this question nearly each week. “You have to make that decision
on your own conscience.”
ISSUE STATEMENT: International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief are international human rights treaty law and universal
codes of conduct for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and
resolution of conflicts. The standards are a platform for genuine dialogue on
core principles and values within and among nations, all religions and other
beliefs.
General Comment 22 (48)
Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Human
Rights Committee,
General Comment 22 (48)
Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Human
Rights Committee, 20 July 1993 (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4): The Committee observes
that the concept of morals derives from many social, philosophical and
religious traditions; consequently, limitations on the freedom to manifest a
religion or belief for the purpose of protecting morals must be based on
principles not deriving exclusively from a single tradition.
The terms belief and
religion are to be broadly construed. Article 18 is not limited in its
application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs with
international characteristics or practices analogous to those of traditional
religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency to discriminate
against any religion or belief for any reasons, including the fact that they
are newly established, or represent religious minorities that may be the
subject of hostility by a predominant religious community.
Surely one of the best hopes for the future of
humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept
one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an
exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts with
mediation, compassion and understanding.
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STANDARDS: http://www.tandemproject.com/program/81_dec.htm
Submit information under the Eight Articles and
sub-paragraphs of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of
Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief by using The Tandem
Project Country & Community Database.
http://www.tandemproject.com/databases/forms/card.htm
Introduction: The Tandem Project is dedicated to support for
International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief. The
focus is on fundamental values shared virtually universally by public, private,
religious and non-religious organizations to change how our cultures view
differences, how we often behave toward one another and to forestall the
reflexive hostility we see so vividly around the world.
As we are all painfully
aware, religious conflict continues to escalate worldwide whether in the
Surely one of the best hopes for the future of
humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept
one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an
exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts with
mediation, compassion and understanding.
The Tandem Project: a non-governmental organization founded
in 1986 to build understanding, tolerance and respect for diversity, and to
prevent discrimination in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief.
The Tandem Project, a non-profit NGO, has sponsored multiple conferences,
curricula, reference materials and programs on Article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Everyone shall have the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and 1981 United Nations
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief.
The Tandem Project
initiative is the result of a co-founder representing the World Federation of
United Nations Associations at the United Nations Geneva Seminar, Encouragement of Understanding, Tolerance
and Respect in Matters Relating to Freedom of Religion or Belief,
called by the UN Secretariat in 1984 on ways to implement the 1981 UN
Declaration. In 1986, The Tandem Project organized the first NGO International
Conference on the 1981 UN Declaration.
The Tandem Project
Executive Director is: Michael M. Roan, mroan@tandemproject.com.
The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations
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Goal: To eliminate all forms of intolerance and
discrimination based on religion or belief.
Purpose: To build understanding and support for
Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights –Everyone
shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and the
1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Encourage the United Nations,
Governments, Religions or Beliefs, Academia, NGOs, Media and Civil Society to
utilize International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief
as essential for long-term solutions to conflicts
in all matters relating to religion or belief.
Objectives:
1. Use International
Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief as a platform for
genuine dialogue on the core principles and values within and among nations,
all religions and other beliefs.
2. Adapt these human
rights standards to early childhood education, teaching children, from the very
beginning, that their own religion is one out of many and that it is a personal
choice for everyone to adhere to the religion or belief by which he or she
feels most inspired, or to adhere to no religion or belief at all.1
Challenge: In 1968 the United Nations deferred work on an International
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Religious Intolerance, because of
its apparent complexity and sensitivity. In the twenty-first century, a
dramatic increase of intolerance and discrimination on grounds of religion or
belief is motivating a worldwide search to find solutions to these problems.
This is a challenge calling for enhanced dialogue by States and others;
including consideration of an International Convention on Freedom of Religion
or Belief for protection of and accountability by all religions or beliefs. The
tensions in today’s world inspire a question such as:
Should the United Nations
adopt an International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief?
Response: Is it the appropriate moment to
reinitiate the drafting of a legally binding international convention on
freedom of religion or belief? Law making of this nature requires a minimum
consensus and an environment that appeals to reason rather than emotions. At
the same time we are on a learning curve as the various dimensions of the
Declaration are being explored. Many academics have produced voluminous books
on these questions but more ground has to be prepared before setting up of a UN
working group on drafting a convention. In my opinion, we should not try to rush
the elaboration of a Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief, especially
not in times of high tensions and unpreparedness. - UN Special
Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
Option: After forty years this may be the time,
however complex and sensitive, for the United Nations Human Rights Council to
appoint an Open-ended Working Group to draft a United Nations Convention on
Freedom of Religion or Belief. The mandate for an Open-ended Working Group
ought to assure nothing in a draft Convention will be construed as restricting
or derogating from any right defined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, and the 1981 UN
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
Separation of Religion or Belief
and State
Concept: Separation of Religion or Belief and State - SOROBAS. The First Preamble to the 1948 United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads; “Whereas
recognition of the inherent
dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. This concept
suggests States recalling their history, culture and constitution adopt fair
and equal human rights protection for all religions or beliefs as described in
General Comment 22 on Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, UN Human Rights Committee,
Article
18: protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not
to profess any religion or belief.
The terms belief and religion are to be broadly construed. Article 18 is not
limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs
with international characteristics or practices analogous to those of
traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency
to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reasons, including the
fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that
may be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community. Article 18: permits restrictions to manifest a religion or
belief only if such limitations are prescribed by law and necessary to protect
public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms
of others.
International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief are used to review the actions of governments, religions or
beliefs, non-governmental organizations and civil society under constitutional
systems such as Separation of Church and State,
Dialogue: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon, at the Alliance of Civilizations Madrid Forum said; “Never in our
lifetime has there been a more desperate need for constructive and committed
dialogue, among individuals, among communities, among cultures, among and
between nations.” A writer in another setting has said, “The warning signs are
clear: unless we establish genuine dialogue within and among all kinds of
belief, ranging from religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism, the
conflicts of the future will probably be even more deadly.”
International Human
Rights Standards on Freedom or Religion or Belief are international law and
universal codes of conduct for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and
resolution of conflicts. The standards are a platform for genuine dialogue on
core principles and values within and among nations, all religions and other
beliefs.
Education: Ambassador
The 1981 U.N. Declaration states; “Every child shall
enjoy the right to have access to education in the matter of religion or belief
in accordance with the wishes of his parents, and shall not be compelled to
receive teaching on religion or belief against the wishes of his parents, the
best interests of the child being the guiding principle.” With International
Human Rights safeguards, early childhood education is the best time to begin to
build tolerance, understanding and respect for freedom of religion or belief.
U.S. Bishops Urged to Challenge Obama
Obama Seeks Bigger Role for Religious Groups
Now May be the Time for a U.N. Convention on Freedom of Religion or sBelief