Ricerc@Sapienza

The Protection of Religious Freedom in the United Nations System: Normative
Framework and Monitoring Mechanisms. This chapter provides an overview of the
United Nations activities in the field of freedom of religion and belief. First, it explores
the development and evolution of the UN instruments addressing this right, by examining
in particular Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1981 Declaration on the
Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
Notwithstanding the longstanding recognition within the Organization of the need
for the international protection of ‘religious rights’, a general consensus as to the content
of freedom of religion and the permissible limitations thereof is still lacking: in this connection,
the failure in the adoption of a specific convention on the matter is significant.
Second, the focus moves to the UN bodies tasked with monitoring and promoting freedom
of religion. The activity of the Human Rights Committee, the Human Rights Council
and the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance are considered in order to
identify both trends and obstacles to the implementation of the relevant rules. The chapter
concludes by highlighting that, in spite of the efforts made by the United Nations,
the ambiguity and vagueness of the rules on religious freedom as well as the weakness of
the existing institutional mechanisms prevents the Organization from playing an effective
role in ensuring respect for the freedom of religion or belief.