UNHRC concludes debate on religious intolerance

March 7, 1983

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          Press Release HR/1349
          . . . .. . 7 March 1983 ‘:‘ ..
          . HUMAN RIGHTS COi4HISSION CONCLUDES DEBATE ON RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE .
          It Begins Discussion df'Ef'fe ts of Sci ntific'andtechndiogical Deve1o m'ents .
          . . . “ ‘ on Human Rights . . , . . . .
          The Commission on Human Right's, at its extended afternoon meeting today,
          concluded discussion on the implementation of.the United Nations Declaration
          on the elimination of all forms of intolerance ann discrimination based on
          religion or belief. . . ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ . ‘ ‘ . ‘. ‘ ‘
          The Declaration was proclaimed by. the United Nations General Assembly in
          November 1981, and the Commission included the topic in its agenda at the
          request of the Assembly which requested it to consider hich measures might be
          necessary to implement the Declaration The Commission was also asked to
          consider ways and means of encouraging understanding, tolerance and respect
          for matters relating to freedom of religion or belief.
          The Commission began debate of the topic this morning For its
          discussion, it had before it a draft resolution (docLment E/CN 4/1983/L 68)
          ;hich ,would have the Commission request its Sub—Conmission on the prevention
          of discrimination t6unde'rt'akea comprehensive and thorough study''of'the ‘
          current dimensions of the problems of religious intolerance
          Speakers in the concluding debate were Ireland, Fiji, United States, Togo, ‘
          Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Libya, Switzerland, Peru, Denmark and Guatemala. ,
          The representatives of the Holy See a 'td the United Nations Educational,
          Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also spoke
          Statements were made by the representatii esof the International I
          Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements, christian Democratic World
          Union, World Jewish Congress, Pax Christi, Baha'i International Community, and
          Pax Romana. ,‘ ‘. . “ ‘.: ‘ , ‘ ‘ . . ‘ .
          Also at the meeting the Commission began debate on the effects of ‘
          scientific and technological developments on respect for human rights.
          Speakers in the discussion were: the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, the ‘
          United Kingdom, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Argentina, Congo, Byelorussia,
          German Democratic Republic, and'. Viet Nam. ‘
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          Les commun ues sont destines a l'information; us rue constituent pas des documents otficiels . ,. ,
          For use of information media; not an offficia record , J3P000663

