United Nations A/RES/55/97 General Assembly Distr.: General 1 March 2001 Fifty-fifth session Agenda item 114 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/55/602/Add.2 and Corr.1)] 55/97. 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, and the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 3 in particular paragraph 4 thereof, 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, and in public or private, Reaffirming the call of the World Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993, for all Governments to take all appropriate measures in compliance with their international obligations and with due regard to their respective legal systems to counter intolerance and related violence based on religion or belief, including practices of discrimination against women and the desecration of religious sites, recognizing that every individual has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, expression and religion, 4 1 Resolution 217 A (III). See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. 3 See resolution 55/2. 4 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III, sect. II, para. 22. 2 00 56521