A/HRC/7/10/Add.2 page 6 III. INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS 9. The section below provides an overview of the main international legal standards referenced1 by the Special Rapporteur in carrying out her assessment of the situation regarding freedom of religion or belief in Tajikistan. 10. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights set out the basic elements of the right to freedom of religion or belief. This fundamental right includes the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice, and the freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one’s religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching. Furthermore, article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration without distinction of any kind, including religion. Relevant parts of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights include article 20, which requires States to prohibit advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence; article 26, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on religious grounds; and article 27, which provides for the right of members of religious minorities to profess and practise their own religion. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur is guided by general comment No. 22 (1993) of the Human Rights Committee, which interprets the content of article 18 of the Covenant. 11. The legal framework of the mandate also includes other human rights treaties containing provisions relevant to freedom of religion or belief, including article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; articles 2, 14 and 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and article 12 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 12. The Special Rapporteur is also guided by other relevant declarations as well as guidelines produced by various United Nations bodies. The most important of these instruments for the mandate is the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, adopted by the General Assembly in 1981 in its resolution 36/55. Furthermore, the mandate is guided by relevant resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights and its successor, the Human Rights Council. 1 For further information on the international legal standards referred to by the Special Rapporteur in the implementation of the mandate, see her previous reports to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2005/61, paras. 15-20 and E/CN.4/2006/5, annex). The Special Rapporteur has also illustrated the international legal standards with pertinent excerpts of the mandate-holders’ findings since 1986 in an online digest, which is available on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at www.ohchr.org/ english/issues/religion/standards.htm.