Countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence

On 12 July 2023, the Human Rights Council adopted its resolution 53/1, entitled “Countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence”.

In the resolution, the Human Rights Council requested the High Commissioner to present at its fifty-fourth session an oral update on the various drivers, root causes and human rights impacts of religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, highlighting gaps in existing national, legal, policy and law enforcement frameworks in particular in the context of the urgent debate, held at the fifty-third session of the Human Rights Council, to be followed by an interactive dialogue at its fifty-fourth session (operative paragraph 4).

It also decided to organize an interactive panel discussion of experts at its fifty-fifth session on these issues, and to propose normative, legal, policy and administrative deterrence measures, both offline and online, to counter such acts of religious hatred that constitute incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence against individuals based on their religion or belief, and also hinders full enjoyment of their fundamental rights and freedoms, and invited the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to liaise with States, relevant special procedures, civil society and other stakeholders with a view to ensuring their participation in the panel discussion (operative paragraph 5).

Finally, the Human Rights Council requested the Office to present a report on the deliberations of the panel discussion to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-sixth session (operative paragraph 6).

With a view to implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 53/1, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights would welcome any written contributions concerning the various drivers, root causes and human rights impacts of religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, highlighting gaps in existing national, legal, policy and law enforcement frameworks. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights sent notes verbales of 26 September 2023 to all permanent missions (in English, French and Spanish) as well as a related call for inputs to other stakeholders.

Public statements by the High Commissioner for Human Rights:

• Global update: High Commissioner outlines concerns in over 40 countries (7 March 2023)
• Türk calls on States to combat "the weaponization of religious differences for political purposes" (11 July 2023)
• Türk: Human rights are antidote to prevailing politics of distraction, deception, indifference and repression (11 September 2023)
• Religious hatred: Türk urges a renewed social contract based on trust and respect (5 October 2023)
• At General Assembly, Türk urges support for human rights and international law (10 October 2023)
• At the University of Ottawa, Türk urges Governments to align policy and action with human rights principles (16 October 2023)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights will guide solutions to global challenges, Türk says (26 October 2023)

See also the concept note of the roundtable brainstorming on how to address religious hatred (9 November 2023, OHCHR/Geneva Academy)