INTRODUCTION

                The International Religious Liberty Association held its Fourth World Congress on Religious Liberty in Rio de Janeiro, June 23-26, 1997. The IRLA has worked for the cause of religious freedom throughout the world for almost a century. (Its affiliate in Western Europe, Association Internationale pour la Defense de la Liberte Religieuse, active for nearly 50 years, is a United Nations-accredited non-governmental organization.) Representing some 40 nations and numerous denominations, Congress participants included religious leaders, government officials, and religious liberty experts from the academic world.

                At the conclusion of the IRLA Fourth World Congress, participants expressed profound appreciation and respect for the recent and significant progress in the development of democratic, pluralistic societies on the South American continent. Experience around the world has shown how difficult it is to remove all intolerance and all religious discrimination and to ensure completely full equality before the law for all individuals and all religious organizations. Is there one society anywhere that holds a perfect record? Therefore, although not every ideal of religious liberty may as yet be fully realized in every South American nation, the participants applauded governmental and religious authorities and other thought leaders in Brazil and in the other countries for their steadily increasing support for freedom of religion and conscience, trusting they will continue to uphold these high ideals and further implement them.

                As the prime sponsor of the Fourth World Congress on Religious Liberty, the International Religious Liberty Association states for the record that it stands ready to assist civil and religious leaders in all parts of the world in identifying any problems in the area of religious freedom that yet need to be addressed. The IRLA offers to help in any way possible to find solutions to difficult situations now and in the future.

CONCLUDING STATEMENT

                Participants in the Fourth World Congress on Religious Liberty of the International Religious Liberty Association, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 23-26, 1997, reaffirm the following principles and reach the following conclusions:

PRINCIPLES

                The participants in the Congress

                (1) Recognize the innate and universal human right to religious freedom found in the Charter of the United Nations, and that states have pledged themselves thereunder to promote and encourage “respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion” (Charter of the United Nations, Article 1, Section 3).

                (2) Reaffirm the principles articulated in the many significant provisions of international instruments addressing religious liberty, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, the American Convention on Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and other related agreements and principles enunciated in the Helsinki Process.

                (3) Accept and affirm the provisions of the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s General Comment to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted on September 27, 1993, which has elaborated the meaning of freedom of religion or belief. In particular, the Congress participants concur with the General Comment’s recognition of the broad scope of religious freedom in its determination 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 reason, including the fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that may be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community” (General Comment, Paragraph 2).

                (4) Recognize the important role that religion plays in human life and society, and that respect for freedom of religion and belief constitutes a fundamental basis for human relations and is accordingly a vital responsibility of states everywhere.

                (5) Emphasize that, particularly since in modern pluralistic societies many of the most significant religious freedom problems flow from lack of understanding and from laws and actions of public officials that inadvertently rather than intentionally burden religion, it is critical to make certain that only those limitations on manifestation of religion be permitted that are prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society, that is, are justified by pressing societal needs that can be attained in no less burdensome way.

                (6) Reaffirm the principle of the independence of churches and other religious communities in their internal affairs and in carrying out their mission.

                (7) Emphasize that freedom of religion or belief includes the right to change one’s religion or belief and the right to express those beliefs to and share them with others, while always respecting their rights.

CONCLUSIONS

                (1) During the course of the Congress, various religious groups were given opportunities to voice grievances  and to bring incidents of intolerance and religious discrimination to the attention of the IRLA. Their presentations attest the need for continued vigilance in seeking better ways to implement the ideals of religious freedom. The IRLA

will do its best to respond to the various requests for monitoring and other follow-up activity made during these presentations. A summary of the reports submitted to the IRLA will be delivered to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance.

                (2) Among other things, the IRLA will continue to help facilitate productive dialogue between aggrieved groups and pertinent governmental or non-governmental organizations in order to ameliorate situations involving violation of religious human rights.

                (3) New religious movements pose challenges as well as opportunities for our increasingly globalized and pluralistic society. This Congress affirms that the principle of religious liberty applies equally to new religions as to established ones. We urge that any concerns regarding social disorder pertaining to new religious movements be handled with special sensitivity for religious minorities. Governments and public officials should exercise caution and sensitivity when characterizing religious groups or religious beliefs, so as to avoid stigmatizing specific groups or contributing to patterns of intolerance. Where criminal conduct occurs, general criminal laws and procedures should be invoked, and those individuals responsible should be held accountable before the law without regard to their religion.

                (4) Incidents of religious discrimination and intolerance appear to be increasing in various parts of the world, even in countries with strong human rights traditions. In this regard, the Congress participants applaud the past and welcome the proposed visits to various countries of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Professor Abdelfattah Amor, in order to prepare objective reports to the UN Commission on Human Rights regarding any violations of religious liberty.

                (5) Governments, international organizations, and other groups should foster educational efforts in school curricula and other contexts concerning the fundamental importance of religious liberty, mutual respect, and tolerance within the broader framework of human rights.

                (6) In the context of modern legal systems, the right of religious believers to have some form of legal personality or entity for purposes of organizing their affairs is vital to the exercise of religious freedom of the group.  The precise form of such an entity must necessarily vary from country to country, whether it be a registered association, a trust, a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, or some other form of entity commonly used for such purposes in a particular legal system. The important point is that some type of entity should be available under the auspices of which a religious association can acquire or rent property for purposes of worship services, enter into contracts, establish educational institutions for training its own members and for providing education for youth, carry out charitable purposes, establish contacts with sister organizations in other countries, and, in general, fulfill its religious mission as it sees fit. Such status should be made available upon request, without unreasonable delays. Denial or revocation of entity status should be appealable to the judiciary. Subject to compliance with a country’s constitution and laws, which themselves must be in compliance with general international commitments governing religious freedom, the religious organization should be allowed to determine its own ecclesiastical structure in accordance with its own beliefs, including such matters as territorial jurisdiction and ecclesiastical polity, since such matters constitute internal religious affairs. The requirements for obtaining entity status should not be used as a mechanism for obstructing a religious organization’s efforts to accomplish its religious mission.

                (7) The IRLA calls on leaders of government around the world to respect self-determination as a fundamental right of every individual, including the right to worship or not to worship according to individual conscience, to practice his or her faith in society, and to change his or her religion or beliefs. The IRLA further calls on religious and governmental leaders to seek to implement these fundamental ideals, rights, and duties for all humanity.

                (8) In the spirit of the Golden Rule, religious groups who are in the majority in a given country should remember to give the minorities in their midst the same high level of respect they would like their co-religionists to receive in other areas where they are in the minority.

                (9) Recognizing that legislation in and of itself cannot solve all the problems and challenges of lack of mutual respect and tolerance, the IRLA calls on people of good will everywhere to seek to implement the ideals of religious liberty.