WUNRN
UN Human Rights Council Resolution with Multiple Dimensions Important for Women
United Nations |
A/HRC/28/L.4 |
General Assembly |
19 March 2015 Original: English |
Human
Rights Council
Twenty-eighth
session
Racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up
to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action
Pakistan
(on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), Turkey*: Draft
Resolution
28/…COMBATING INTOLERANCE, NEGATIVE STEREOTYPING AND STIGMATIZATION OF, AND DISCRIMINATION, INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE AND VIOLENCE AGAINST, PERSONS BASED ON RELIGION OR BELIEF
The Human Rights Council,
Reaffirming the commitment made by all States under the Charter of
the United Nations to promote and encourage universal respect for and
observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as
to, inter alia, religion or belief,
Reaffirming also Human Rights Council resolutions 16/18 of 24 March
2011, 19/25 of 23 March 2012, 22/31 of 22 March 2013 and 25/34 of 28 March
2014, as well as General Assembly resolutions 66/167 of 19 December 2011,
67/178 of 20 December 2012, 68/169 of 18 December 2013 and 69/174 of 18
December 2014,
Reaffirming further the obligation of States to prohibit discrimination on
the basis of religion or belief and to implement measures to guarantee the
equal and effective protection of the law,
Reaffirming that the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights provides, inter alia, that everyone shall have the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion or belief, which shall include freedom to have
or to adopt a religion or 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,
Reaffirming also the positive role that the exercise of the right to
freedom of opinion and expression and full respect for the freedom to seek,
receive and impart information can play in strengthening democracy and
combating religious intolerance, and also that the exercise of the right to
freedom of expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities, in
accordance with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights,
Expressing deep concern at those acts that advocate religious hatred and
thereby undermine the spirit of tolerance,
Reaffirming that terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations,
cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality,
civilization or ethnic group,
Reaffirming also that violence can never be an acceptable response to
acts of intolerance on the basis of religion or belief,
Reaffirming further the positive role that the exercise of the right to
freedom of opinion and expression and the full respect for the freedom to seek,
receive and impart information can play in strengthening democracy and
combating religious intolerance,
Reaffirming the positive role of human rights education and
training in promoting tolerance, non-discrimination and equality,
Deeply concerned about incidents of intolerance, discrimination and
violence against persons based on their religion or belief in all regions of
the world,
Deploring any advocacy of discrimination or violence on the
basis of religion or belief,
Strongly deploring all acts of violence against persons on the basis of
their religion or belief, as well as any such acts directed against their
homes, businesses, properties, schools, cultural centres or places of worship,
Concerned about actions that wilfully exploit tensions or target
individuals on the basis of their religion or belief,
Noting with deep concern the instances of intolerance, discrimination and acts
of violence in many parts of the world, including cases motivated by
discrimination against persons belonging to religious minorities, in addition
to the negative projection of the followers of religions and the enforcement of
measures that specifically discriminate against persons on the basis of
religion or belief,
Expressing concern at the growing manifestation of intolerance based on
religion or belief that can generate hatred and violence among individuals from
and within different nations that may have serious implications at the
national, regional and international levels, and in this regard emphasizing the
importance of respect for religious and cultural diversity as well as
interfaith and intercultural dialogue aimed at promoting a culture of tolerance
and respect among individuals, societies and nations,
Recognizing the valuable contribution of people of all religions
or beliefs to humanity and the contribution that dialogue among religious groups
can make towards an improved awareness and understanding of the common values
shared by all humankind,
Recognizing also that working together to enhance the implementation of
existing legal regimes that protect individuals against discrimination and hate
crimes, increase interfaith and intercultural efforts and expand human rights
education are an important first step in combating incidents of intolerance,
discrimination and violence against individuals on the basis of religion or
belief,
Taking note of General Assembly resolution 68/127 on “A world
against violence and violent extremism”, adopted by the Assembly by consensus
on 18 December 2013, and welcoming the leading role of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in promoting intercultural
dialogue, the work of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the Anna
Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures, as well as the work of the
King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for interreligious and
intercultural dialogue in Vienna, and Assembly resolution 65/5 of 20 October
2010 on World Interfaith Harmony Week proposed by King Abdullah II of Jordan,
Welcoming in this regard all international,
regional and national initiatives aimed at promoting interreligious,
intercultural and interfaith harmony and combating discrimination against
individuals on the basis of religion or belief, including the launching of the
Istanbul Process, and taking note of the recent initiative of the chairmanship
of Albania of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe under the
theme “United in diversity” and the initiative of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights on the prohibition of advocacy of national,
racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination,
hostility or violence,
1.Expresses
deep concern at the
continued serious instances of derogatory stereotyping, negative profiling and
