Nations or members of specialized agencies the preliminary draft of a United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance prepared by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and the report of the Working Group set up by the Commission on Human Rights at its twentieth session to prepare a draft Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance; invited Governments to transmit to the Secretary-General their observations on the above-mentioned documents; requested the Secretary-General to submit the observations received, together with an analytical presentation, to the General Assembly at its twentyeighth session and decided to give priority at that session to the elaboration of a Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance with a view to the adoption, if possible, of such a declaration as part of the observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; (i) At its twenty-eighth session, the General Assembly considered the question and allocated it to the Third Committee. In connexion with the item, the Third Committee had before it a report containing the observations received from Governments (A/9134 and addenda 1 and 2) and an analytical presentation of the observations received up to 15 August 1973 prepared in accordance with General Assembly resolution 3027 (XXVII). The Committee focused its discussion on the text of the preamble of the draft Declaration prepared by the Sub-Commission and on the text of draft articles prepared by the Working Group as well as amendments thereto. In this connexion, it may be recalled that at the twentieth session of the Commission on Human Rights, the Vice-Chairman of the Working Group, in introducing the report of the Group, stated that the report did not deal with the preamble, in accordance with the practice of the United Nations bodies to deal first with the substantive provisions before drafting the preamble;

(j) While it was considered during the debate in the Third Committee that the draft articles prepared by the Working Group and the suggestions, comments and amendments thereto presented by Member States, constituted a suitable orientation for the preparation of a draft Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance, the belief was expressed that the matter required additional study. On the unanimous recommendation of the Committee, the General Assembly adopted resolution 3069 (XXVIII).

4. This working paper contains two sections dealing respectively with the present state of consideration of the preamble of the draft Declaration prepared by the Sub-Commission and of the draft articles prepared by the Working Group. Therefore, after reproducing each provision and the amendments thereto which were submitted by representatives of Member States in the course of the debate in the Third Committee of the General Assembly, references are made immediately thereafter (a) to the suggestions and observations transmitted by Governments under resolution 3027 (XXVII) of the General Assembly; (b) to the views expressed by representatives of Member States during the discussion on the matter in the Third Committee; and (c) to the relevant proposals, if any, contained in the report of the Working Group set up by the Commission at its twentieth session.

5. The texts of the preliminary draft of a Declaration prepared by the SubCommission and the relevant parts of the report of the Working Group not reproduced in other parts of this document are set forth in annex I and annex II of the present document, respectively.

6. The observations received from Governments pursuant to the request contained in paragraph 2 of General Assembly resolution 3069 (XXVIII) will be distributed in document E/CN.4/1146.

7. In accordance with paragraph 3 of the resolution, the following documents, which were before the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth session, will be made available to the Commission:

(a) Document A/9134 and Add. 1 and 2, containing the substantive observations of the following 25 Governments on the Sub-Commission's preliminary draft of a Declaration and on the report of the Commission's Working Group: Austria, Brazil, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Holy See, India, Iraq, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Togo, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America and Zambia.

7 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Thirty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 8 (E/3873), chap. III, para, 297.

(b) Document A/9135, containing an analytical presentation of the observations contained in document A/9134. The document is divided into two sections: in section II A, observations of a general character are summarized; in section II B, observations concerning the texts prepared by the Sub-Commission and by the Working Group are set out provision by provision. In this connexion, it will be recalled that the Working Group used as a basis for its discussion the preliminary draft submitted by the Sub-Commission, but was able to take into consideration only six articles of that draft. Moreover, as a result of modifications made by the Working Group, the articles which it prepared did not in all cases correspond to those contained in the Sub-Commission's preliminary draft. For purposes of clarity, the Secretary-General in document A/9135 used the SubCommission's draft as a basis for the analytical presentation; before summarizing the comments on each provision, the text prepared by the Sub-Commission was reproduced first and the corresponding text submitted by the Working Group, if any, is reproduced immediately thereafter.

(c) A document containing the summary records of the discussion at the 2006th, 2009th to 2014th meetings of the Third Committee during the twentyeighth session of the General Assembly.

I. AMENDMENTS, OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS RELATING TO THE PREAMBLE OF THE TEXT PREPARED BY THE SUB-COMMISSION

8. As indicated in paragraph 3(i) above, the Third Committee of the General Assembly used the text prepared by the Sub-Commission as a basis for its consideration of the preamble of a draft Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance.

TITLE

9. The title of the draft Declaration, as it appears in the texts prepared by the Sub-Commission and by the Working Group reads as follows: "United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance."

10. The following amendment was submitted: Morocco proposed (A/C.3/ L.2029) that the title of the draft Declaration should read as follows: "Draft International Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief."

11. Suggestions and observations relating to the title were made by Austria (A/9134 and A/9135, paragraph 6); Brazil and Morocco (A/C.3/SR.2010; Morocco (A/C.3/SR.2012).

