THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
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DEADLY NIGERIAN RELIGIOUS CLASHES
KILL HUNDREDS
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Issue:
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review: Deadly Nigerian Religious Clashes
Kill Hundreds, New
York Times, by
Excerpt: “Despite the history of religious bloodshed in the
region, residents, officials and activists said the city had come a long way
toward healing divisions. Interfaith commissions set up to improve relations
between the faiths and ethnic groups after the 2001 riots appeared to help cool
tensions. ‘Things had really improved in Jos,’ said Nankin Bagudu, a Christian
and state government commissioner who had worked with the League for Human
Rights. ‘Nobody expected violence this time.’
Mr. Saleh, a Muslim, said that the violence threatened
to undo years of careful bridge building between the communities. ‘As someone
who had been involved in a peace work between Christians and Muslims, this has
set our work back 10 years,’ he said. ‘It will take us a very long time to
rebuild the confidence.”
The fourth session of the United Nations Human Rights
Council Universal Periodic Review will be held from 2-13 February, 2009.
Nigeria UPR Report will be given in the afternoon of
The Tandem Project will provide information for the
Nigerian Government’s National Report which will be broadcast on the live web cast. The
Nigerian National Report may or may not refer to the tragedy in Jos. There will
be an opportunity for listeners and views of the Nigerian National Report to
respond during the fourth session by using The Tandem Project C&C Database.
Are there solutions for
Jos? The Durban Review Conference will be held 20-29 April, 2009 in
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Link: Deadly
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/world/africa/01nigeria.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print
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This is a link to the SR on Freedom of Religion or
Belief 2005 Report on
http://documents.un.org/welcome.asp?language=E
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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.
4. 1 All States shall take
effective measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of
religion or belief in the recognition, exercise and enjoyment of human rights
and fundamental freedoms in all fields of civil, economic, political, social
and cultural life.
4. 2 All States shall make all
efforts to enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit any such
discrimination, and to take all appropriate measures to combat intolerance on
the grounds of religion or other beliefs in this matter.
“There were women and
children, old men,” among the bodies, Mr. Salihu, a peace activist and
journalist, said in a telephone interview from Jos, the central Nigerian city
where two days of ferocious violence between Christians and Muslims after a
disputed local election has left hundreds of people dead.
A tense calm returned to
Jos on Sunday as soldiers wrested control of the streets from armed Christian
and Muslim gangs that had roamed the city, slaughtering people with guns and
machetes and torching houses, churches, shops and cars, according to residents.
The sudden and vociferous explosion of religious violence was the worst Nigeria has seen in at
least four years.
Religious and health
officials gave varying accounts of the death toll but agreed that at least 400
bodies had already been recovered and more probably remained in the charred
churches, homes, cars and alleyways that had been no-go zones until Sunday. The
Red Cross said that about 7,000 people had fled the most violent neighborhoods
and that they were living in shelters.
The clashes began
suddenly, taking the city by surprise in both the swiftness and ferocity of the
bloodshed, despite a long history of religious violence in the region. The
trouble began Friday as results of elections trickled in for important local government
posts that control hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funds.
Elections have not been
held in Jos for years, in part because of fears that the political parties
would split along religious lines, which is in fact what happened. Even before
the results were announced, gangs on both sides began rampaging, anticipating
defeat. Christian gangs claimed that the governing party, the P.D.P., was being
cheated of victory, while Muslim gangs claimed that the opposition A.N.P.P.,
which is identified largely with Muslims in the north, was being robbed of its
win.
But the religious divide
in this nation of more than 250 ethnic groups mirrors a geographical one,
between a historically Muslim north and a Christian and animist south, as well
as deep political divisions that cross religious lines. Beyond that there are
conflicts over land and political power, which are often intertwined as a
result of traditional customs that hold the rights of indigenous people over
those of migrants from other parts of the country. Religion is almost always a
proxy for those grievances.
The fissures are so
profound that it takes only the smallest tremor for a seemingly peaceful
community to descend into an abyss of bloodletting. In 2002, a dispute over a
perceived insult to Islam during a beauty pageant led to riots in which
hundreds died. In 2006, riots over Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet
Muhammad led to the deaths of nearly 200 people in several Nigerian cities,
more than in any other country that experienced violence in the global backlash
against the cartoons.
Nigeria’s Middle Belt, a
band of fertile land that straddles the largely Muslim north and the Christian
south, has always been a hotbed of ethnic and religious violence, and Plateau
State, of which Jos is the capital, has borne the brunt.
Most of the state’s
original inhabitants come from tribes that are almost entirely Christian and
animist, but the farmland and grazing pasture has attracted migrants for
centuries, especially Muslim Hausa and Fulani people from the more arid north.
In Jos, a picturesque city set on a verdant plateau in central
Despite the history of
religious bloodshed in the region, residents, officials and activists said the
city had come a long way toward healing divisions. Interfaith commissions set
up to improve relations between the faiths and ethnic groups after the 2001 riots
appeared to help cool tensions. “Things had really improved in Jos,” said
Nankin Bagudu, a Christian and state government commissioner who had worked
with the League for Human Rights. “Nobody expected this kind of violence this
time.”
Mr. Salihu, a Muslim, said
that the violence threatened to undo years of careful bridge building between
the communities.
“As someone who has been involved in a peace work between Christian and Muslims, this has set our work back 10 years,” he said. “It will take us a very long time to rebuild the confidence.”
U.N.
SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR REPORT ON
E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.2
VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS
General policy with regard to religions
103. With regard to the general policy of the
Government of
104. The Government should further strengthen the
existing inter-religious dialogue to address the overall objective of promoting
religious tolerance, and therefore extend the scope of the dialogue and
increase the number of stakeholders in the process. Such initiatives must link
local dialogues to the national scene so that signs of trouble are detected
early and resolved before violence breaks out. Such dialogue would further
create better understanding and accommodation. It must include women and
members of civil society so that their concerns are also heard.
ISSUE STATEMENT: 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. - 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.
International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
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 inclusive and genuine dialogue on core principles
and values within and among nations, all religions and other beliefs.
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.
C&C DATABASE: http://www.tandemproject.com/databases/forms/card.htm
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.
Documents Attached:
Deadly Nigerian Religious Clashes Kill Hundreds
Basic Questions about Language of Religion in Sub-Saharan Africa
Five Experts Study - Preparation for Durban Review Conference in 2009
Now is the Time for a U.N. Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief