AUTISTIC MINORITY INTERNATIONAL WWW AUTISTICMINORITY.ORG Geneva, 26 November 2013 Oral statement at the sixth session of the Forum on Minority Issues ("Beyond freedom of religion or belief: Guaranteeing the rights of religious minorities") of the United Nations Human Rights Council THE KEY PILLARS OF MINORITY PROTECTION AND US Madam. Chair, Ambassadors, distinguished delegates, dear colleagues, In her concept note, the Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Ms Rita lz§ak, highlights "four key pillars of minority rights" around which discussions during this forum are to be based. They are "protection of existence and prevention of violence against minorities; promotion and protection of minority identity; equality. and non-discrimination; and the right to effective participation in all areas of public, economic and social life". The NGO I represent, Autistic Minority international, headquartered in Geneva, is the first and only autism self-advocacy organization active at the global political level. We aim to combat bias and prejudice and advance the interests of an estimated seventy million autistics, one percent of the world's population, at and through, the United Nations, World Health Organization, human rights treaty bodies, and other international organizations. As a person on the autism spectrum, diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, as well as a scholar of political theology, it is my great privilege to address this-esteemed forum. We believe that autistic self-advocacy is about more than disability rights. Autism is a distinct culture and identity. The only one we know. Linguistic peculiarities are among the main diagnostic criteria. Many autistics are non-verbal, and all of us use language in unusual ways and have difficulty communicating with non-autistics. It is thus important to us not only to express our support for the rights of religious minorities, but at the same time to advocate for tolerance and the rights of autistics within religious minorities. Paragraph 13 of the draft recommendations before us here today rightly highlights the "diversity that exists within religious minority groups" and the need to recognize and respect the "rights of every single member of such minority groups", particularly those who experience "compounded" and "intersectional" discrimination based on their "other identity", such as autism, and being perceived as "'other' or not fully belonging". While autistics are to be found among all religions, a disproportionately large number of us may be non-believers, atheists, or agnostics. We thus wish to especially stress freedom of thought and conscience and the equal rights of those individuals who do not identify with any religion or spiritual belief system, in accordance with General Comment No. 22 (1993) of the Human Rights Committee, as cited in the legal framework and made explicit in paragraph 12 of the draft recommendations.