Professor Heiner Bielefeldt is the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. A philosopher, historian and theologian, he was appointed by the UN's Human Rights Council in 2010 as an independent expert on international freedom of religion or belief.
CSW backs Bielefeldt's religious conversion recommendations
His recent report on issues around religious conversion provided the inspiration for our Operation 18 campaign. Operation 18's mission is to uphold Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which protects our right to freedom of religion or belief in all its various forms:
- the freedom to choose our religion or belief,
- the freedom to refuse to be forced into a particular religion or belief,
- the freedom to enthuse others about our religion or belief in a non-coercive manner.
What is a Special Rapporteur anyway?
Special Rapporteurs are independent human rights experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, and form part of the Council's "Special Procedures". There are Special Rapporteurs with thematic mandates, covering human rights themes such as freedom of religion or belief, and there are Special Rapporteurs with country mandates, who examine the human rights situations in specific countries. (Getting a Special Rapporteur appointed to investigate the human rights situation in Eritrea was one of our significant victories in 2012.)
CSW already works closely with the Council's Special Procedures to support their work. We regularly raise cases of particular concern with them, and they are then able to raise those cases directly with the governments of the countries concerned.
Sign the Operation 18 petition
Operation 18 aims to support Professor Bielefeldt's recommendations, and to see each government make an action plan to integrate his recommendations into their own policies. The more countries that implement his recommendations, the better! You can support the campaign today by signing the Operation 18 petition, directed at a range of decision-makers across the world.