THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
Separation of Religion or Belief
& State
Sixth Session U.N. Human
Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (30 Nov. –
Available in other languages: click here if the language box does not display.
The Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) is a unique process launched by the UN Human Rights Council in
2008 to review the human rights obligations and responsibilities of all UN
Member States by 2011. Click for an Introduction to the Universal Periodic
Review, Process and News: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx
UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW
The Norway
Universal Periodic Review will be held by the UN Human Rights
Council on
The reports including the
National Report and excerpt below is not available to the public until the time
of the Norwegian Universal Periodic Review on
The National Report
submitted in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) of the Annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1.
Submitted: to UN Human Rights Council on
Excerpt from National Report:
3.15 Freedom of thought, religion and belief. “
Link: HRC Web Cast will be available on
The primary international
human rights instruments on freedom of religion or belief are:
Article 18 International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights; and the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of all
Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
General Comment 22 on
Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/9a30112c27d1167cc12563ed004d8f15?Opendocument
In 1981 the UN
Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief http://www.tandemproject.com/program/81_dec.htm
was adopted by the UN General Assembly after alleged to complexity and
sensitivity, in 1968, they deferred work on a UN Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Religious Intolerance. The 1981 UN Declaration is a Human
Rights Concordat between all nations and religions or beliefs.
THE TANDEM PROJECT FOLLOW-UP
The Tandem Project Follow-up builds on 1986 Community
Strategies, 27 action proposals at a local level to implement
Article 18 of the ICCPR and the 1981 UN Declaration on Freedom of Religion or
Belief:
http://www.tandemproject.com/tolerance.pdf UPR Follow-up proposals:
(1) Develop model
local-national-international integrated approaches to human rights and freedom
of religion or belief, appropriate to the constitutions, legal systems and
cultures of each country, (2) Use International Human Rights Standards on
Freedom of Religion or Belief as a platform for inclusive and genuine dialogue,
(3) Apply these standards on freedom of religion or belief in education
curricula, “teaching 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.”
Example: Universal
Periodic Review & Freedom of Religion or Belief
The challenge to the UN
Human Rights Council is to achieve consensus among world views relating to international human rights
standards on freedom of religion or belief and freedom of opinion and
expression. Recognizing the religious and cultural sensitivity these issues, it is time for the UN Human Rights Council to establish an
Open-ended Working Group for a UN Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief, deferred
since 1968 by its predecessor the UN Human Rights Commission, and to strengthen
the Special Procedures mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of
Religion or Belief.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To be written after
Norway UPR
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION
Links: Web sites in the public domain may be
distributed unless copyright is indicated.
The Tandem Project Follow-up is seeking an exchange of information
for the Norway Universal Periodic Review on approaches to freedom of religion
or belief, to bridge human rights proclaimed in
treaties at the international level with the reality of implementation at a
national and local level.
These are government and
non-governmental organizations with expertise in
Stakeholder Letters: Submitted for the
To be posted after
Government of
http://www.regjeringen.no/en.html?id=4
The Constitution and
constitutional practice determine which matters must be formally decided in the
Council of State presided over by the King, and which may be decided by the
competent minister. In both cases the government conference is the main forum
for discussing important policy matters before formal decisions are taken. As
of February 2007, there are 17 ministries, plus the office of the Prime
Minister, while the Government consists of the prime minister and 18 ministers.
The Tandem Project for purposes of an exchange of information on follow-up to the Norway Universal Periodic Review will seek
advice from the Norway Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture
and Church Affairs.
Norway Ministry of Foreign
Affairs:
http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/selected-topics/human-rights.html?id=1160
The Minister of Foreign
Affairs for
Norway Ministry of Culture and
Church Affairs:
http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/kkd.html?id=545
The Ministry of Culture
and Church Affairs is responsible for cultural policy, church affairs,
regulations and other matters regarding the media and sports. The Tandem
Project will contact them for advice on follow-up efforts
for education on human rights and freedom of religion or belief after the
Norway Universal Periodic Review.
The University of Oslo is Norway’s largest and oldest institution of higher
education. It was founded in 1811 when Norway was still under Danish rule.
Today the University of Oslo has approximately 27,700 students and 5,900
employees. CULCOM, Cultural Complexity in the new Norway is a strategic
university program, University of Oslo 2004-spring 2010. This website article
is on a Master’s thesis “Cooperation rather than religious dialogue”by Kjersti
Borsum, pointing out “there is a great distance between the elite participating
in dialogue and the grassroots level. The Tandem Project will approach a
variety of departments in the University of Oslo including CULCOM, the School
of Theology, School of Law and department of Sociology for an exchange of
information as a follow-up to the Norway Universal
Periodic Review.