PREAMBLE

12. In the text submitted by the Sub-Commission, the preamble reads as follows: "The General Assembly:

"Considering that the Charter of the United Nations is based on the principles of the dignity and equality of all human beings and seeks, among other basic objectives, to achieve international co-operation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion,

"Considering that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration, without distinction of any kind, in particular as to race, colour, religion or national origin, "Considering that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims further that all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law and that all are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination and against any incitement to such discrimination.

"Considering further that the right of everyone to freedom of thought, conscience and religion has been proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which right includes freedom to change one's religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one's religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship or observance.

"Noting that the disregard of human rights and fundamental freedoms through discrimination because of religion and the denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion has brought in the past untold sorrow to mankind by inflicting grievous suffering on those who were its victims and in injuring those responsible for them,

"Considering that in order to eliminate and prevent all such forms of religious intolerance it is vital for Governments to take legislative, educational and other

measures to that end, and for organizations and private persons to lend their fullest support to the achievement of this objective,

"Convinced that the building of a world society free from all forms of religious intolerance is one of the fundamental objectives of the United Nations,

"Solemnly affirms the necessity of adopting national and international measures to that end and in order to secure the universal and effective recognition and observances of the principles set forth below and

"Proclaims this declaration:"

13. The following amendment was submitted: Canada proposed (A/C.3/ L.2031) to amend the end of the second preambular paragraph to read "without distinction of any kind, in particular as to race, colour, sex, religion or national origin".

14. Suggestions and observations relating to the fourth preambular paragraph were made by the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (A/C.3/SR.2012).

15. Suggestions and observations relating to the fifth preambular paragraph were made by Austria and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (A/9134 and A/9135, paragraph 8), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the German Democratic Republic, the Philippines, Italy and Morocco (A/C.3/SR. 2012).

16. Suggestions and observations relating to the sixth preambular paragraph were made by Austria (A/9134 and A/9135, paragraph 8) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (A/C.3/SR 2012).

17. Suggestions and observations relating to the seventh preambular paragraph were made by Austria (A/9134 and A/9135, paragraph 8), the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Ghana, Iraq, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Morocco (A/C.3/SR.2012).

18. Suggestions and observations relating to the eighth and ninth preambular paragraphs were made by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (A/S3/ SR.2012).

19. Suggestions and observations relating to additional preambular paragraphs were made by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (A/9135, paragraph 9) and by the Holy See (A/9134/Add.2).

II. AMENDMENTS, OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS RELATING TO THE DRAFT ARTICLES PREPARED BY THE WORKING GROUP SET UP BY THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AT ITS TWENTIETH SESSION

20. As indicated in paragraph 3(i) above, the Third Committee used the text prepared by the Working Group as a basis for its consideration of the substantive provisions of a draft Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance.

ARTICLE I

21. Article I of the text submitted by the Working Group reads as follows: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to adhere or not to adhere to any religion or [to any religious or non-religious] belief and to change his religion or belief in accordance with the dictates of his conscience, without being subjected to any coercion likely to impair his freedom of choice or decision in the matter." 8

22. The following amendments to the above-mentioned text were submitted: (a) Netherlands proposed (A/C.3/L.2027) to delete the words in square brackets, "to any religious or non-religious", and to add the following sentence at the end of the article: "The expression 'religion or belief' shall include theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs."

(b) Morocco submitted a subamendment (A/C.3/L.2041) whereby the second sentence of the amendments to article I submitted by the Netherlands in document A/C.3/L.2027 would read as follows: "The expression 'belief' shall include non-theistic and atheistic beliefs."

(c) The German Democratic Republic and Poland proposed (A/C.3/L.2033): (i) to replace the words "to adhere or not to adhere to any religion or belief" by "to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice"; (ii) to add the following sentence at the end of the article: "The expression 'religion or belief' shall include theistic or non-theistic beliefs and atheistic convictions, it shall exclude racism, nazism, apartheid and all similar ideologies which are based

8 The words in brackets are those on which no agreement was reached in the Working Group.

on racial intolerance and terror as a gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

(d) New Zealand proposed (A/C.3/L.2034) to add the following sentence at the end of article I: "The expression 'religion or belief' shall include theistic, agnostic and atheistic beliefs or convictions."

(e) Morocco proposed (A/C.3/L.2042) that the amendment submitted by New Zealand in document A/C.3/L.2034 should read as follows: "The expression 'belief' shall include agnostic and atheistic beliefs."

(f) Morocco proposed (A/C.3/L.2040) to add after the words "any religion or" in article I the words "religious belief" and to delete the words between square brackets.

(g) Brazil proposed (A/C.3/L.2043) (i) to replace the words "to any religion or to any religious or non-religious belief" by the words "to any theistic, non-theistic or agnostic beliefs"; (ii) to replace the words "change his religion or belief" by the words "change his or her teaching"; (iii) to add the words "or her" after the words "dictates of his" and after the words "impair his"; (iv) to replace in this and all subsequent articles the words "of religion or belief" by the words "theistic, non-theistic or agnostic beliefs"; and (v) to add in this and all subsequent articles, wherever the word "his" occurs, the words "or her".

