Important Issue:
Freedom of belief
Freedom of Religion or
Belief
1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All
Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief
After twenty
years of debate, intense struggle and hard work, in 1981 the General Assembly
made strides towards achieving the goal of introducing a treaty on freedom of
religion or belief, adopting (without a vote) the Declaration on the
Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion
or Belief (1981 Declaration). While the 1981 Declaration lacks
any enforcement procedures, it remains the most important contemporary
codification of the principles of freedom of religion and belief.
The 1981 Declaration contains eight articles, three of which (1, 5, and 6)
define specific rights. The remaining articles act in a supportive
role by outlining measures to promote tolerance and/or prevent
discrimination. Taken together, the eight articles constitute a
paradigm to advocate for tolerance and to prevent discrimination based on
religion, belief, and freedom of conscience. The1981 UN Declaration
identifies rights individuals, states, religious institutions, parents, legal
guardians, children, and groups of persons.
Article 1: Legal
Definition. This article repeats several rights from
the Civil and Political Covenant, including the right to thought,
conscience, religion and/or belief. It advocates for the right to
adopt the religion or belief of one’s choice, and to practice such religion or
belief freely subject to the freedom and safety of others. Article I
inherently implies that States may only limit the manifestation of religion or
belief as necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the
fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
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, practice and
teaching.
2. No one shall be subject to coercion
which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his choice.
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 or morals or the fundamental rights and
freedoms of others.
Article
2: Classification of Discrimination. This article identifies categories of
potential violations to the freedom of religion or belief. It
affirms the right not to be subject to discrimination on the grounds of
religion or belief by states, institutions, groups of persons, or individuals.
1. No one shall be subject to discrimination by
any State, institution, group of persons, or person on the grounds of religion
or other belief.
2. For the purposes of the present Declaration, the
expression "intolerance and discrimination based on religion or
belief" means any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based
on religion or belief and having as its purpose or as its effect nullification
or impairment of the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and
fundamental freedoms on an equal basis.
Article 3: Link
to Other Rights. This article links the 1981 Declaration to other international
documents, declaring that discrimination based on religion or belief
constitutes an affront to human dignity and a disavowal of the principles of
the Charter of the United Nations. Such discrimination shall
accordingly be condemned as a violation of the human rights and fundamental
freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and
enunciated in detail in both the Civil and Political Covenant and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Discrimination between human being on the
grounds of religion or belief constitutes an affront to human dignity and a
disavowal of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and shall be
condemned as a violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms
proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enunciated in
detail in the International Covenants on Human Rights, and as an obstacle to friendly
and peaceful relations between nations.
Article
4: Possible Solutions. Article 4 declares that all States
[including all sectors of civil society] shall take effective measures to
prevent and eliminate discrimination based on religion or belief through.
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.
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.
Article
5: Parents, Guardians, Children. Article 5 addresses the numerous rights at
stake, including:
· Right of parents or legal guardians to
bring the child up in their religion or belief;
· Right of the child to education in
religion or belief, in accordance with the wishes of parents, and the right not
to be compelled to receive education against their wishes;
· Right of the child to protection from
discrimination and to education for tolerance;
· Right of the child’s wishes when not under
the care of parents or legal guardians;
· Right
of the State to limit practices injurious to child's development or health.
1. The parents or, as the case may be, the legal
guardians of the child have the right to organize the life within the family in
accordance with their religion or belief and bearing in mind the moral
education in which they believe the child should be brought up.
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 or, as the case may be, legal guardians, and shall not be compelled
to receive teaching on religion or belief against the wishes of his parents or
legal guardians, the best interests of the child being the guiding principle.
3. The child shall be protected from any form of
discrimination on the ground of religion or belief. He shall be brought up in a
spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and
universal brotherhood, respect for 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.
4. In the case of a child who is not under the care
either of his parents or of legal guardians, due account shall be taken of
their expressed wishes or of any other proof of their wishes in the matter of
religion or belief, the best interests of the child being the guiding
principle. 5. Practices of a religion or belief in which a child is brought up
must not be injurious to his physical or mental health or to his full
development, taking into account article 1, paragraph 3, of the present
Declaration.
Article
6: Manifesting Religion or Belief.
