The United Nations and its human rights mechanisms can and must play a key role in promoting freedom of religion or belief worldwide, an endeavor that is critical in helping to prevent religious extremism.

That was among the points made by Diane Ala’i of the Baha'i International Community in remarks made at a conference on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) sponsored by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

The two-day conference, held 19-20 October 2016, brought together 50 experts on FoRB and more than 100 others from 38 countries to share ideas about how to extend and defend the right to freedom of religion or belief, discuss ways to build resilience against extremism, and identify opportunities to work together.

Others addressing the conference included Baroness Anelay, Human Rights Minster; Sarah Snyder, an advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury; Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s soon-to-be Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion; David Saperstein, the US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom; and Nazila Ghanea, an associate professor of international human rights law at the University of Oxford.

Ms. Ala’i spoke on a panel on working with the UN alongside Dr. Shaheed, who is currently the UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Sir Malcom Evans, a professor of public international law at the University of Bristol, and Elizabeth O'Casey, director of advocacy at the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

She said the rise of violent extremism in the name of religion worldwide has change the overall visibility of the issue of freedom of religion or belief as a basic human right.

This has raised a number of questions, she said, including: what does FoRB mean when numerous countries have a state religion?; how can FoRB be understood when religious leaders still maintain claims of exclusivity and finality?; and how is FoRB understood when governments think they can decide what is a religion and what is not?

“The UN and, particularly, its human rights mechanisms can help clarify these questions about freedom of religion or belief,” said Ms. Ala’i.

“Thirty years of FoRB mandate practice, and nearly 70 years of UN FoRB standards, have alerted us to these important elements in order to realize freedom of religious belief, pluralism and diversity,” she said.

Baroness Anelay, a Minister of State with the FCO, stressed the importance of upholding freedom of religion as an antidote to religious extremism.

“If we value others, regardless of what -- if any -- religion they follow, and if we teach our children to do the same, we also give them the tools to reject intolerance,” she said.

“If we lay the foundations for open, equal and plural societies, then we also build communities resilient to extremism; communities where everyone has the intellectual independence to resist hateful ideologies, religious or otherwise,” said the Baroness.

Dr. Snyder emphasized the importance of working with local leaders of religious communities, including young people and lay leaders.

“Faith leaders play a vital role, every single day, in promoting and modelling the protection and dignity of all — to honor, forgive, respect and love the ‘other’ in the midst of violence and despair,” said Dr. Snyder.

“We sometimes forget here in the West that many of the states troubled by violent extremism are deeply religious societies,” she continued. “Religion is not an optional extra, or one dimension among many — it infuses every aspect of life, including the political. The co-operation of religious leaders is vital to the building of inclusive, plural — and peaceful — societies,” said Dr. Snyder.

Dr. Ghaneasaid freedom of religion or belief is important not only for those who believe in God or follow a religion, but also for those who do not.

“It is a precious asset for all agnostics, atheists, believers, or the unconcerned,” she said. “The freedom to explore and examine is essential to the nourishment of human development.”

She noted that freedom of religion or belief is not subject to derogation in times of national emergency that threaten the life of the nation, as defined in article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

In this framework, she said, “having, adopting and changing religion or belief cannot legitimately be limited in any way nor made subject to coercion” – a principle that is not subject to even claims that FoRB can be limited in cases involving national security.