The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief was established in 1986 by the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of ...
.
Background
The
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
passed the
in 1981. Although not endowed with the force of
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
, this resolution was the first international legal instrument devoted exclusively to the
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...
.
In furtherance of the goals of the 1981 resolution and in support the general evolution of the freedom of religion as a
human right
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights established the
"Special Rapporteur on Religion Intolerance." In 2000 the Commission on Human Rights changed the mandate title of the position to "Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief", in order that the position's name may more accurately capture the need for the Special Rapporteur to protect individuals's right to change religion or abstain from religious belief.
Independent Experts
The Independent Expert is appointed by the
UN Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis ...
. The mandate holder has been invited to identify existing and emerging obstacles to the free exercise of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and present recommendations on methods by which such obstacles may be overcome.
Past Independent Experts:
*Angelo d'Almeida Ribeiro (Portugal), March 1986 -1993
*Abdelfattah Amor (Tunisia), April 1993 - July 2004
*
Asma Jahangir
Asma Jilani Jahangir ( ur, , ''ʿĀṣimah Jahāṉgīr''; 27 January 1952 – 11 February 2018) was a Pakistani human rights lawyer and social activist who co-founded and chaired the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Jahangir was known ...
(Pakistan), August 2004 - July 2010
*
Heiner Bielefeldt
Heiner Bielefeldt (12 April 1958) is a German philosopher, historian and Catholic theologian. He is Professor of Human Rights and Human Rights Policy at the University of Erlangen. From 2010 to 2016, he served as United Nations Special Rapporte ...
(Germany), 1 August 2010 – November 2016
*
Ahmed Shaheed
Ahmed Shaheed ( dv, ޝަހީދު, born January 27, 1964) is a Maldivian diplomat, politician and professor. On 24 March 2016, he was appointed for the sixth year running as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in t ...
(Maldives), 1 November 2016 – Present
Current Independent Expert:
*Nazila Ghanea (Iran), 2022 – Present
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/freedomreligion/pages/freedomreligionindex.aspx
*
Human rights