A UN human rights expert has expressed grave concern at the scale, severity and systematic nature of human rights violations perpetrated against religious and belief minorities in situations of conflict, in a report presented to the Human Rights Council today.
“The most politically marginalized are particularly susceptible to rising insecurity, with violence and discrimination frequently representing a continuation rather than a break from recent history – and often compounding vulnerability based on religion or belief and other identifiers, such as ethnicity, race and gender,” said Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.
In his report to the Council, the Special Rapporteur said that around the world, conflicts were lasting longer than ever before and seriously compromising the rights of religious minorities, including their right to freedom of religion or belief. The violations affected religious minorities at least partly because of their faith identity, Shaheed said.
“However, more broadly, conflict and crises may affect minorities “alongside others by virtue of living in these fragile settings, rather than necessarily because of their faith identity,” the expert said.
Shaheed warned against “religionizing” conflicts which could render them more intractable and make peacebuilding more elusive.
“It is essential not to unduly overestimate the role of religion in either conflict or peace-making to the exclusion of other factors and motivations involved. Actors often target religious or belief minorities to further their political, economic and military aims – or invoke crisis conditions to justify or ignore human rights violations,” the UN expert said.
Drawing from the Special Rapporteur’s extensive engagement with affected communities and relevant stakeholders, the report maps the diverse experiences of religious or belief minorities. The Special Rapporteur provided evidence-based analysis of the specific needs and vulnerabilities experienced by minorities in conflict and insecure settings in order “to inform policy and practical efforts.”
“Risk to the human rights of one community is a risk to all society,” Shaheed said.
“State and non-State actors must uphold human rights and respect, promote and protect diverse religious or belief systems, including of minorities, whether during war or peacetime.”
