THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
ROLE OF THE
ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
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Issue: Role of the
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review: Outside of
The Conference of NGOs in
Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) is over 50 years old.
It brings together government delegations to discuss pertinent themes and
issues before the UN and the international community.
Links: to websites of the
Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship to the United Nations (CONGO)
and the Geneva NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
http://www.ngocongo.org/index.php
http://www.ngocongo.org/index.php?what=committees&id=27
The Geneva CONGO Special
Committee on Human Rights has a membership of 60 dues paying NGOs. They are
eligible to join any of the twelve NGO Committees in
The Geneva NGO Committee
on Freedom of Religion or Belief is one of twelve CONGO NGO Committees in
“The NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief (
Activities:
“The committee is established as a sub-committee of
the CONGO Special Committee on Human Rights and aims to promote the fundamental
freedom of religion or belief by supporting and coordinating NGO activities so
as to help uphold UN standards.
In particular the NGO committee Geneva seeks to follow
the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, for
example in arranging hearings at the time of meetings of the UN Council on
Human Rights.”
Renew Focus:
The Committee holds
regular monthly meetings but they are not always recorded on website News. The
last meeting of the NGO Committee listed on their website News was June, 2008.
Six NGOs attended, seven sent their apologies and an OHCHR staff person was not
present.
In the past the NGO
Committee linked their news to a separate website which was kept up-to-date by
an individual working on his PhD and volunteering his services. This might be
considered again as a Geneva-based website for a program to expand
international awareness and proponents for freedom of religion or belief.
The Universal Periodic
Review on
There are objections to a
UN Working Group as a danger they may restrict or derogate gains already made
in rights-based law on freedom of religion or belief. This is highlighted by no
consensus currently on the UN Human Rights Council over core issues; apostasy,
defamation, blasphemy, conversion and freedom of opinion and expression.
Work on a draft
Convention on Religious Intolerance was deferred in 1968 and downgraded as an
international treaty-based human rights instrument to a declaration. This
showed the dimensions of freedom of religion or belief to be the most complex
and sensitive of human rights instruments in its deep impact on psychological,
ethnic, cultural and political affairs. Diversion in matters of religion or
belief to other treaty-based committees, working groups and sub-committees,
dilutes the focus of freedom of religion or belief from its proper role
intended to be a core international treaty-based human rights instrument
anchoring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Until Freedom of Religion
or Belief achieves treaty-based convention status, at a level with other core
treaty-based conventions, the UN human rights system will be incomplete. Now is
the time to establish a UN Working Group with a central focus on freedom of
religion or belief. The Geneva NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief
could then take on its proper role as key NGO support for the agenda of the UN
Working Group.
The challenge is to
reconcile international human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief
with the truth claims of religious and non-religious beliefs.
How
Close Are We to Inclusive & Genuine Dialogue on Freedom of Religion or
Belief
As the UN Human Rights Council
and UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights build their institutional
infrastructures, concern is rising that the UN is downgrading the role of
special procedures and NGOs supportive of the UN human rights system.
Her 2009 report
(A/HRC/10/8): Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
SUMMARY
The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or
belief submits the present report to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its
resolution 6/37. The report is divided into two main sections. In the first
part, the Special Rapporteur outlines the activities carried out according to
the four pillars of the mandate’s terms of reference since their review,
rationalization and improvement in December 2007. She highlights the importance
of initiatives in the fields of education, public awareness and inter-religious
dialogue, as well as State action against advocacy of religious hatred that
constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. Applying a
gender perspective, the Special Rapporteur also addresses discriminatory and
harmful practices against women and refers to several communications sent to
Governments and to country reports.
In the second part, the Special Rapporteur
provides a preliminary analysis of discrimination based on religion or belief
and its impact on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. With
regard to the legal framework at the international level, she emphasizes that
non-discrimination is an overarching principle that applies to all human
rights, including freedom of religion or belief. She recalls that it is crucial
to prevent discrimination with regard to the enjoyment of economic, social and
cultural rights, since minorities and vulnerable groups are particularly
affected when States do no abide by their obligations to respect, protect and
fulfill these rights. The Special Rapporteur then highlights some of the
recurrent issues encountered in the mandate practice in order to illustrate the
adverse impact of discrimination based on religion or belief on the enjoyment
of the rights to work, to adequate food and housing, to health, to education
and to take part in cultural life.
The Special Rapporteur concludes that
discrimination based on religion or belief often emanates from deliberate State
policies to ostracize certain religious or belief communities and to restrict
or deny their access, for example, to health services, public education or
public posts. States have the duty to refrain from discriminating against
individuals or groups of individuals based on their religion and belief
(obligation to respect); they are required to prevent such discrimination,
including from non-State actors (obligation to protect); and States must take
steps to ensure that, in practice, every person on their territory enjoys all
human rights without discrimination of any kind (obligation to fulfill).
Lastly, the Special Rapporteur recalls that all
human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.
Consequently, there should not be a different approach between discrimination
affecting the enjoyment of civil and political rights on the one hand, and
discrimination affecting the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights
on the other.
CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
55. Sixty years ago, the General
Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates,
inter alia, that “the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy
freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed
as the highest aspiration of the common people.” It furthermore emphasized that
everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind such as race, color, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status. Unfortunately, there remains a long was to go
in order to achieve the goals laid down in the Declaration. Indeed,
discrimination based on religion or belief preventing individuals from fully
enjoying all their human rights still occurs worldwide on a daily basis.
