50th Agenda 

50th Session Issues

Religious Persecution

by
Melanie Guptill

Introduction

At the time of the drafting of the United Nations Charter in 1945, the global political system was in the process of recovering from World War II -- newly awakened to the tragedy that had befallen the Jewish people at the hands of Hitler and his political machine. Amazingly, despite the visible violations of human rights found in the abandoned remains of the concentration camps, in the beginning stages of drafting the UN Charter the protection of human rights was not a primary concern. However, at the 1945 San Francisco Conference where nations gathered together to draft the Charter, the lobbying efforts of many small nations and forty-two private organizations changed the nature of the Charter from a document which would skip over the issue of human rights to one which, when completed , would come to include as a purpose of the organization to:

"Achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion ..."

Additionally the protection of human rights, including freedom of religion, was entrusted to the General Assembly in Article 13 of the Charter, which states that:

"The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of ...promoting international cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, educational and health fields, and assisting in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion."

In 1946, shortly after the Charter entered into force, ECOSOC established a Commission on Human Rights and made its top priority the creation of an International Bill of Human Rights, which would be divided into a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and a Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Universal Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 and the two Covenants were adopted in 1966, recognizing among their fundamental rights a right to freedom of religion, including both freedom of belief and practice. Religious persecution is a violation of the right to freedom of religion guaranteed in the Charter and in the Universal Declaration and Covenants. When persecution on the basis of religious beliefs deprives a person of other rights, such as the right to life, to an education, to work, or to own property, these byproducts of religious persecution are in opposition to the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the United Nations system -- creating a widespread and challenging problem that goes beyond the right to practice or not practice a particular religion.

Persecution on the basis of religion is documented as far back as the earliest religious writings and throughout ancient and modern history. Crusading against and pillaging the property of those with opposing beliefs has been frequent. In the current century, attention turned to the issue after the violations of the rights of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. The issue has since been linked to ethnic and territorial disputes and varying political ideologies.

The UN has emphasized the right to religious freedom through its human rights documents and framework, most recently expanded upon in the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief, and the subsequent creation of a special Rapporteur on religious intolerance. While the UN has only infrequently intervened in a situation which it deemed a threat to inernational peace and security on the basis of violations of religious rights. However, the UN has intervened against threats to peace and security that may have contained an element of religious persecution or religious rivalry. For example:

UNTSO: Begun in 1948, the UN Truce Supervision Organization in Jerusalem has monitored the situation between Israel and its neighbors, who are sympathetic to the Palestinian national cause. The Palestinians, many of whom are Muslim, claim abuse and discrimination under the rule of the Israeli Jews, including unequal housing, limited political involvement, a lack of a fair judicial system and limited educational opportunities.

UNMOGIP: Initiated in 1949, the UN Military Observer group in India and Pakistan has sought to maintain the ceasefire line in the disputed Kashmir region between Hindu India and Islamic Pakistan -- a religious and territorial dispute with persecution of minorities occurring on both sides of the border.

Recently, we have seen a trend in the UN of human rights violations increasing in importance and gaining consideration as threats to peace and security. We have seen a consequent increase in UN peacekeeping operations that contain a human rights mandate and the establishment of tribunals to persecute those guilty of human rights violations. The issue of religious persecution is dramatically gaining in importance on the world stage.

Present UN Involvement

On the agenda of the 54th Session of the General Assembly are the discussion of several issues linked directly to the issue of religious persecution through the implementation of the UN's human rights mechanisms and the UN's continued involvement in particular cases. Additionally religious persecution at the hands of national governments is gaining presence as an issue. Issues slated for discussion include:

_ Assistance to the Palestinian People (Resolution 53/89 of 7 December 1998) and a discussion of the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (Resolutions 53/53-53/57 of 3 December 1998);

_ The question of East Timor , a Catholic former Portuguese colony annexed by Islamic Indonesia shortly after its independence (Resolution 53/402 of 15 December 1998);

_ The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Resolution 53/35 of 30 November 1998) and the War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslav Republic ("Preliminary...").

An additional issue certain to be discussed is Kosovo, the most recent site of religious persecution and human rights abuses.

Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are particularly interested in the case of East Timor, which has resulted in criticism of the UN for its lack of past action on the issue. Additionally, Russia and its former Republics have recently passed laws limiting state recognized religious groups and have been cited for discriminatory practices against Muslims, as in the case in Uzbekistan ("Republic..."). China is also of interest, both for the issue of the freedom of Buddhist Tibet and for practices of the communist state that seek to limit and punish religious involvement. Additional cases are found at the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch web sites, listed at the conclusion of this issue brief.

Also of concern under the umbrella definition of religious persecution is a transnational issue: the worldwide growth of hate organizations, such as the Neo-Nazi and White Supremacist Movements. These organizations and their discriminatory practices often lead to violence and can be found crossing the boundaries of states, making their origins hard to target and a plan of action to combat them difficult. Additionally, when discussing such movements a fragile balance must be struck between the rights to freedom of speech protected by human rights instruments and national laws and the harmful effects of such hate groups upon society.

Solutions

Solutions to the problem of religious persecution must take into account the complexities of the issue, which include: the sovereignty of the state, which directly affects the scope and depth of human rights issues that can be incorporated within peace- keeping operations; the necessary adaptations that must be made in the current peace- keeping structure to incorporate human rights issues; the problem of securing financing for an increase in operations to deal with human rights issues; and the deep-seated origins of many disputes in which religious persecution is an element. Additionally, there is the issue of cultural relativism: should human rights standards be adapted and implemented in differing degrees depending upon the culture? Culture is a factor that must be considered in any solution.

Some of the most promising solutions may come from greater involvement of and attention to human rights NGO's such Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and their incorporation into the UN system. Another approach may be a revamping and refinancing of peacekeeping operations to broaden their scope, but questions of state sovereignty and budget and finance issues raise difficult complications. Solutions must take into account the vastness and complexity of finding a bridge between the state and the international human rights standards created within the framework of the Charter and its supporting human rights documents.

Questions

1. What difficulties arise when attempting to codify a universal standard of religious freedom?
2. How can a human rights issue such as religious persecution represent a threat to international peace and security?
3. What mechanisms already exist within the United Nations system for establishing and protecting the right to religious freedom? Should they be modified, changed, strengthened?
4. How can religious rights be protected while maintaining the sovereignty of individual governments to pass legislation governing standards within their own borders?
5. What are the most notable current examples of religious persecution? Could they have been prevented? What should be done in their aftermath?

 

Sources

  1. Coate, Roger, David Forsyth and Thomas Weiss. The United Nations and Changing World Politics. Westview Press, 1997.
  2. "Preliminary List of Items to be Included in the Provisional Agenda." United Nations Homepage. Accessed on 9 July 1999. Available at: http://www.un.org/ga/54/agenda/prelim.htm
  3. "Republic of Uzbekistan Crackdown in the Fargona Valley: Arbitrary Arrests and Religious Discrimination." Human Rights Watch Homepage. Accessed on 10 July 1999. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/hrw/reports98/uzbekistan
  4. Tessitore, John and Susan Wollfson, eds. A Global Agenda. Rowman and Littlefield, 1996.
  5. Williams, Paul, ed. The International Bill of Human Rights. Entwhistle Books, 1981.
  6. The Human Rights Watch Web Site: http://www.hrw.org
  7. The Amnesty International Web Site: http://www.amnesty.org
  8. The United Nations Web Site: http://www.un.org