23. Suggestions and observations relating to article I were made by Austria, the Netherlands and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (A/9134 and A/9135, paragraphs 23 and 24); Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America (A/9134/Add.1); the Holy See (A/9134/Add.2); the German Democratic Republic, Morocco, the Netherlands, the United States of America and Egypt (A/C.3/SR.2012).

ARTICLE II

24. Article II of the text submitted by the Working Group reads as follows: "Discrimination between human beings on the ground of religion or belief is an offence to human dignity and shall be condemned as a denial of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, as a violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and as an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations among nations."

25. The following amendments to the above-mentioned text were submitted: (a) The Netherlands proposed (A/C.3/L.2027 ) to insert after the words "the Universal Declaration of Human Rights" the following words: "and elaborated in the International Covenants on Human Rights."

(b) The Ukranian SSR proposed (A/C.3/L.2037) to replace article II by an article reading as follows: "In order that freedom of conscience may be fully guaranteed, the Church shall be separated from the State and the School from the Church. All churches and religious creeds and tendencies shall be equal before the law. A single church, religion or religious organization shall or may be accorded privileges of any kind or be subject to restrictions of any kind in its activities. No church or religion shall have a position of de jure or de facto domination."

26. Suggestions and observations relating to article II were made by Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Sweden (A/9134 and A/9135, paragraph 12); Austria, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (A/9135, paragraph 13); the United Kingdom, the United States of America (A/9134/Add.1); the Holy See (A/9134/Add.2), the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Netherlands, the United States of America, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands (A/C.3/SR. 2013).

ARTICLE III

27. Article III of the text submitted by the Working Group reads as follows: "1. No individual or group shall be subjected by any State, institution, group or individual on the ground of religion or belief to any discrimination in the recognition, exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"2. Everyone has the right to effective remedial relief by the competent national tribunals against any acts violating the rights set forth in this Brazil proposed that the last two amendments should apply also to all.

Declaration or any acts of discrimination he may suffer on the grounds of religion or belief [with respect to his fundamental rights and freedoms] [as defined by the constitution or by law].

28. The following amendments to the above-mentioned text were submitted: (a) The Netherlands proposed (A/C.3/L.2027) to remove in the second paragraph the first pair of brackets and to delete the following words in the second pair of brackets: "as defined by the constitution or by law".

(b) New Zealand proposed (A/C.3/L.2034) to replace in paragraph 2 the words "by the competent national tribunals" by the words "by whatever means may be appropriate".

(c) Zambia proposed (A/C.3/L.2038) to add at the end of paragraph 1 the words "subject to the interests of society as a whole".

(d) Brazil proposed (A/C.3/L.2043) to add the following new subparagraph 3: "No individual, group or institution shall practice or disseminate its teachings considered to be detrimental to the nationalistic, cultural, civil, economic, political and social development of the State, nor to use its teachings to interfere in the electoral processes of the State, as defined by the Constitution or law of the State."

29. Suggestions and observations relating to article III were made by India and Austria (A/9134 and A/9135, paragraphs 17 and 21); the United Kingdom, the United States (A/9134/Add.1); the Holy See (A/9134/Add.2); New Zealand, Zambia, the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States of America, Sweden, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the Philippines and Denmark (A/C.3/SR.2013).

ARTICLE IV

30. Article IV of the text submitted by the Working Group reads as follows: "[1.] All States shall take effective measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination based on religion or belief, in the recognition, exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all fields of civil, political, economic, social and cultural life. They should enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit such discrimination and take all appropriate measures to combat those prejudices which lead to religious intolerance."

"[2. Particular efforts shall be made to prevent discrimination based on religion or belief, especially in the fields of civil rights [access to] citizenship and the enjoyment of political rights, such as the right to participate in elections, to hold public office, or in other ways to take part in the government of the country as well as in the field of labour and employment.]" 31. The following amendments to the above-mentioned text were submitted: (a) The Netherlands proposed (A/C.3/L.2027) to replace in the second sentence of paragraph 1 the word "should" by "shall" and to delete the second paragraph.

(b) Morocco proposed (A/C.3/L.2029) to replace, in paragraph 1 of article IV, the words "religious intolerance" by "intolerance in the matter of religion or belief".

(c) The Ukrainian SSR proposed (A/C.3/L.2037) (i) to include the following new paragraph 2 in article IV: "All persons shall be guaranteed equality in all spheres of economic, governmental, cultural, social and political life, irrespective of their religion or other beliefs."

(ii) In the original paragraph 2, which becomes paragraph 3, to replace the words "belief, especially in the fields of civil rights" by "other beliefs in the matter of".

(d) Zambia proposed (A/C.3/L.2038) to add at the end of paragraph 2 of article IV the words "so long as the interests of society as a whole are not compromised".

32. Suggestions and observations relating to article IV were made by Austria and Canada (A/9134 and A/9135, paragraph 21); Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States (A/9134/Add.1); Bolivia (A/C.3/SR.2011); Sweden, New Zealand, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Morocco, the United States of America, Italy, Liberia and Venezuela (A/C.3/SR.2013).