Religious Apartheid: 1996 – Official Repression of Minority Religious Rights in Germany
In 1993, the United Nations Human Rights Committee completed a General Comment which specifically recognizes the application of Article 18 of the Covenant to new religions.135 The Human Rights Committee found that:
Article 18 is not limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs with institutional characteristics or practices 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.
Article 2(1) of the Covenant requires parties to protect all individuals within their territories:
Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Article 9(1) also guarantees that:
Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person.
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion has been recognized by the United Nations as an absolute right; no restrictions of any kind may be imposed upon man’s inner thoughts or moral consciousness, or his attitude towards the universe or its creator. This approach governed the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was also adopted by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities when it prepared draft principles on freedom and non-discrimination in the matter of religious rights and practices after completing a thorough study of the subject, and by the bodies which prepared the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
In its resolution 36/55 of 25 November 1981, the United Nations General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, and resolved to adopt all necessary measures for the speedy elimination of such intolerance in all its forms and manifestations and to prevent and combat discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief.
The Declaration defines the expression “intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief” as meaning “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on religion or belief and having as its purpose or as its effect nullification or impairment of the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis” (art. 2).
Article 3 provides:
Discrimination between human beings on the grounds of religion or belief constitutes an affront to human dignity and a disavowal of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and shall be condemned as a violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enunciated in detail in the International Covenants on Human Rights, and as an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations between nations.
Germany’s Conduct Violates International Legal Requirements Continued