THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
Separation of Religion or Belief
& State
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
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Issue: UN discussion with the UN Special Rapporteur on
Freedom of Religion or Belief
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review: On
Article 18: International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.
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.
UN press report: UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom
of Religion or Belief:
Third
Committee Hears Presentations from Six UN Human Rights Experts, As Debate on
Promotion, Protection of Human Rights Continues - 23 October
2009
Jahangir: She did not believe the
international community was ready to have a convention on religious freedom.
There had to be a better understanding and more consensus on the question,
which was still highly contentious. At some point, the distinction must be made
between racial and religious discrimination. At the moment, in order to give
relief to victims, all States had agreed to “let it pass.”
Instead, she reiterated the need
for education, as well as heightened public awareness. Education was also
important in teaching tolerance to children, particularly by orchestrating
meetings between children of various faiths and communities, which had shown
some success.”
The professional wisdom
and legal judgment of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or
Belief are exemplary. However, The Tandem Project respectfully differs with her
on this issue. Now is the time for
the UN to appoint an open-ended Working Group to draft an International
Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief. What will this take for the UN to
consider a Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief? “It is always a mix of
idealism and realpolitik that can change the world” according to the chair of
the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Given the challenges the United Nations
experiences in trying to build consensus for international human rights on
freedom of religion or belief it may take more than a mix of idealism and
realpolitik, it will take the will to apply these standards at national and
local levels.
In 2010 it will be fifty
years since the United Nations in 1960 commissioned Arcot Krishnaswami to draft
a Study of Discrimination in the Matter of Religious
Rights and Practices which became the basic foundation upon which an
International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief was to be founded.
The Convention was to be equal in status to the International Convention on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) being considered at that time.
In 1968 the United
Nations deferred work on an International Convention on the Elimination of all
Forms of Religious Intolerance because of its complexity and sensitivity. In
forty years intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief has
increased and not decreased.
United Nations History –
Freedom of Religion or Belief
There has been progress in
interfaith dialogue since 1968. However, waiting for consensus on the
contentious issues on human rights and freedom of religion or belief may take
another forty years. The question is whether the family of nations is running
out of time to isolate and reduce the most destabilizing cases of intolerance
and discrimination based in part on religion or belief, given current wars and
potential for misuse of technology in advanced weapons of mass
destruction.
Everyone agrees in theory
education is the key to tolerance and understanding between people of diverse
religions or beliefs. In 2006 the Netherlands Ambassador-at-large for Human
Rights speaking on education curricula at the 25 year Commemoration of the 1981
UN Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief said we must “teach children,
from the very beginning, that their own religion is one out of many and 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.” This is
true, but rarely done and almost never beginning with early childhood
education.
A paradigm breakthrough
and heightened public awareness will be served if the United Nations were to
create an open-ended Working Group to draft a non-derogating International
Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Such a process in developing a draft would serve as an annual focal
point in one place for diverse and contentious issues in all matters of freedom
of religion or belief before the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly.
The Special Procedures appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of
Religion or Belief is effective, but one independent expert is simply not
enough to cover the diversity and depth of this subject on an annual basis.
To begin work on a
Convention deferred since 1968 will raise human rights on freedom of religion
or belief to the status originally intended by the United Nations, a
foundational treaty for international law and a worldwide platform for cross-sector
integrated dialogue and education at international, national and local levels.
At the moment, it is too important for all States to “let it pass.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Documemts Attached:
International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief
25th Anniversary - 1981 UN Declaration on Freedom of 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.”
Genuine dialogue on human
rights and freedom of religion or belief calls for respectful discourse,
discussion of taboos and clarity by persons of diverse beliefs. Inclusive
dialogue includes people of theistic, non-theistic and
atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief.
The warning signs are clear, unless there is genuine dialogue ranging from
religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism; conflicts in the future will
probably be even more deadly.
In 1968 the UN deferred
work on an International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Religious Intolerance because of its complexity and sensitivity. In forty years
violence, suffering and discrimination based on religion or belief has
dramatically increased. It is time for
a UN Working Group to draft what they deferred in 1968, a comprehensive core
international human rights treaty- a United Nations Convention on Freedom of
Religion or Belief: United
Nations History – Freedom of Religion or Belief
The challenge to
religions or beliefs at all levels is awareness, understanding
and acceptance of international human rights standards on freedom of
religion or belief. Leaders, teachers and followers of all religions or
beliefs, with governments, are keys to test the viability of inclusive and
genuine dialogue in response to the UN Secretary General’s urgent call for
constructive and committed dialogue.
The Tandem Project title,
Separation of Religion or Belief and State
(SOROBAS), reflects the far-reaching scope of UN General Comment 22
on Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human
Rights Committee (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4). The General Comment on Article 18 is
a guide to international human rights law for peaceful cooperation, respectful
competition and resolution of conflicts:
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/9a30112c27d1167cc12563ed004d8f15?Opendocument
Surely one of the best
hopes for 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 is a non-governmental organization (NGO)
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 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 is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations