| United Nations | A/RES/48/128 |
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
20 December 1993
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
A/RES/48/128
85th plenary meeting
20 December 1993
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,
Recognizing that those rights derive from the inherent dignity of the
human person,
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,
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 47/129 of 18 December 1992, in which it
requested the Commission on Human Rights to continue its consideration of
measures to implement the Declaration,
Taking note of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/25 of 5 March
1993,
Reaffirming the call of the World Conference on Human Rights 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,
Recalling Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/17 of 21 February
1992, in which the the Commission decided to extend for three years 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, and recalling also Economic and Social Council decision 1992/226
of 20 July 1992,
Welcoming the appointment of Mr. Abdelfattah Amor as Special Rapporteur
of the Commission on Human Rights, and calling upon all Governments to
cooperate with the Special Rapporteur to enable him to carry out his mandate
fully,
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,
Conscious of the importance of education in ensuring tolerance of
religion and belief,
Alarmed that serious instances, including acts of violence, of
intolerance and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief occur in
many parts of the world, as evidenced in the report of the former Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Angelo Vidal d'Almeida
Ribeiro,
Reaffirming the dismay and condemnation expressed by the World
Conference on Human Rights at the continued occurrence of gross and systematic
violations and situations that constitute serious obstacles to the full
enjoyment of all human rights, including religious intolerance,
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 hatred, intolerance and discrimination based on
religion or belief,
1. Reaffirms that freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief
is a human right derived from the inherent dignity of the human person and
guaranteed to all without discrimination;
2. Urges States to ensure that their constitutional and legal systems
provide full 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. Recognizes that legislation alone is not enough to prevent
violations of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or
belief;
4. Urges all States therefore to take all appropriate measures to
combat hatred, intolerance and acts of violence, including those motivated by
religious extremism, and to encourage understanding, tolerance and respect in
matters relating to freedom of religion or belief;
5. Urges States to ensure that, in the course of their official
duties, members of law enforcement bodies, civil servants, educators and other
public officials respect different religions and beliefs and do not
discriminate against persons professing other religions or beliefs;
6. 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
those purposes;
7. 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;
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 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 the United Nations information centres, as well
as by other interested bodies;
10. Encourages the continuing 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. Encourages Governments to give serious consideration to inviting
the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries so as to enable him to fulfil
his mandate even more effectively;
12. 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, including work on the drafting of basic legal texts in
conformity with international instruments on human rights and taking into
account the provisions of the Declaration;
13. Notes with interest the adoption by the Human Rights Committee of
a general comment on article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, dealing with freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
14. Welcomes the efforts of non-governmental organizations to promote
the implementation of the Declaration;
15. 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 its dissemination in
national and local languages;
16. 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;
17. Requests the Commission on Human Rights to continue its
consideration of measures to implement the Declaration;
18. Decides to consider the question of the elimination of all forms
of religious intolerance at its forty-ninth session under the item entitled
Human rights questions.