The State Church of
Norway has represented the main, almost the only, expression of religious
belief in
The
The
The Oslo Coalition on
Freedom of Religion or Belief was established by participants of the Oslo
Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief which was held in August 1998 in
the context of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. The activities of the Oslo Coalition are based on the Oslo
Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief which was adopted by the
Conference of over 200 participants and was signed by leaders of all major
Norwegian faith communities in 2001. Projects of the Oslo Coalition include New
Directions in Islamic Thought and Practice; Facilitating Freedom of Religion or
Belief; Missionary Activities and Human Rights; Teaching for Tolerance and
Freedom of Religion or Belief; China Project; Indonesia Project; Caucasus Project
and Central Asia Project. The Tandem Project as the founder idea and then
co-sponsor of the Oslo Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief will seek an
exchange of information with the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or
Belief as a follow-up to the Norway Universal
Periodic Review.
The
Islamic Council of
The Islamic Council of
Norway is an umbrella group of Islamic organizations and mosques in
Lutheran World Federation; http://www.lutheranworld.org
The Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition with international headquarters in
Norwegian Humanist Association; http://www.human.no
The Norwegian Humanist
Association is an organization for people who base their ethics on human
values. Humanism is a life stance in which the understanding of reality and
ethics is based on reason and experience, rational and critical thinking,
feelings and human compassion. The by-laws are non-theistic and reject
supernatural views of reality. They have more than 75,000 members in
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127329.htm
1.
The Constitution
provides for freedom of religion, and other laws and policies contributed to
the generally free practice of religion. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Norway, the state church,
enjoys some benefits
not available to other religious groups.
The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no
change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during
the reporting period.
There were few reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious
affiliation, belief, or practice.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government as part of
its overall policy to promote human rights.
2.
The country has an area of 150,000 square miles and a population of 4.75 million.
Citizens are considered to be members of the state church, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Norway, unless they explicitly state otherwise.
For example, citizens may elect to associate themselves
with another denomination, nonreligious organization (e.g., the Norwegian
Humanist Association), or to have no religious affiliation at all. An estimated
82 percent of the population (3.9 million persons) nominally belongs to the
state church. However, actual church attendance is quite low.
Other religious groups operate freely and include various Protestant Christian
denominations (166,000 registered members), Muslims (84,000), Roman Catholics
(54,000), and Jews (850). Buddhists, Orthodox Christians,
Sikhs, and Hindus are also present in small numbers, together constituting less
than 1 percent of the population. The Norwegian Humanist Association--the
largest national organization for those who do not formally practice any
religion, including atheists--has 79,870 registered members. An unknown number
of persons belong to religious institutions but do not formally register with
the Government, so they are not reflected in the statistics.
The majority of European and American immigrants, who make up approximately 45
percent of the foreign-born population, are either Christian or nonreligious,
with the exception of Muslim refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. Most
non-Western immigrants practice Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, or Hinduism. Of
religious minority members, 55 percent are concentrated in the Oslo
metropolitan area, including 57 percent of Muslims and most of the Buddhist
community.
3.
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and
other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway is the state church. The state
supports it financially, and there is a constitutional requirement that the
King and at least one-half of the cabinet belong to this church.
In 2008 there was a public debate about introducing greater separation in the
state-church relationship. In April 2008 the Minister of Culture presented the
results of a parliament-commissioned report on the state and church
relationship that had been five years in the making and had included
significant public input. The report called for maintaining the state church
but for further democratization of the Church and for the Government to
consider changes to the Constitution that would further separate church and
state functions. One of the immediate effects was the signing of a church
agreement that gives the state church the ability to select, but not appoint,
its own bishops, a role that had previously been fulfilled by the Government.
The legal power to officially appoint bishops will not be transferred to the
Church until Parliament amends the Constitution on this point, which it was
expected to do during the 2009-11 session.
The Government observes the following religious holidays, all of which are
Christian, as national holidays: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday,
Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Whit-Monday, Christmas
Day, and St. Stephen's Day.
A religious community must register with the Government only if it desires
state financial support, which is provided to all registered denominations in
proportion to their formally registered membership. Some faith groups argued
that this registration requirement disadvantages their efforts to get funding,
since the faiths most popular among immigrants generally, including Islam and
Roman Catholicism, are also most popular among individuals who are in the
country either illegally or as political refugees, and who may be leery of
contact with state officials.
In February 2009 the Police Directorate, responding to a petition by a Muslim
woman, proposed that the hijab be permitted to be worn with the police uniform
in order to recruit a broader field of candidates for police work. This
proposal caused an intense nationwide political and media debate, and the
police union came out firmly against the change. Some commentators argued that
all policewomen should dress the same, and citizens might be afraid that they
would not receive equal treatment from a policewoman wearing a hijab. Two weeks
after it initially expressed its support for the Police Directorate's proposal,
the Justice Ministry withdrew its support and ruled against allowing the hijab
to be worn. Many in the Muslim community were disappointed by the Government's
reversal.
