Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance

A/RES/49/188View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, published in 1995.

What other versions does this mandate have?

30 versions · 1968–2005

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/59/199

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2005	A/RES/59/199	Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance	1,458	94%Compare
2004	A/RES/58/184	Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance	1,440	80%Compare
2003	A/RES/57/208	Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance	1,399	86%Compare
2002	A/RES/56/157	Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance	1,346	73%Compare
2001	A/RES/55/97	Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance	1,316	80%Compare

What’s in this document?

22 operative paragraphs

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;

Urges States to ensure that their constitutional and legal systems provide full guarantees of freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief to all without discrimination, including the provision of effective remedies in cases where the right to freedom of religion or belief is violated;

Urges States to ensure, in particular, that no one within their jurisdiction is, on account of their religion or belief, deprived of the right to life or the right to liberty and security of person, or subjected to torture or arbitrary arrest or detention;

Condemns all instances of hatred, intolerance and acts of violence, intimidation and coercion motivated by religious extremism and intolerance of religion or belief;

Urges States, in conformity with international standards of human rights, to take all necessary action to prevent such instances, to take all appropriate measures to combat hatred, intolerance and acts of violence, intimidation and coercion motivated by religious extremism, and to encourage understanding, tolerance and respect in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief;

Recognizes that legislation alone is not enough to prevent violations of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief;

Emphasizes that, as underlined by the Human Rights Committee, restrictions on the freedom to manifest religion or belief are permitted only if limitations are prescribed by law, are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others, and are applied in a manner that does not vitiate the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;

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;

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;

Expresses its grave concern at attacks upon religious places, sites and shrines, and calls upon all States, in accordance with their national legislation and in conformity with international human rights standards, to exert utmost efforts to ensure that such places, sites and shrines are fully respected and protected;

Recognizes that the exercise of tolerance and non-discrimination by persons and groups is necessary for the full realization of the aims of the Declaration;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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 with regard to the drafting of basic legal texts in conformity with international instruments on human rights and taking into account the provisions of the Declaration;

Welcomes the efforts of non-governmental organizations to promote the implementation of the Declaration;

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;

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;

Requests the Commission on Human Rights to continue its consideration of measures to implement the Declaration;

Requests the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights to submit an interim report to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session;

Decides to consider the question of the elimination of all forms of religious intolerance at its fiftieth session under the item entitled "Human rights questions".

Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance

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