56. The issue of
discrimination based on religion or belief has been at the heart of the mandate
since its inception in 1986, when the mandate was still entitled “Special
Rapporteur on religious intolerance”.
Over the years, the Special Rapporteur has reported on numerous cases of
discrimination adversely affecting civil, cultural, economic, political and
social rights. By discussing the impact of discrimination based on religion or
belief on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights in the present
report, the Special Rapporteur has highlighted some of the problematic trends
in this area. She hopes that this preliminary analysis might lead to a deeper
reflection on this important issue.
57. In many countries,
religion is exploited for political ends. As illustrated in the report,
discrimination based on religion or belief often emanates from deliberate State
policies to ostracize certain religious or belief communities and to restrict
or deny their access to, for example, health services, public education or
public posts. State authorities usually tend to be more sensitive to the
interests of a religious majority community and, as a result, minority
religions or beliefs may find themselves marginalized or discriminated against.
58. The Special Rapporteur
recalls that States have the duty to refrain from discriminating against
individuals or groups of individuals based on their religion and belief
(obligation to respect); they are required to prevent such discrimination,
including from non-State actors (obligation to protect); and must take steps to
ensure that, in practice, every persons in their territory enjoys all human
rights without discrimination of any kind (obligation to fulfill).
59. In order to implement
these obligations, States have several tools at their disposal. These include
the removal of de jure and de facto obstacles to the exercise on an equal
footing of all human rights. In this regard, the training of State officials
may constitute an important measure to ensure that the principle of
non-discrimination, including on the basis of religion or belief, is respected
by the State. Monitoring compliance with anti-discrimination legislation by the
private sector and offering quality public education also seem vital to promote
the principle of non-discrimination in society. Furthermore, legal remedies
must be provided to individuals in order to allow them to seek redress against
discrimination based on religion or belief. In addition, States should envisage
protective measures in favor of certain population groups, including religious
minorities, to provide those who do not have sufficient means with equal access
to basic services, such as health care or education.
60. In order to take
appropriate measures to remedy persistent inequalities and religious
differentials in relation to human rights, the Special Rapporteur recommends
that States collect disaggregated data and that they encourage in-depth
analyses pertaining to the socio-economic situation of religious and belief
communities. However, she cautions against improper utilization of these data,
which may further cluster the population into artificial categories and
ultimately lead to a more polarized and intolerant society.
61. All human rights are
universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Consequently, there
should not be a different approach between discrimination affecting the
enjoyment of civil and political rights on the one hand, and discrimination
affecting the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights on the other.
As reiterated in several general comments by the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, the principle of non-discrimination in the enjoyment of
the rights guaranteed by the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
is not subject to the rule of the progressive realization of rights or to the
availability of resources. It is immediately and fully applicable to all the
rights guaranteed by the Covenant and encompasses all internationally
prohibited grounds of discrimination.
62. The entry into force of
the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
recently adopted by the General Assembly should enable those suffering from violations
of their economic, social and cultural rights to see remedies and to hold those
responsible to account for their actions. In a joint press statement of 10
December 2008, the Special Rapporteur and 35 other special procedures
mandate-holders expressed their sincere hope that the views adopted by the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights under the Optional Protocol
procedures will be used by the human rights community to assist States in
taking concrete steps to realize the rights of all and to reach out to the most
marginalized and disadvantages, who are the most likely to have their rights
violated. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, the promotion of the
realization of economic, social and cultural rights may ultimately contribute to
enhancing religious tolerance and preventing discrimination.
ISSUE STATEMENT: International Human Rights Standards on
Freedom of Religion or Belief are international law and 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.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Documents Attached:
Role of Geneva NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Defamation of Religion - Orwell & Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression
STANDARDS: http://www.tandemproject.com/program/81_dec.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
Goal: To eliminate all forms of intolerance and discrimination
based on religion or belief.
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.” Another writer in different setting 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.”
Challenge: to reconcile international human rights
standards on freedom of religion or belief with the truth claims of religious
and non-religious beliefs.
Did God create us or did
we create God? This question calls for inclusive and genuine dialogue,
respectful and thoughtful responses, discussion of taboos and clarity by
persons of diverse beliefs. Inclusive and genuine is dialogue between people of
theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as
well as the right not to profess any religion or belief. These UN
categories embodied in international law promote tolerance and prevent
discrimination based on religion or belief.
Inclusive and genuine
dialogue is essential as a first step in recognition of the inherent dignity,
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family, and a
foundation for freedom, justice and peace in the world. Leaders of religious
and non-religious beliefs sanction the truth claims of their own traditions.
They are the key to raising awareness and acceptance of the value of holding
truth claims in tandem with human rights standards on freedom of religion or
belief.
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 use 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
History: 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.
Dialogue: 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
1981 U.N. Declaration on Freedom
of Religion or Belief
5.2: 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.
5.3: The child shall be protected from any form of
discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief. He shall be brought up in
a spirit of understanding, tolerance, and friendship among peoples, peace and
universal brotherhood, respect for the freedom of religion or belief of others
and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the
service of his fellow men.