Second, the Human Rights Committee issues advices on important human rights issues which merit special attention. These advices are known as “General Comments.” In 1993, the Committee adopted a General Comment recognising the application of Article 18 of ICCPR to minority religions. The Comment states, in part:
“Article 18 is not limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs with institutional characteristics or practises analogous to those of traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reasons, including the fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that may be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community.”
Third, the Human Rights Committee has the power to investigate any case alleging human rights violations brought by an individual who is from any of the 92 States which have ratified the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR [see Appendix]. The Optional Protocol enables the Human Rights Committee to receive and consider communications from individuals who claim that their rights under ICCPR have been violated. Within six months the State that is the subject of the complaint, and which having signed the Optional Protocol recognises the competence of the Committee to investigate the matter, must indicate what remedy, if any, it has taken.
The Committee will first determine if a case is admissible – if it satisfies certain procedural requirements such as the rights at issue must be protected by the ICCPR, and the individual must have exhausted domestic remedies. Once the Committee investigates a case, it will then publish its views on the case, which have great force as the Committee possesses exclusive authority to determine if a country is in compliance with the ICCPR.
The other arm of the International Bill of Human Rights is the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This Covenant protects, among other economic, social and cultural rights, the right to work, to join trade unions and to enjoy an education. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, with 18 expert members who are citizens of contractual States, ensures compliance with the ICESCR through review of periodic reports submitted by the States.
If your child is receiving education at a school where a teacher is advocating religious hatred, you can refer the school authorities to the ICESCR, which has been ratified by 135 States. Along with Article 18 of the ICCPR and the UNESCO Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination in Education and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ICESCR legally binds governments to use education to promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among racial, ethnic and religious groups. This is an important protection in an age when some European governments are still using schools to indoctrinate children against minority religions.
Continued...
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