PAMUN XIII RESEARCH REPORT - QUESTION OF: MEASURES TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND THE RIGHT TO BELIEVE I. Introduction of Topic: A person s religion is an important source of meaning, identity, dignity and purpose in one s life; the right to practice the religion of one s own choice is widely considered to be a basic human right. As such, religious freedom is an essential part of secure, thriving societies. Yet people worldwide are deprived of this right and subjected to violence, threats, discrimination and abuse because of their religious beliefs. This is truly a global issue, with violence occurring against Catholics and Falon Gong in China, Jews in Hungary, Bahá'ís in Egypt, Jehovah s Witnesses and Hare Krishnas in Russia, Shia and Sufi Muslims in Iran, and Ahmaddiya Muslims in Pakistan, to name just a few examples. Beyond the moral failure associated with the failure to protect the basic human right of religious freedom, and even beyond the unacceptable violence against individuals, religious intolerance can destabilize governments. For instance, in 2011 two high-ranking government officials in Pakistan were assassinated for their opposition to blasphemy laws, including Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province. Less violent, but nonetheless important, challenges to religious freedom exist even in countries where the right of religious freedom is very well established. For instance, in 2011 France passed a law banning the wearing of face coverings such as Islamic niqābs 1, which generated significant controversy on the balance between societal norms and religious freedom. And in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (USA) some residents attempted to block the construction of a mosque in the spring of 2010 by claiming, as reported by the US Justice Department, that Islam is a political ideology rather than a religion and that mosques are political rather than religious in nature. The mosque officially opened in August 2012, but opponents are still challenging the mosque in federal court. Issues of religious freedom and the right to believe are often complicated by the strong emotional and spiritual fervor which opposing sides bring to the debate and by the equally important rights to freedom of speech which, in the perception of many religious faithful, enables others to take blasphemous and highly offensive actions. The challenge to the international community is to navigate these emotionally charged issues in a fair and balanced manner. II. Background: Governments in certain societies have recognized the right to religious freedom throughout the ages. For instance, Cyrus the Great, the ruler of the Persian Empire in the sixth century BC permitted the restoration of temples and religious practices of the local populations across an empire that extended from the border of Egypt to the north of India. More than two thousand years after Cyrus rule, Thomas Jefferson owned two replicas of a Persian cylinder with inscribed text that described the importance of religious freedom under 1 A niqāb is a face veil covering the lower part of the face (up to the eyes) worn by observant Muslim women. Page 1 of 6
Cyrus. This knowledge influenced Jefferson as he drafted, in 1777, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom that states: no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened 2 in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. Twelve years afterwards, in 1789, the first amendment of the US constitution stated: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the fee exercise thereof. And Article 18 of the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. The November 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief noted that religion or belief, for anyone who professes either, is one of the fundamental elements in his conception of life and that freedom of religion or belief should be fully respected and guaranteed. Unfortunately, even 65 years after the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights, religious tolerance is far from a universally practiced principle. The Institute on Religion and Public Policy estimates that more people were killed in the 20th century for their religious beliefs than in the previous 19 centuries combined. 3 As of 2010 approximately seventy five percent of the world s population lives in countries where religious freedom is highly restricted. 4 Beyond the denial of an individual s right to believe as he or she wishes, the restriction of religious choice can lead to significant other problems such as violence and societal violence. 5 Some countries have used blasphemy and apostasy 6 laws to curb religious freedom by preventing individuals the right to believe (or to not 2 Burthered is an archaic form of the term burdened. 3 www.religionandpolicy.org/ Fig. 1 4 Fig.1 provides data from a 2010 study on religious freedom.by the Pew Research Center 5 Fig.2 illustrates data from a study by the Pew Research Center that found a strong correlation between social hostilities in countries where there are the greatest restrictions on religious freedoms. 6 Apostasy is the abandonment or renunciation of a religious belief. Page 2 of 6
believe) whatever religious teachings the personally chose. Fig. 2 The rights of free speech and expression and the right of religious freedom are distinct yet related rights: in fact both are part of the first amendment of the US constitution. Yet one person s freedom of expression can be deeply offensive to the faithful of religions that are targeted by that expression. The 1989 artistic photograph Immersion (Piss Christ) by the American artist and photographer Andres Serrano shows a crucifix 7 submerged in the artist s urine. The work generated extensive backlash and scandal because devout Christians considered the work to be blasphemous and offensive. The artist received multiple death threats and hate mail, and the art was vandalized when being exhibited in in the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. Similarly, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published twelve editorial cartoons not only depicting Muhammad s face 8 but also implying that Muhammad was a supporter of terrorism. This led to protests around the world, including 7 A crucifix is a sculpture of Jesus Christ on a cross. 8 Devout Muslim s believe that depictions of Muhammad are heretical and disrespectful. Page 3 of 6
