United Nations General Assembly A/RES/56/157 Distr.: General 15 February 2002 Fifty-sixth session Agenda item 119 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/56/583/Add.2)] 56/157. Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance The General Assembly, Recalling that all States have pledged themselves, under the Charter of the United Nations, to promote and encourage universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, Reaffirming that discrimination against human beings on the grounds of religion or belief constitutes an affront to human dignity and a disavowal of the principles of the Charter, Recalling article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1 article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 2 and paragraph 4 of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 3 Reaffirming its resolution 36/55 of 25 November 1981, by which it proclaimed the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, and noting that 2001 marks the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration, Emphasizing that the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief is far-reaching and profound and that it encompasses freedom of thought on all matters, personal conviction and the commitment to religion or belief, whether manifested individually or in community with others, and in public or in private, Reaffirming the call of the World Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993, for all Governments to take all appropriate measures in compliance with their international obligations and with due regard to their respective legal systems to counter intolerance and related violence based on religion or belief, including practices of discrimination against women and the _______________ 1 Resolution 217 A (III). See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. 3 See resolution 55/2. 2 01 48724