A/RES/71/196
Freedom of religion or belief
increasing number and intensity of such incidents, which are often of a criminal
nature and may have international characteristics,
Deeply concerned at the limited progress that has been made in the elimination
of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief, and
believing that further intensified efforts are therefore required to promote and
protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief and to
eliminate all forms of hatred, intolerance and discriminatio n based on religion or
belief, as noted at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, from 31 August
to 8 September 2001, as well as at the Durban Review Conference, held in Geneva
from 20 to 24 April 2009,
Recalling that States have the primary responsibility to promote and protect
human rights, including the human rights of persons belonging to religious
minorities, including their right to exercise their religion or belie f freely,
Concerned that official authorities sometimes tolerate or encourage acts of
violence, or credible threats of violence, against persons belonging to religious
communities and religious minorities,
Concerned also at the increasing number of laws and regulations that limit the
freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief and at the implementation of
existing laws in a discriminatory manner,
Convinced of the need to urgently address the rapid rise in various parts of the
world of religious extremism that affects the human rights of individuals, in
particular persons belonging to religious communities and religious minorities, the
situations of violence and discrimination that affect many individuals, particularly
women and children, on the basis of or in the name of religion or belief or in
accordance with cultural and traditional practices, and the misuse of religion or
belief for ends inconsistent with the principles set out in the Charter of the United
Nations and in other relevant instruments of the United Nations,
Seriously concerned about all attacks on religious places, sites and shrines that
violate international law, in particular international human rights law and
international humanitarian law, including any deliberate destruction of relics and
monuments, and including also those carried out in connection with incitement to
national, racial or religious hatred,
Emphasizing that States, regional organizations, national human rights
institutions, non-governmental organizations, religious bodies, the media and civil
society as a whole have an important role to play in promoting tolerance and respect
for religious and cultural diversity and in the universal promotion and protection of
human rights, including freedom of religion or belief,
Underlining the importance of education, including human rights education, in
the promotion of tolerance, which involves the acceptance by the public of and its
respect for diversity, including with regard to religious expression, and underlining
also the fact that education, in particular at school, should contribute in a
meaningful way to promoting tolerance and the elimination of discrimination based
on religion or belief,
1.
Stresses that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion or belief, which includes the freedom to have or not to have, or to
adopt, a religion or belief of one’s own choice and the freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest one’s religion or belief
2/6