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Press I(elease Hk/1349
. Page5
Thomas CONCEPCION, representative of the Christian Democratic World Union ,
said he came from a country which was called the Pearl of the Orient Seas, a.
country'bf 50 million people of which 40 million were Christians andb million
4us1im br her s. From the time of imposition of martial law in 1972, his .
country; the Philippines, the young democracy died a brutal death. The
so—called re'turn to democratic constitutional system and respect :for basic :.‘
h im n rights and fundamental freedoms in 1981 had instead been marked by an
escalation of gross violations of human and religious rights.. The Commission
he urged, should move to stop the militarization and religious persecution in
the Philippines and all over the world. . . .. . .
Robin GILBERT, representative of the. World Jewish Congress , said his . .:
organization welcomed the continued attention given to this topic. The ‘
questionof religious intolerance was one which had continu6usly. occupied th .
attention f his organization sin ce its creation,..especially in the. form of
its i i lent expression in terms of acts of hatred and anti—Jewish .terror The
World Jewish Congress continued its support for the efforts in de in the .
framework of this agenda item to overcome the religious, and in fact racial, .
prejudices which intolerance in this field fostered. It urged the Commission
to embark with determination on the work called for under the agenda item.
Adtieri—Claude ZOLLER, representative of Fax Christi , said Pax Christi too
attached the greatest importance to respect of religious fTeed6II . ‘As a
Christian organization, it was particularly sensitive ‘to the fundamental right.
of people to choose and to manifest:their own religion and belief. That is
why in th past it had never hesit tedto take a public stand whenevetit was.
of the op r1 that the freedom of religion was being •systematically violated
in any part of the world. Thus it was very pleased ith the adoption of the
Declaration. I was sorry to declare, however, that there were ‘c 1 ountries such
as Czechoslovakia which had voted in favour of the Declaration, but which had
not changed their national legislation so as to fully guarantee this .
unconditional freedom for all their citizens. Pax Christi would urgently
appeal to the CzechoslovakianGovernment to review its national legislation
which provided for restrictions on ‘th performance of religious activities; .s
1ahshid FATIO, representative of the Baha'i International Community , said
the major stumbling block which stood in the way of universal tolerance in' ..
matters of religion was' the fact that the religions of the world we -e :“.. .
generally viewed as ‘entirely separate entities.. They were identified by their
diff rences, ratherthan by their similarities, and this inevitably meant that
they were seen as being in conflict with one another. In the Baha'i view,
there was no conflict at all between the different religions of the world, for
all religion was essentially one. It was the voice of one Cod speaking to one
humanity. The elimination of all forms of divisive prejudice was a
fundamental tenet of Baha'i belief. It condemned intolerance or
discrimination of any kind, and firmly upheld the right of every man and woman
freely to have and to practise the religion or belief of his or her choice,
which included of course the right not to believe. The Baha'is welcomed the
proposals made in the draft resolution now before the Commission. They were
an important first step in the Commission's efforts to implement the
provisions of the Declaration. ,
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Press Release HR/1349.
Page 6
. ‘is. Maria Elena QUIi TEROS, representative ofPax Romana said Pax Romana
was most highly interested in the topic. Respect for fundamental human.
rights, especidll'y religious tol.erance and the recognition of God as the
Supreme13 ing, was..th,e mos.t solid basis.oa which to base the creation of any.
society. The Declaration was a most. irnporCant 'instrurnent,'to be used tG.
foster the .conscienc.e of mankind regarding religious ‘tolerance in a world
here too;rnany Governments did.'precious little to guarantee the full.enjoyment
of this ba ,s ic right.. . . . . . .. .. ,
Norma CONTRERAS ( Guatemala ) said that'if there as freedom of. religion in.
any country it was in her country, Guatemala. At this moment more than a
million .Guatemala.people iere attending theiriass officiated by his Holiness
the Pope. Members of the Church as well as Government officials and , .
authorities bad made all the necessary preparations ifor this. historical . .
event.. -in Guatemala there has been freedom of religion for more, than a
hundred years.and everyone had the right to practise a religion of his choice,
and had the freedom to manifest his religion or beliefs individually -or
collectively.. . . . . . . . . .. .. .
Rights of Reply ‘ . . . .
. -Oi. ac,Ua SOFFER (Israel), speaking in right of reply in the discussion on
this topic, said there was apparently no limi.t to the lies, and vicious remarks
of the Syrian representative... .:It was not merely ironic, butdo nright
sickening., that the represe.nt!ati.ve of a country which blatantly dolated'the.
fundamental precepts of the Geneva.Convention and many other international
humaj jitarian norms, had the ne;rve to didactically preach before this -
Commission. .The Syrian regime, he, said, had contravened international law•by
refusiBg •the identification of the. bodies of Israeli soldiers Syria claimed to
have buried.. The suffering of .the families of such missing soldiers was too.
deep to be expressed in words. ‘ . . . . , . .
. 1ohammad 1AHALLATI ( Iran ) said religious intolerance was one of the .
pres ,s.i .pzoblems. . .of .the times. The need, for.. having a clear—cut definit io,n,of
religious minorities was one of the most important aspects of this problem.
In this connection, iran did not believe that the Baha'is were.a.relig'ious
minority were a;political group in ‘Ira-n's view, and therewas noUnited
Nations document whereone could see the definit' cm of the Baha'is as a .
religiou.s group,. It was not for the Netherlands, to proclaim the. Baha'is in
Iran. a,s . ..relig.ious group. That was the business of the Iranian Gov rnment,
he stressed. . . . - ,
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