In February 2006 the city of Oslo submitted a plan to ban the wearing of burqas
and nikabs to the Education Directorate for evaluation. The Education
Directorate subsequently submitted the plan to the Ministry of Education,
concerned that the ban might contravene the Norwegian Constitution. In August
2006, while still awaiting an advisory opinion, the city of Oslo implemented
the ban. The Ministry of Education submitted the issue to the Ministry of
Justice, which in September 2007 determined that a ban on burqas and nikabs was
not inconsistent with Norwegian law and international conventions. However,
there were no reports of the ban being enforced by the end of the reporting
period.
Norway is a member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust
Education, Remembrance, and Research and assumed the rotating chairmanship of
the organization in 2009. In 2003 the Government instituted annual observance
of Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27 in schools nationwide, as part of a
National Plan of Action to Combat Racism and Discrimination. In addition, high
school curriculums include the deportation and extermination of Jewish citizens
from 1942 to 1945. The Government also continued to support the foundation
"The White Buses," which takes Norwegian secondary school students to
Auschwitz, Poland, to educate them about the Holocaust. In August 2007,
following a multiyear, $10 million (NOK 60 million) construction project,
Norway opened the Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in
the wartime residence of Nazi collaborator Vikdun Quisling. The associated
museum features a history of the Holocaust in the country. During the reporting
period, the Center supported Holocaust-related research and sponsored seminars
related to the Jewish experience during the Nazi occupation period.
A 1997 law introduced the Christian Knowledge and Religious and Ethical
Information (CKREE) course for grades 1 through 10 (generally ages six to 16).
The CKREE reviews world religions and philosophy while promoting tolerance and
respect for all religious beliefs. Citing the country's Christian history (and
the stated importance of Christianity to society), the CKREE devotes an
extensive amount of time to studying Christianity. This class is mandatory,
without any exceptions for children of other religious groups. On special
grounds, students may be exempted from participating in or performing specific
religious acts, such as church services or prayer.
Organizations for atheists, as well as Muslim communities, contested the
legality of mandatory religious education, claiming that it was a breach of
freedom of religion and parents' right to provide religious instruction to
their children. After the case was heard before the European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR) in 2002 and again in 2006, the Government modified the curriculum
and expanded the education to more thoroughly discuss other religions while
continuing an emphasis on Christianity as the religion of the majority of
citizens.
There are no special licensing or registration requirements for foreign
religious workers. Such workers are subject to the same visa and work permit
requirements as other foreign workers.
4.
The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no
change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during
the reporting period.
After an intense political and media debate in January 2009, and particularly
due to widespread criticism that it would infringe on free speech, the
Government withdrew from consideration a proposed modification of the penal law
that would have criminalized "proven attacks on religion or
philosophy." Although proposed by a centrist Christian party, the public
debate on the law made reference to the Danish and Norwegian "cartoon
controversies" of the past few years, and the proposed law was cited by
one political party as evidence of caving in to "stealth
Islamification."
In December 2008 Muslim inmates in a Trondheim prison complained that the
prison served food that contained pork. Prison authorities said the incident
was the result of a mistake. More than one-third of prison inmates are Muslims,
but none of the facilities offer halal food. One Muslim politician suggested
that prisons serve halal food as a default, with prisoners able to request
nonhalal food on the side; however, the Government did not act upon the
suggestion.
In May 2008 two Christian pastors, one American and one Norwegian, were
arrested for sharing their faith with signs and public preaching near a parade
route during the country's independence celebration. In November 2008 and
January 2009, the American pastor lost appeals, which he based on a free speech
defense, of his trial court sentence before the appellate and supreme courts,
respectively. The trial court had ruled that the pastors' right to free speech
could not exceed the police's power to ensure order. A suit by the Norwegian
pastor based on similar events that occurred in 2007 was on file at the ECHR,
which was scheduled to decide in October 2009 whether to hear the case. The
American pastor also intended to file a case with the ECHR, based on the May
2008 events, by July 2009.
The Workers' Protection and Working Environment Act permits employers to ask
job applicants who are applying for positions in religious or other private
schools, or day care centers, whether they agree to teach and behave in
accordance with the institution's or religion's beliefs and principles.
The Government did not enforce a ban on the wearing of burqas and nikabs in
schools, permitting every school to independently determine whether to
implement such a ban; during the reporting period, there were no reports that
any school enforced a ban.
A ban remained in place on policewomen wearing the hijab with police uniforms,
despite the Government having earlier briefly supported a proposal to allow
wearing of it.