stigmatization of persons based on their religion or belief, as well as
programmes and agendas pursued by extremist organizations and groups aimed at
creating and perpetuating negative stereotypes about religious groups, in
particular when condoned by Governments;
2. Expresses
its concern that incidents of religious intolerance, discrimination and
related violence, as well as of negative stereotyping of individuals on the
basis of religion or belief, continue to rise around the world, condemns in
this context any advocacy of religious hatred against individuals that
constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, and urges
States to take effective measures, as set forth in the present resolution,
consistent with their obligations under international human rights law, to
address and combat such incidents;
3. Condemns
deeply any advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to
discrimination, hostility or violence, whether it involves the use of print,
audiovisual or electronic media or any other means;
4. Welcomes
international, regional and national initiatives aimed at promoting
interreligious, intercultural and interfaith harmony and combating
discrimination against individuals on the basis of religion or belief, in
particular the series of experts’ meetings held in Washington, D.C., London,
Geneva and Doha, in the framework of the Istanbul process to discuss the
implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 16/18;
5. Notes the
efforts of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
and the holding of four regional workshops, in Austria, Chile, Kenya and
Thailand, on separate but related issues, as well as the final workshop in
Morocco and its outcome document, the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition
of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement
to discrimination, hostility or violence, and the recommendations and
conclusions contained therein;
6. Recognizes
that the open, public debate of ideas, as well as interfaith and
intercultural dialogue, at the local, national and international levels can be
among the best protections against religious intolerance and can play a
positive role in strengthening democracy and combating religious hatred, and
convinced that continuing dialogue on these issues can help to overcome
existing misperceptions;
7. Notes the
speech given by Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
at the fifteenth session of the Human Rights Council, and draws on his call on
States to take the following actions to foster a domestic environment of
religious tolerance, peace and respect by:
(a) Encouraging the creation of
collaborative networks to build mutual understanding, promoting dialogue and
inspiring constructive action towards shared policy goals and the pursuit of
tangible outcomes, such as servicing projects in the fields of education, health,
conflict prevention, employment, integration and media education;
(b) Creating an appropriate mechanism
within Governments to, inter alia, identify and address potential areas of
tension between members of different religious communities, and assisting with
conflict prevention and mediation;
(c) Encouraging the training of
government officials in effective outreach strategies;
(d) Encouraging the efforts of leaders to
discuss within their communities the causes of discrimination, and evolving
strategies to counter these causes;
(e) Speaking out against intolerance,
including advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to
discrimination, hostility or violence;
(f) Adopting measures to criminalize
incitement to imminent violence based on religion or belief;
(g) Understanding the need to combat
denigration and negative religious stereotyping of persons, as well as
incitement to religious hatred, by strategizing and harmonizing actions at the
local, national, region and international levels through, inter alia, education
and awareness-building;
(h) Recognizing that the open,
constructive and respectful debate of ideas, as well as interfaith and
intercultural dialogue at the local, national and international levels, can
play a positive role in combating religious hatred, incitement and violence;
8. Calls
upon all States:
(a) To take effective measures to ensure
that public functionaries, in the conduct of their public duties, do not
discriminate against an individual on the basis of religion or belief;
(b) To foster religious freedom and
pluralism by promoting the ability of members of all religious communities to
manifest their religion, and to contribute openly and on an equal footing to
society;
(c) To encourage the representation and
meaningful participation of individuals, irrespective of their religion, in all
sectors of society;
(d) To make a strong effort to counter
religious profiling, which is understood to be the invidious use of religion as
a criterion in conducting questionings, searches and other law enforcement
investigative procedures;
9. Encourages
States to consider providing updates on efforts made in this regard as part
of ongoing reporting to the Office of the High Commissioner;
10. Calls
upon States to adopt measures and policies to promote full respect for and
protection of places of worship and religious sites, cemeteries and shrines,
and to take measures in cases where they are vulnerable to vandalism or
destruction;
11. Takes
note of the report submitted by the High Commissioner pursuant to Human
Rights Council resolution 25/34 summarizing contributions received from States,
and also takes note of the conclusions of the report based on those
contributions;
12. Calls
for the urgent need to implement all parts of the action plan in Human
Rights Council resolution 16/18 of 24 March 2011, with equal focus and
attention in order to address rising incidents of religious intolerance;
13. Requests
the High Commissioner to prepare and submit to the Human Rights Council, at
its thirty-first session, a comprehensive follow-up report with elaborated
conclusions based upon information provided by States on the
efforts and measures taken by them for the implementation of the action plan
outlined in paragraphs 7 and 8 above, as well as their views on potential
follow-up measures for further improvement of the implementation of that plan;
14. Calls for
strengthened international efforts to foster a global dialogue for the
promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels, based on respect
for human rights and diversity of religions and beliefs.