On February 15, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published the study “Inter-American Standards on Freedom of Religion and Belief.” The report was prepared in compliance with the mandate of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), according to articles 13 and 58 of the Regulations of the IACHR.
OLIRE salutes and recognizes the effort made by the IACHR to promote the right to freedom of religion and belief; however, we regret the approach taken in the report and we do not share many of the conclusions drawn. In that sense, we subscribe to the dissenting votes of commissioners Carlos Bernal Pulido and Stuardo Ralón Orellana. In particular, regarding the following considerations:
- The right to religious freedom is presented as a threat/obstacle to the guarantee of other human rights or the rights of certain groups.
- The ownership of the right to religious freedom of communities or congregations is not recognized and, therefore, the collective dimension of this right is not recognized.
- The right to institutional conscientious objection is not recognized, only that of natural persons. This leads to the lack of protection of those organizations/institutions that operate with a religious ethos, as well as congregations or churches.
- In contradiction with comparative and international standards for the protection of the right to religious freedom, the freedom of churches to define who are the teachers qualified to teach their religious creed in public or private educational establishments is not recognized.
- Far from promoting the freedom of expression of religious leaders or the faithful, religious manifestations or arguments regarding issues related to abortion, euthanasia, marriage, or education are considered hate speech or manifestations of prohibited speech.
- The right of parents to educate their children according to their convictions and beliefs is presented as antagonistic to the right to education of their children and/or to human rights in general.
- Religious missions that have sought to evangelize indigenous peoples in isolation are presented as groups that undermine or impede traditional religious and cultural practices, ignoring both the right of their members to adopt a different faith and the freedom enjoyed by churches and their faithful to carry out proselytizing work, as long as it is not carried out by imposition.
- The inter-American standards considered in the study include not only conventional documents, i.e., those that are binding on States, such as the American Convention but also non-conventional documents, which are not binding on States.
- Regarding human rights violations against persons engaged in religious activities in Cuba, Commissioner Stuardo Ralón rightly questions the IACHR’s position that “there is no religious persecution”. Particularly in the current context, with the normative changes in force in Cuba and new patterns of hostilities widely documented against religious communities, it is inconsistent for the IACHR to maintain the conclusion of a 1983 report.
Additionally, we regret that, although a variety of documents approved and published by the IACHR were included as sources for the study; when analyzing the issue of human rights defenders, reference was only made to violations of the right to religious freedom as a result of politically motivated persecution or hindrance of political activities by leaders and/or members of religious institutions, without including violations caused by the activities of organized crime.
Although this is a problem that is identified in several countries in the region, both the Universal Human Rights System and the IACHR itself have paid attention to this context, especially in the Mexican case. Thus, among the latest and most relevant cases that should have been considered at the time of drafting the report, we can mention:
- Resolution 2/2023, by which the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of eleven members of the Jesuit community of Cerocahui, Tarahumara, in the municipality of Urique, Chihuahua, Mexico, after considering that they are in a serious and urgent situation of risk of irreparable harm to their rights. The beneficiaries have reportedly suffered threats and aggressions by organized crime groups, which prevents them from carrying out their pastoral and community support activities in the area.
- Resolution 51/2019, by which the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of Pastor Aaron Casimiro Méndez and Alfredo Castillo, as well as migrants and refugees who were in the Casa Amar, located in Tamaulipas, Mexico, after considering that they are in a serious and urgent situation since their rights to life and personal integrity face a risk of irreparable harm. The beneficiaries were reportedly kidnapped by members of the Noroeste Cartel and their relatives are also reportedly threatened by members of the Cartel.
- Resolution 30/2015, by which the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez and Isidro Hernández Gutiérrez, from the municipality of Simonjovel, Chiapas, Mexico, after considering that they were in a serious and urgent situation since their lives and personal integrity were at risk. The beneficiaries had allegedly faced violence and threats against them for their activities as human rights defenders and for having publicly denounced organized crime activities that had affected the political and economic interests of powerful groups at the municipal and state levels.
- Communication AL MEX 08/2022, by which the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants requested the Mexican government to provide information on the high-risk situation of Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz, due to his work in defense of the rights of migrants between the United States of America and Mexico.
- Communication AL MEX 09/2022, in which the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, requested information from the Mexican government on the murder of human rights defenders and Jesuit priests Joaquín César Mora Salazar and Javier Campos Morales, who were shot to death by armed men, along with another person inside a church in the indigenous community of Cerocahui, Chihuahua State.
- Communication AL MEX 15/2021, by which the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples requested information from the Mexican government regarding the high level of risk faced by Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez, as a result of his work in denouncing human rights violations in the Chiapas Highlands and the context of insecurity in the region.
We urge the IACHR to consider the information provided by civil society organizations, leaving aside any bias or political stance. We invite the IACHR to review our biannual reports, country reports, as well as our Violent Incidents Database, but also to take into consideration the data provided by a broad coalition of civil society organizations at the Thematic Hearing on the situation of religious freedom in the region held during the 185th Regular Session of the IACHR.
The right to religious freedom will not be guaranteed in its just measure as long as its real content and scope are not recognized, as well as the various types of limitations to which it may be subject. This is a task that can no longer be postponed.
Image: IACHR
