I have the honour of delivering this cross-regional joint statement on behalf of a group of countries.

We recall that Article 18 of the ICCPR guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to have, change, adopt, stop adhering to or not to have a religion or belief, as a fundamental human right of every human being, as well as to practise and manifest it freely either individually or in community with others, in public or private.

It is each State’s responsibility to ensure that this right can be exercised without fear of intimidation, discrimination, coercion, violence or persecution.

Freedom of religion or belief directly contributes to democracy, development, the rule of law, and peace and stability. In contrast, violations of freedom of religion or belief exacerbate intolerance and in some settings constitute early indicators of potential violence, conflicts and wider persecution.

Likewise, we recall that Article 19 of the ICCPR guarantees that everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference and the right to freedom of expression. We recall that freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association, and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion therefore are human rights. Freedom of religion or belief is intrinsically linked to freedom of opinion and expression and other human rights and fundamental freedoms, all of which contribute towards the building of pluralistic, tolerant, and democratic societies.

We are deeply concerned by actions taken by an increasing number of governments to restrict the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, both offline and online, and by rising instances of harassment and reprisals, including enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment as well as killings of individuals exercising their right to free speech. We recall that freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression are interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing rights.

Freedom of religion or belief is, like all other human rights, an individual right. It does not protect a religion or belief as such, nor does it prohibit the criticism of religions or beliefs. Everyone is allowed to express their opinion on religions or beliefs, including to criticize them.

Freedom of expression is the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.  We underline the importance for every society to accept the expression of dissent and criticism against any religion, as long as such expression does not constitute advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or acts of violence. 
We recall that this was also the approach of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18 from 2011, and the subsequent Istanbul Process, which were important steps in efforts to confront religious intolerance and served to move away from the stalemate of ‘defamation of religions’. We are committed to continue to engage actively within the next rounds of the Istanbul Process inter alia to address root causes. We recognize that interreligious, interfaith and intercultural dialogue can play a positive role in combating religious hatred, incitement and violence.

We firmly believe that laws that criminalize blasphemy restrict expression concerning religious or other beliefs; and can have a serious inhibiting effect on freedom of expression and on freedom of religion or belief as guaranteed by the ICCPR and by a number of other international human rights instruments and we recommend the decriminalisation of such offences.

We also find that blasphemy laws are often applied in order to disproportionally persecute, mistreat, or intimidate persons belonging to religious or other minorities.

We call upon States to immediately end the application of such laws, against persons belonging to religious or other minorities. We acknowledge that significant steps have been taken already in the global movement to abolish laws against blasphemy and apostasy. In particular, the Rabat Plan of Action expressly calls for the repeal of blasphemy laws, drawing upon the guidance of the Human Rights Committee in their General Comment No. 34. We deplore that apostasy continues to be criminalised in 22 countries.

We also call on States to uphold women’s human rights and ensure gender equality, and repeal discriminatory laws that allow for, condone or justify harmful practices and violence against women on the grounds of religion or belief, since religion can never be used as an excuse to violate human rights, including women’s human rights.

We also recall that international human rights law does not allow for penalising or discriminating against individuals for leaving or changing their religion or belief or for inducing others to change a religion or belief.

We therefore deeply regret that limitations to the inherent right to change or leave one’s religion or belief are among the most common violations of freedom of religion or belief, as confirmed by the previous Special Rapporteur on FoRB. We call upon States to immediately end the application of such laws, with a view of repealing them in a near future.

Chair,

We underline our resolute opposition to the death penalty, the imposition of physical punishment, or deprivation of liberty as penalties for notably blasphemy and apostasy.

We express our strong concern that at least twelve countries sentence the death penalty for blasphemy or apostasy, despite the limitation under international law that the death penalty may only be applied for the most serious crimes, and seven sentence the death penalty for both. We call upon States which have not yet abolished the death penalty to enact a moratorium on persons having received a death sentenced for these crimes.

Moreover, we are deeply concerned about recent incidents where persons, including women, have been killed or lynched following allegations of blasphemy or apostasy.

These incidents are a stark reminder that States have an obligation to prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence, intimidation and harassment on the basis of religion or belief and that failure to do so constitutes a human rights violation.

We also call on States to abstain from any incitement, in words or by other means, offline and online, to violence against persons exercising their rights to free speech with regard to blasphemy and apostasy, and to actively provide protection to victims or potential victims.

Finally, we call on all States to grant asylum to victims of persecutions for exercising their right to practice the religion or belief of their choice or to change their religion or belief, and we reiterate the importance of the principle of non-refoulement in that regard.

As we mark the 30th anniversary of the 1992 UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, action in multilateral fora is essential. We will continue to promote freedom of religion or belief within the United Nations and other international organisations and we will engage actively with the recently appointed UN Special Rapporteur.

I thank you