United Nations
A/RES/71/196
General Assembly
Distr.: General
24 January 2017
Seventy-first session
Agenda item 68 (b)
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2016
[on the report of the Third Committee (A/71/484/Add.2)]
71/196. Freedom of religion or belief
The General Assembly,
Recalling article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, 1 article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2 and other relevant
human rights provisions,
Recalling also its resolution 36/55 of 25 November 1981, by which it
proclaimed the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief,
Recalling further its previous resolutions on freedom of religion or belie f and
on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on
religion or belief, including resolution 70/158 of 17 December 2015 and Human
Rights Council resolution 31/16 of 23 March 2016, 3
Recognizing the important work carried out by the Human Rights Committee
in providing guidance with respect to the scope of freedom of religion or belief,
Noting the conclusions and recommendations of the expert workshops
organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights and contained in the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of
national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination,
hostility or violence, adopted in Rabat on 5 October 2012, 4
Considering that religion or belief, for those who profess either, is one of the
fundamental elements in their conception of life and that freedom of religion or
belief, as a universal human right, should be fully respecte d and guaranteed,
Seriously concerned at continuing acts of intolerance and violence based on
religion or belief against individuals, including against persons belonging to
religious communities and religious minorities around the world, and at the
_______________
1
See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
Resolution 217 A (III).
3
See Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-first Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/71/53),
chap. IV, sect. A.
4
A/HRC/22/17/Add.4, appendix.
2
16-22568 (E)
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