Religious Apartheid 1997 – Continuing Official Repression of Minority Religious Rights in Germany

The cardinal principle of freedom of religion and conscience has been a central focus of the United Nations at least since the adoption by the General Assembly of Resolution 1781 (XVII) of 7 December 1962 in which the Assembly requested the Economic and Social Council to ask the Human Rights Commission to prepare a draft of the Declaration on Religious Intolerance. Since that time, Special Rapporteurs, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly have made many detailed pronouncements reaffirming the fundamental right of individuals to profess and practice the religion of their choice free from official persecution.

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 nondiscrimination 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” (Article 2). Article 3 of the Declaration provides that 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 human rights.

Germany’s Conduct Violates International
Legal Requirements Continued...

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