More teeth to the religious rights of minorities and other measures pertaining to practice of religions and religious freedoms

 

Article 18 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights states the following. We may note there that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

However, we would argue this is incomplete, and does not take into account the following factors which we had proposed earlier, which we believe are quite reasonable. Additionally, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1992. The “Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities” is as follows:

Article 1

1. States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.
2. States shall adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends.

Article 2

1. Persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities (hereinafter referred to as persons belonging to minorities) have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, and to use their own language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination.
2. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life.
3. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in decisions on the national and, where appropriate, regional level concerning the minority to which they belong or the regions in which they live, in a manner not incompatible with national legislation.
4. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to establish and maintain their own associations.
5. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to establish and maintain, without any discrimination, free and peaceful contacts with other members of their group and with persons belonging to other minorities, as well as contacts across frontiers with citizens of other States to whom they are related by national or ethnic, religious or linguistic ties.

Article 3

1. Persons belonging to minorities may exercise their rights, including those set forth in the present Declaration, individually as well as in community with other members of their group, without any discrimination.
2. No disadvantage shall result for any person belonging to a minority as the consequence of the exercise or non-exercise of the rights set forth in the present Declaration.

Article 4

1. States shall take measures where required to ensure that persons belonging to minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law.
2. States shall take measures to create favourable conditions to enable persons belonging to minorities to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs, except where specific practices are in violation of national law and contrary to international standards.
3. States should take appropriate measures so that, wherever possible, persons belonging to minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue.
4. States should, where appropriate, take measures in the field of education, in order to encourage knowledge of the history, traditions, language and culture of the minorities existing within their territory. Persons belonging to minorities should have adequate opportunities to gain knowledge of the society as a whole.
5. States should consider appropriate measures so that persons belonging to minorities may participate fully in the economic progress and development in their country.

Article 5

1. National policies and programmes shall be planned and implemented with due regard for the legitimate interests of persons belonging to minorities.
2. Programmes of cooperation and assistance among States should be planned and implemented with due regard for the legitimate interests of persons belonging to minorities.

Article 6

States should cooperate on questions relating to persons belonging to minorities, inter alia , exchanging information and experiences, in order to promote mutual understanding and confidence.

Article 7

States should cooperate in order to promote respect for the rights set forth in the present Declaration.

Article 8

1. Nothing in the present Declaration shall prevent the fulfilment of international obligations of States in relation to persons belonging to minorities. In particular, States shall fulfil in good faith the obligations and commitments they have assumed under international treaties and agreements to which they are parties.
2. The exercise of the rights set forth in the present Declaration shall not prejudice the enjoyment by all persons of universally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms.
3. Measures taken by States to ensure the effective enjoyment of the rights set forth in the present Declaration shall not prima facie be considered contrary to the principle of equality contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
4. Nothing in the present Declaration may be construed as permitting any activity contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, including sovereign equality, territorial integrity and political independence of States.

Article 9

The specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system shall contribute to the full realization of the rights and principles set forth in the present Declaration, within their respective fields of competence.

We believe that protection for religious minorities and the freedom to practice one’s own religion should be based on the following principles, concepts and parameters, all of which are not necessarily directly related to religion:

In this paper, we had proposed the ten canons or the ten commandments of the thinktank “Scholars and intellectuals for mankind” (SCHIMA). To reiterate, these would be as follows:

1. A complete and a total separation of religion and state

2. Developing secular constitutions that grant all human rights to citizens

3. Universal education for all groups and both genders, and being UpToDate with latest pedagogical techniques so that educational systems can be brought UpToDate from time to time 

4. Granting complete religions freedom including freedom to practice, freedom to convert, and freedom to non-religion

5. Saying no to religious inspired laws, and instituting and promulgating secular laws 

6. Taking steps to promoting a scientific temper and a spirit of enquiry in society, by allowing meaningful and productive debate, and improving education systems

7. Phasing out religious education and teaching universal human values instead

8. Allowing free media – There must be absolutely no censorship of internet and media

9. Allowing complete freedom of speech and free and open discussion of religion, and permitting constructive criticism of religion in various platforms such as the media, and in universities.

10, Moving all nations towards democracy and democratically elected governments in due course

We had argued that scholars and intellectuals must fight to gradually bring them into fruition. These principles must be enshrined in the declarations promulgated by the United Nations, and other international bodies as necessary. This can of course, only be done through collaborative and concerted action by scholars, and by putting pressure on governments and institutions over the next couple of decades. These alone can put the menace of religious violence to a complete end, and once and for all. We must also state upfront that religious minorities must be treated on par with the majority in all countries, including Muslim majority countries. In many countries (Muslim majority countries mostly) religious laws are widely practiced. These must not be in conflict with universal rights and international principles at any cost. Indeed, no religious practices must be in conflict with international principles of justice. Such countries must also gradually move towards secular laws, and scholars and intellectuals must fight for it. Better education must also gradually reduce the role played by religion in society. These must become among the biggest movements of the twenty-first century. The UN, other bodies and agencies must also put pressure on other countries to reform and change with the times. This applies mostly to Muslim countries, but also to other countries as well. No country can be immune to the principles of human brotherhood.  This can indeed happen, because, as we are all aware, sanctions were imposed on South Africa during the time of Apartheid, and that regime was brought to an end. Intellectualism must also be modernized, and right-leaning strands, and left-leaning strands must be quickly brought to an end to the extent that they are non-progressive, or non-humanistic.