Mission to Israel and OPT – Sp. Rapporteur on freedom of religion (Jahangir)- Interim report(excerpts)

Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance

Note by the Secretary-General

The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the General Assembly the interim report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 62/157.

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*A/63/150.

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B. Country visits

8. In the past 14 years, the mandate holders have conducted 27 visits to analyse the situation of 26 countries on all continents. Since her previous report, she has visited Angola (in November 2007), Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (in January 2008) and India (in March 2008).

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2. Visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

13. The Special Rapporteur carried out a mission to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 20 to 27 January 2008. While recalling that the land she visited was blessed with a rich diversity and important sites holy to many religions, the Special Rapporteur regretted that this very diversity had polarized people along religious lines; indeed, the conflict was having an adverse impact on the right of individuals and communities to worship freely and to attend religious services at their respective holy places. Many Muslims and Christians were impeded from worshipping at some of their most holy places in the world because of an elaborate system of permits, visas and checkpoints and by the barrier. The Government of Israel informed the Special Rapporteur that those restrictions were necessary for security reasons. She would nevertheless like to emphasize that any measure taken to combat terrorism must comply with the State’s obligations under international law, including freedom of religion or belief, and that they should be non-discriminatory and proportionate to their aim.

14. While acknowledging that members of religious minorities in Israel asserted that there was no religious persecution by the State, the Special Rapporteur noted that groups within the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths had experienced different forms of discrimination, such as the neglect of Christian and Muslim holy sites or the unfair allocation of subsidies at the expense of religious minorities and groups.

15. Minority communities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including some small Christian groups, expressed their fear of a rising level of religious intolerance. Women seemed to bear the brunt of religious zeal. The Special Rapporteur was informed about cases of honour killings carried out with impunity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in the name of religion, and some women in Gaza reportedly recently felt coerced into covering their heads not out of religious conviction but out of fear.

16. A major challenge that needs to be addressed immediately in order to avoid deterioration of the situation is to effectively prohibit and sanction incitement to religious hatred. Any violence committed in the name of religion should be denounced, investigated and sanctioned. It is particularly worrying when children are being incited to express hatred towards those with a different religious affiliation. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur recommended that all parties to a possible peace agreement bind themselves legally to protect the rights of religious minorities and include guarantees for equality and non-discrimination based on religion as well as for the preservation of and peaceful access to holy sites.

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2. Access to and contents of official documents

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32. Several States require that religious affiliation be specified on identity cards, passports and/or the application forms for either. 10/  In some cases there is a choice between only two 11/ or three 12/ officially recognized religions, without the option to refrain from indicating one’s religion or to declare that one is an atheist or non-theist. Computerized systems may aggravate the problem when they are programmed in a manner so as to prevent any religious affiliation other than those preselected by the State from being entered.

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11/  A/HRC/8/18, para. 31 (on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem):  “The West Bank and Gaza identity cards indicate whether the cardholder is Muslim or Christian, with no possible alternatives. The identity cards of those who are not believers, for example, indicate that they have the same religion as their parents; in contrast, cards of Jerusalem residents and Israeli citizens do not contain information about religion.” 

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