Reply to Written question | Doc. 12706 | 15 September 2011

Freedom of thought, conscience and religion

Author(s): Committee of Ministers

Origin - adopted at the 1119th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (7 September 2011) 2011 - Fourth part-session

Reply to Written question: Written question no. 597 (Doc. 12594)

1. The Committee of Ministers considers freedom of thought, conscience and religion to be an inalienable right enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and guaranteed by Article 18 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, of which the Council of Europe is the custodian. It strongly reaffirmed this principle in its Declaration on religious freedom, adopted on 20 January 2011. It will consider Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1962 (2011) on “The religious dimension of intercultural dialogue”, to which the Honorable Parliamentarian refers, basing itself on the same principle.