A
UNITED
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/54/159
22 February 2000
Fifty-fourth session
Agenda item 116 (b)
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Third Committee (A/54/605/Add.2)]
54/159. Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance
The General Assembly,
Recalling that all States have pledged themselves, under the Charter of the United Nations, to promote
and encourage universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion,
Reaffirming that discrimination against human beings on the grounds of religion or belief constitutes
an affront to human dignity and a disavowal of the principles of the Charter,
Recalling article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 and article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,2
Reaffirming 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,
Emphasizing that the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief is far-reaching and
profound and that it encompasses freedom of thought on all matters, personal conviction and the commitment
to religion or belief, whether manifested individually or in community with others,
1
Resolution 217 A (III).
2
See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
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