Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt

Abstract

In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief provides an overview of the activities of the mandate since the submission of the previous report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/22/51). In his observations, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the need to tackle manifestations of collective religious hatred. The question of how States and other stakeholders can appropriately tackle manifestations of collective religious hatred has become more and more pressing in recent years. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the root causes of religious hatred and aggravating political factors in order to better understand this disquieting phenomenon and develop effective prevention and coping strategies. Above all he recommends trust-building activities, both at the level of establishing trustworthy public institutions and in the broad area of promoting meaningful communication, in particular between different religious or belief communities. Such activities should always be systematically based on respect for freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, as enshrined in article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international instruments. Moreover, the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence (A/HRC/22/17/Add.4, annex, appendix), which was launched by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in February 2013, provides a nuanced and practical framework for effective efforts in this area, which should be employed by all relevant stakeholders in a coordinated manner.