In
accordance with article I of the present Declaration, and subject to the
provisions of article 1, paragraph 3, the right to freedom of thought,
conscience, religion or belief shall include, inter alia, the following
freedoms:
(a) To worship or assemble in connection with a religion or belief,
and to establish and maintain places for these purposes;
(b) To establish and maintain appropriate charitable or humanitarian
institutions;
(c) To make, acquire and use to an adequate extent the necessary
articles and materials related to the rites or customs of a religion or belief;
(d) To write, issue and disseminate relevant publications in these
areas;
(e) To teach a religion or belief in places suitable for these
purposes;
(f) To solicit and receive voluntary financial and other
contributions from individuals and institutions;
(g) To train, appoint, elect or designate by succession appropriate
leaders called for by the requirements and standards of any religion or belief;
(h) To observe days of rest and to celebrate holidays and ceremonies
in accordance with the precepts of one's religion or belief;
(i) To establish and maintain communications with
individuals and communities in matters of religion and belief at the national
and international levels.
Article
7: National Legislation. This article declares that all of the
rights at stake in the 1981 UN Declaration need to be accorded in national
legislation in such a manner that everyone shall be able to avail themselves of
such rights and freedoms in practice.
The rights and freedoms set forth in the present Declaration shall be accorded
in national legislation in such a manner that everyone shall be able to avail
himself of such rights and freedoms in practice.
Article
8: Existing Protections. This article specifies that the 1981 UN
Declaration is non-binding on States so as to ensure that the Declaration does
not negate existing legal protections on freedom of religion or belief.
Nothing in the present Declaration shall be construed as restricting or derogating
from any right defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenants on Human Rights.
Aftermath of the 1981
Declaration
The 1981 UN
Declaration was a compromise between states, drafted after twenty years of
complex discussion and debate, and after final passage by the General
Assembly. Though it represented a remarkable step forward, numerous
issues remain to be addressed:
· National law versus international law; How will
states incorporate the right to freedom of religion or belief into their
national legal systems?;
· Proselytism;
· Conscientious
objection to military service;
· Status
of women in religion or belief;
· Claims
of superiority or inferiority of religions and beliefs;
· Choosing
and changing a religious commitment;
· Religious
registration and association laws; and
· Public
media and religion or belief, and the relationship of religion or belief to the
state; and
International and Regional Instruments
of Protection
International
legal instruments take the form of a treaty (also called an
agreement, convention, covenant or protocol), which may be binding on the
contracting states. When negotiations are completed, the text of a
treaty is established as authentic and definitive and is signed by
the representatives of states. There are various means by which a
state expresses its consent to be bound by a treaty, with the most common being
ratification or accession. A new treaty is ratified by
those states that have negotiated the instrument, while a state that has not
participated in the negotiations may, at a later stage, accede to
the treaty. The treaty enters into force when a pre-determined
number of states have ratified or acceded to the treaty.
When a state ratifies or accedes to a treaty, that state may make reservations,
understandings or declarations (RUDs) to one or more articles of the treaty
(unless the treaty prohibits this actions or if they would override the point
and purpose of the treaty, or if another party
objects). Reservations are exceptions that a state makes to a
treaty—provisions that it does not agree to follow—and may normally be
withdrawn at any time. In some countries, international treaties take precedence
over national law. In others—such as the United States—a specific
law or vote may be required to incorporate an international treaty at the
national level. Almost all states that have ratified or acceded to
an international treaty may issue decrees, amend existing laws, or introduce
new legislation in order for the treaty to be fully effective on the national
territory.
When the 1981 Declaration was adopted as a non-binding human rights
instrument, several states had reservations, including Romania, Poland,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and the then U.S.S.R. These states believed
that the 1981 Declaration did not take sufficient account of atheistic
beliefs. Romania, Syria, Czechoslovakia, and the U.S.S.R. made a
general reservation regarding provisions not in accordance with their national
legislation. Iraq entered a collective reservation on behalf of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (which at the time included Jordan,
Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Uganda, Iran, Pakistan, Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Burkina-Faso [Upper Volta], Turkey, Chad, Tunisia, Algeria,
Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Oman, Gabon,
Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Cameroon, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger,
and Yemen) as to the applicability of any provision or wording in the
Declaration which might be contrary to Shari'a (Islamic)
law or to legislation or acts based on Islamic law. Syria and Iran specifically
endorsed this reservation.