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of minor U.S.
citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States or
who had not been allowed to be returned to the United States.
5.
During the reporting period, Islam and so-called Islamification in the country
were subjects of increasing debate among politicians, the media, and civic and
religious groups. In February 2009 the second-largest political party, the
Progress Party, published a list of events over the last decade that it
purported showed that the country was being "Islamified by stealth."
Measured by opinion polls, the Progress Party's popularity increased after it
published its list. The list was heavily criticized by other political parties
and prominent commentators, but the notion that Islam was insidiously
threatening the country's society and culture provided a background to several
substantive issues. Covered in Section II, these included debates over the use
of the hijab by policewomen, halal food in prisons, and the proposed law that
would have banned "attacks on religion."
Anecdotal press reports during the reporting period indicated that job seekers
with first or last names that appear to be Muslim were much less likely to
receive responses to their applications for employment.
During the reporting period, and especially during Israel's operations in Gaza
in late December 2008, anti-Semitism, and a corresponding debate about it,
significantly increased in intensity. During the Gaza events, violent
anti-Israel riots broke out on several occasions in Oslo. A pro-Israel march in
Bergen was cancelled when the police stated that it could not guarantee
participants' safety. The location of the line between criticism of Israeli
policy and anti-Semitism was frequently discussed. The general atmosphere for
Jews in the country, however, worsened to the point where Foreign Minister
Stoere visited a synagogue on January 18, 2009 to show solidarity with Jewish
citizens who "feel alienated" and are "experiencing growing
anti-Semitism."
During January 2009 both a former prime minister and a high-profile commentator
on U.S. policy were accused of making anti-Semitic comments. Their statements
were criticized as blurring the line between Jewishness and Israeli government
policy.
In mid-January 2009 a first secretary at the Norwegian embassy in Saudi Arabia
used a government e-mail system to send out a chain e-mail with images
comparing Israeli soldiers to Nazi soldiers. Some politicians urged the
Government to fire the employee; there was no further information on the case
by the end of the reporting period.
The small Jewish community in the country was frightened by the rise in
anti-Semitism during the Gaza war. A leading newspaper reported that it had
difficulty finding Jews who were willing to be publicly interviewed, as they
felt they might be targeted. The chief rabbi of the Oslo Synagogue received
daily piles of hate mail full of anti-Semitic vitriol.
On May 29, 2009, a fire destroyed a 204-year-old Lutheran church in Vaaler,
Hedmark Province; police concluded that the fire was an act of arson.
On
On
On
The press heavily criticized a controversial television comedian for telling a
joke that trivialized the killing of Jews during the Holocaust. A
nongovernmental organization (NGO) reported the incident to the police, but the
comedian was not charged with any wrongdoing.
There were no other reported societal abuses or cases of discrimination based
on religious affiliation, belief, or practice during the reporting period.
The Council for Religious and Philosophical Communities includes the state
church and other religious communities, among them the Jewish, Muslim, and
Buddhist communities, as well as secular humanist groups. The Council, acting
as an umbrella organization, organized many events that furthered
interreligious dialogue and debate, including a 2008 "dialogue
conference" that was expected to be repeated in 2009, and a debate about
religion in educational institutions.
The Oslo Coalition for Freedom of Religious Beliefs facilitated closer
coordination and international cooperation on religious freedom issues both
domestically and outside of the country. The Coalition was conducting research
projects on New Directions in Islamic Thought and Practice, Facilitating
Freedom of Religion, Missionary Activities and Human Rights, and Teaching for
Tolerance and Religious Freedom.
6. Norway – US
Government Policy
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government as part of its
overall policy to promote human rights. The U.S. Embassy regularly sponsored
speakers and other events to highlight religious freedom. During the reporting
period, the Ambassador hosted both an interreligious Thanksgiving dinner and,
in January, a human rights NGO reception during which the importance of
religious freedom, both in the country and around the world, was discussed. In
May 2009 the Embassy also invited Imam Yahya Hendi, a professor at Georgetown
University in Washington, DC, to speak to the Islamic Council, Muslim youth
groups, and the Theological Faculty of the University of Oslo about religious
freedom in the United States.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127329.htm
Links to State Department
sites are welcomed. Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the State
Department’s main website is in the public domain and may be copied and distributed
without permission. Citation of the U.S. State Department as source of the
information is appreciated.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Documents Attached:
Norway - Universal Periodic Review & Freedom of Religion or Belief
Norway - Christians & Muslims Sign Declaration on Religious Freedom
UN - Right to Change Religion or Belief Adopted Without Consensus
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. Violence,
suffering and discrimination based on religion or belief in many parts of the
world is greater than ever. 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