Multi-Country Statement on the 55th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council

On behalf of Members, Friends and Observers of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA), we are proud to address the UN Human Rights Council.

The Alliance is a network of like-minded countries committed to advancing freedom of religion or belief around the world. Launched in February 2020, it has grown rapidly and now stands at 42 Members and Friends – a significant group of countries from diverse regions of the world. Members of the Alliance work together to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief globally and to combat discrimination and persecution based on religion or belief. In support of Article 18 of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, we advocate for freedom of religion or belief for all, including the ability of individuals to hold any belief, to change it or not to profess or practice any religion.

In 2023 the Alliance issued two joint Statements in its series documenting the issues facing members of particular faith groups and calling for governments to act. These were on Countering Antisemitism and the Persecution of Christians. The Alliance also released statements on the occasion of the 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council and the International Day Commemorating Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief in August. The Chair issued Statements in both 2023 and 2024 to coincide with the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A January 2024 Chair’s statement focused on Tibetan Buddhism, the separation of Tibetan children from their parents and two Tibetan prisoners of conscience.

Throughout the year, the Alliance Chair led a programme of regular advocacy on the cases of individual prisoners of conscience from a variety of faiths and beliefs. The cases of 15 individuals were highlighted through statements and both public and private advocacy. In some cases, the Chair sent letters directly to the government of the country where prisoners were detained. Two of the individuals whose cases the Alliance had championed in 2022 were released during 2023 – Hanna Abdimalik, a Christian in Somaliland, and Shamil Khakimov, a Jehovah’s Witness in Tajikistan. Bishop Rolando Álvarez, sentenced to more than 26 years imprisonment in Nicaragua, was released but disappointingly exiled in January 2024.

In March 2023, Members of the Alliance and its Council of Experts gathered in-person in the margins of the 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council to coincide with the presentation to the HRC of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief’s report “Landscape of Freedom of Religion or Belief”. Participants in the meeting, who numbered three times as many as in 2022, were pleased to have the opportunity of discussing the report with the Special Rapporteur herself.

A delegation of 21 people, made up of country representatives of 14 states and members of the Council of Experts, visited Lebanon in April 2023 to discuss the need to protect both the right to free expression and the right to freedom of religion or belief, best practices in combatting intolerance and efforts to preserve Lebanon’s historic diversity and model of inclusion in the region. The Chair also visited Nepal and the Vice Chair travelled to Ukraine.

The 2023 IRFBA Ministerial Conference on the theme of FoRB under authoritarian regimes brought together representatives from 60 countries in Prague in late November. This featured sessions on digital surveillance, sports diplomacy, women and FoRB, youth advocates and regional panels on the Middle East and Central Europe.

Looking ahead to 2024, under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Robert Řehák of the Czech Republic, the Alliance proposes to adopt the name “IRFBA – The Article 18 Alliance”. It seeks to increase its impact by carrying out coordinated media campaigns, including around the cases of individual prisoners of conscience and key international days.

We invite members of the Human Rights Council and other likeminded countries to join us and work together in solidarity towards a world where no one suffers discrimination or persecution solely on account of what they believe. Together, let us strive for a world where all individuals can realize the full potential of their human dignity, irrespective of their religion or belief.

Signatories: Latvia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Israel, Taiwan, Croatia, Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Poland, Lithuania, Sovereign Order of Malta, Norway, Kosovo, and Hungary.