| United Nations | A/RES/46/131 |
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
17 December 1991
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
A/RES/46/131
75th plenary meeting
17 December 1991
Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance
The General Assembly,
Conscious of the need to promote universal respect for, and observance
of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to
race, sex, language or religion,
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,
Recalling its resolution 45/136 of 14 December 1990, in which it
requested the Commission on Human Rights to continue its consideration of
measures to implement the Declaration,
Encouraged by the efforts being made by the Commission on Human Rights
and by the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities to study relevant developments affecting the implementation of the
Declaration,
Recalling Commission on Human Rights resolution 1990/27 of 2 March
1990 and Economic and Social Council decision 1990/229 of 25 May 1990, by
which the mandate of the Special Rapporteur appointed to examine incidents and
governmental actions in all parts of the world that are incompatible with the
provisions of the Declaration and to recommend remedial measures as
appropriate was extended for two years,
Recognizing that it is desirable to enhance the promotional and public
information activities of the United Nations in matters relating to freedom of
religion or belief and that both Governments and non-governmental
organizations have an important role to play in this domain,
Emphasizing that non-governmental organizations and religious bodies and
groups at every level have an important role to play in the promotion of
tolerance and the protection of freedom of religion or belief by, inter alia,
engaging in the examination of the most effective means to promote the
implementation of the Declaration,
Conscious of the importance of education in ensuring tolerance of
religion and belief,
Seriously concerned that intolerance and discrimination on the grounds
of religion or belief continue to occur in many parts of the world and that in
some respects the incidence thereof has increased,
Believing that further efforts are therefore required to promote and
protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief and
to eliminate all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or
belief,
Recalling that 1991 marks the tenth anniversary of the proclamation by
the General Assembly of the Declaration and that this provides an opportunity
to reinforce efforts aimed at the effective implementation of the Declaration,
Recalling also that the Commission on Human Rights welcomed the working
paper prepared by Mr. Theo van Boven, member of the Subcommission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which contained a
compilation of provisions relevant to the elimination of intolerance and
discrimination based on religion or belief, as well as the issues and factors
to be considered before any drafting of a further binding international
instrument, and emphasizing, in this connection, the relevance of General
Assembly resolution 41/120 of 4 December 1986 entitled "Setting international
standards in the field of human rights",
1. Reaffirms that freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief
is a right guaranteed to all without discrimination;
2. Urges States, therefore, in accordance with their respective
constitutional systems and with such internationally accepted instruments as
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on the Elimination of All
Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, to
provide, where they have not already done so, adequate constitutional and
legal guarantees of freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief,
including the provision of effective remedies where there is intolerance or
discrimination based on religion or belief;
/...
3. Urges all States to take all appropriate measures to combat
intolerance and to encourage understanding, tolerance and respect in matters
relating to freedom of religion or belief and, in this context, to examine
where necessary the supervision and training of members of law enforcement
bodies, civil servants, educators and other public officials to ensure that,
in the course of their official duties, they respect different religions and
beliefs and do not discriminate against persons professing other religions or
beliefs;
4. Calls upon all States to recognize, as provided in the Declaration
on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on
Religion or Belief, the right of all persons to worship or assemble in
connection with a religion or belief, and to establish and maintain places for
these purposes;
5. Also calls upon all States in accordance with their national
legislation to exert utmost efforts to ensure that religious places and
shrines are fully respected and protected;
6. Urges all States to consider, in the context of the tenth
anniversary in 1991 of the proclamation of the Declaration by the General
Assembly, what further measures might be taken at the national and regional
levels to promote the effective implementation of the Declaration;
7. Invites the United Nations University and other academic and
research institutions to undertake programmes and studies on the encouragement
of understanding, tolerance and respect in matters relating to freedom of
religion or belief;
8. Considers it desirable to enhance the promotional and public
information activities of the United Nations in matters relating to freedom of
religion or belief and to ensure, especially in the context of the tenth
anniversary of the proclamation of the Declaration, that appropriate measures
are taken to this end in the World Public Information Campaign for Human
Rights;
9. Invites the Secretary-General to continue to give high priority to
the dissemination of the text of the Declaration, in all the official
languages of the United Nations, and to take all appropriate measures to make
the text available for use by United Nations information centres, as well as
by other interested bodies;
10. Encourages the continued efforts on the part of the Special
Rapporteur appointed to examine incidents and governmental actions in all
parts of the world that are incompatible with the provisions of the
Declaration and to recommend remedial measures as appropriate;
11. Recommends that the promotion and protection of the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion be given appropriate priority in
the work of the United Nations programme of advisory services in the field of
human rights, with regard to, inter alia, the drafting of basic legal texts in
conformity with international instruments on human rights and taking into
account the provisions of the Declaration;
/...
12. Welcomes the announced intention of the Human Rights Committee to
prepare a general comment on article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, dealing with freedom of thought, conscience and
religion;
13. Welcomes also the efforts of non-governmental organizations to
promote the implementation of the Declaration;
14. Requests the Secretary-General to invite interested non-
governmental organizations to consider what further role they could envisage
playing in the implementation of the Declaration and in the dissemination of
its text in national and local languages;
15. Urges all States to consider disseminating the text of the
Declaration in their respective national languages and to facilitate its
dissemination in national and local languages;
16. Requests the Commission on Human Rights to continue its
consideration of measures to implement the Declaration;
17. Decides to consider the question of the elimination of all forms
of religious intolerance at its forty-seventh session under the item entitled
"Human rights questions".