Page 46 - مجلة الدراسات القضائية

thought, conscience and belief. Toler- The manifestation of one's religion
ance is harmony in difference. lt is not
only a moral duty, it is also a politi-
cal and legal requirement. Tolerance, states:
the virtue that makes peace possible,
contributes to the replacement of the
culture of war by a culture of peace.(')
Tolerance is directly linked to the
human rights of freedom of con-
j science and belief, as well as freedom ideas through any media and regard-
\1
of expression, which carry with them
their own understandings. While
many can agree on the basic idea of
human rights one of the goals of
the UN is to promote the respect
-for human rights there has always
been a debate over the interpreta-
tion, scope, and universality of those
rights, particularly the rights to free-
dom of religion and freedom of ex-
pression. Under Article 18 of the Uni-
versal Declaration of Human Rights, it
is stated that,
Everyone has the right to freedom
of thoughc conscience and religion;
this right includes freedom to change
his religion or belief, and freedom, ei-
ther alone or in community with oth-
ers and in public or private, to mani-
fest his religion or belief in teachin&
practice, worship and observance.
1- UNESCO, Declarution on Principles of
Tolerance, Twenty-Elghth Session of the
General Conference, 16 November 1995,
Article 1.1
45
Freedom of Retigion, Limits on Hate Speech, and Promoting Toterance: A Comparative Study
and belief is also linked to article 19
on freedom of expression, which
Everyone has the right to freedom
of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and
less of frontiers.
Yet what is the relationship be-
tween the rights to freedom of reli-
gion and expression, and principles
of tolerance? Do certain forms of
freedom of religion and freedom of
expression, such as speech that con-
demns other beliefs or even hate
speech, violate the principles and ide-
als of tolerance (or vice versa), and
if so, what principles are to be pri-
oritized? Should or how do we limit
these forms of expression? This paper
will begin by examining the general
scope of the rights to freedom of
religion and expression, both in the
international sphere as well as region-
ally. Next, this paper will examine
and compare the regulation in law of
these rights in three different states
the United States, Australia, and
the United Arab Emirates - and the
foundations for this type of legal reg-
ulation. Finally, this paper will assess