DECLARATION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOR SRI LANKA

             

      Whereas Sri Lanka is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)[1], the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)[2], and the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR[3], it is bound under international law to respect and defend the religious freedom of its people,

 

       Whereas Article 10 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees that “[e]very person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.” (emphasis added)[4], it is bound under Sri Lankan law to respect and defend the religious freedom of its people,

 

Whereas each and every human being is “born free and equal” and is “endowed with reason and conscience”[5] and therefore, seeks the true meaning of human existence, desires to share these truths with others and desires to act upon these truths,

 

Therefore, we, the undersigned, call upon the government of Sri Lanka to uphold its international and domestic legal commitments by defending religious freedom and by opposing any legal limitation on:

 

  1. The freedom of all Sri Lankans, to believe in, preach, and practise every religious faith, including, but not limited to, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.

 

  1. The freedom of all Sri Lankans, to “have . . . a religion or belief of his [or her] choice,” and to “change his [or her] religion or belief” in accordance with the UDHR[6] and the ICCPR.[7]

 

  1. The freedom of all Sri Lankans, to freely manifest and express his or her religious beliefs in public or private, directly or indirectly.  The freedom to “manifest . . . religion or belief” includes, but is not limited to, “worship, observance, practice, and teaching.”  The freedom to express religious belief, includes, but is not limited to, the right to “seek, receive, and impart” religious ideas and the right to “peacefully assemble” and “associate” with others for religious purposes in accordance with the UDHR[8]  and the ICCPR.[9]  

 

  1. The equality of each and every Sri Lankan “before the law” and the right to “equal protection of the law” without “discrimination” or “distinction [as to] religion” in accordance with the UDHR[10] and ICCPR.[11] 

 

  1. The freedom of all “religious minorities” in Sri Lanka to exercise “the right, in community and with other members of their group . . . to profess and practice their own religion” in accordance with the ICCPR.[12]

 

 


[1] Universal Declaration of Human Rights G.A. Res. 217A, U.N. GAOR, 3rd Sess., U.N. Doc. A/810 at 73 (1948).    

[2] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 7, G.A. Res. 2200A, U.N. GAOR, 31st Sess., Supp. No. 16, at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), entered into force 23 March 1976 (Sri Lanka acceded to the treaty September 11, 1980).   

[3] Sri Lanka is a signatory to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 59, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 302, entered into force March 23, 1976.  (Sri Lanka acceded to the protocol on Jan. 3, 1998).  Available at http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord1997/documentation/reservations/optional1.htm.  Therefore, the Government has recognized the authority of the United Nations Human Rights Committee to receive complaints from private citizens in the event that the Government violates their rights as guaranteed by the ICCPR. 

[4] SRI LANKA CONSTITUTION. (Second Republican Constitution), 1978.

[5] UDHR, Article 1.   

[6] UDHR, Article 18.

[7] ICCPR, Article 18.   

[8] UDHR, Article 19 (freedom of opinion and expression); UDHR, Article 20 (freedom of peaceful assembly and association). 

[9] ICCPR, Article 19 (freedom of opinion and expression); ICCPR, Article 21 (freedom of peaceful assembly); ICCPR, Article 22 (freedom of association).     

[10] UDHR, Article 2 (freedom to be freed from distinction based on religion), UDHR, Article 7 (right to equal protection of the law).

[11] ICCPR, Article 26 (right to equal protection of the law). 

[12] ICCPR, Article 27 (right of religious minorities to profess and practise).