violent demonstrations and riots in some Islamic countries, and an alleged plot to assassinate one of the cartoonists. And in 2007 Swedish artist Lars Vilks depicted Muhammad as a roundabout dog 9 also provoking major protests from the faithful around the Islamic world. Different parties and governments can disagree strongly in their individual interpretations of the best way to protect religious freedom, and on the degree to which individuals have a right to disagree with or to contest a religion or its tenets, and to what degree freedom of expression outweighs the right to protect that religion from what is considered blasphemous or obscene. In the wake of the Christ Piss exhibition, the US congress enacted legislation, later upheld by the Supreme Court when challenged by supporters of freedom of expression, that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) must take "into consideration general standards of decency" in awarding grants. In response to the Muhammad cartoons, the Muhammad as roundabout dog, and other offenses, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) 10 successfully advocated the UN Human Rights Council to pass multiple resolutions to protect religions from defamation, despite the opposition of many western governments to these UN HRC resolutions. Supporters of anti-defamation of religion laws argue that Islam and other faiths need legal safeguards to discourage hate crimes, discrimination and the rising tide of Islamophobia in the world. Opponents of anti-defamation resolutions argue that this type of resolution, or laws based on similar concepts, infringe on individual rights of expression and that laws protecting religions from defamation or criticism actually increase intolerance and human rights violations. In 2011 the United States and the European Union finally supported a version of a OIC-sponsored resolution along these lines because changes in wording shifted the focus from protecting beliefs to protecting believers and called for "combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatisation of, and discrimination, incitement to violence, and violence against persons based on religion or belief". After passage by the HRC, a similar resolution passed the UN General Assembly in December 2011, also with US and European support. One of the biggest and fastest growing issues for religious freedom relates to the actions of non-state actors such as individuals, mobs, insurgents, militant organizations and terrorist organizations which are often motivated by a violent ideology, a desire to impose their religious beliefs on others, and to harshly punish those who do not follow their own religion. This occurs especially (but not only) in the case of failed states or poorly governed countries. For example, in northern Mali from 2008 to 2012 Islamist extremist groups conducted hudood 11 punishments and desecrated historic shrines of the Sufi branch of the Islamist religion. In northern Nigeria, the group Boko Haram has targeted Christians to cleanse Nigeria of morally corrupt religions that are not based on pure Shari ah law. 9 Roundabout dog refers to a Swedish fad that started in 2006 of anonymous people placing homemade sculptures of dogs in traffic circles. 10 The OIC is the largest voting block in the United Nations, representing 56 UN Member States plus the Palestinian Authority, whose population totals approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide 11 In Islamic law or Sharia, hudud usually refers to the class of punishments that are fixed for certain crimes that are considered to be "claims of God." Page 4 of 6
III. Relevant International Agreements, Conventions, Organizations and Resolutions: 1948: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. 1966: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) requires its signatories to respect the rights of individuals, including their rights to religious freedom. 1981: UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief 2008: Combating Defamation of Religions was one of multiple resolutions passed by the UN Human Rights Council despite opposition by the US and many European UN member states based on their interpretation of the right to believe. 2011: Combating Intolerance, Negative Stereotyping, Stigmatization, Discrimination, Incitement to Violence and Violence Against Persons, Based on Religion or Belief. IV. Main Issues: Although the UN and many other bodies have worked diligently for decades to improve religious tolerance and freedom, significant issues remain to be addressed. Non-state actors: Individuals, mobs, vigilante groups, insurgents and other groups are often motivated by violent religious ideologies and seek to impose their religious beliefs on local populations and to punish harshly those who practice different religions, and/or different means of expressing the same religion. Central and local governments often have great difficulty, and insufficient resources, to counter non-state actors other than by military means, without addressing underlying causes that enable such groups to sprout in a country or community. Insult to Religions versus Free Speech: A balance must be struck between protecting the right of religious believers and the freedom of expression rights of others to criticize or even mock any subject they feel like, even if doing so offends the standards of decency and concepts of blasphemy that religiously devout people may hold. Detention of Asylum Seekers: Across the world, including in Europe, the US and Australia, refugees who have fled religious persecution are detained until the successfully apply for political asylum. Yet this process is often very complex legally and applies to people who often do not even speak the language of the country in which they have sought asylum. Legal representation and other resources are often sourly lacking, resulting in long delays (even years) occur, and refugees are sometimes kept in very poor conditions. Page 5 of 6
V. Web Sites: USCIRF (U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom) is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, the first of its kind in the world, dedicated to defending the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad: http://www.uscirf.gov UN (United Nations) provides a complete and thorough overview of worldwide peace and security, development, human rights, humanitarian affairs and international law: http://www.un.org The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe: http://www.ohchr.org OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) is the world's largest regional security organization with 57 member States from Europe, Central Asia and North America. It has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico- military, economic, environmental, and human aspects: http://www.osce.org Religious Tolerence.org is a website of multi-faith group whose purpose is to disseminate accurate religious information, exposing religious fraud, hatred and misinformation and promoting religious tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council whose mandate is to identify existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief and present recommendations on ways and means to overcome such obstacles. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/index.htm The Institute on Religion & Public Policy is an international, inter-religious non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring freedom of religion as the foundation for security, stability, and democracy. The Institute works globally to promote fundamental rights, and religious freedom in particular, with government policy-makers, religious leaders, business executives, academics, non-governmental organizations and others. http://www.religionandpolicy.org/ International Coalition for Religious Freedom "is a non-profit, non-sectarian, educational organization dedicated to defending the religious freedom of all, regardless of creed, gender, or ethnic origin. www.religiousfreedom.com/ Page 6 of 6