United Nations General Assembly A/RES/66/167 Distr.: General 27 March 2012 Sixty-sixth session Agenda item 69 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2011 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/66/462/Add.2)] 66/167. Combating intolerance, negative stereotyping, stigmatization, discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons, based on religion or belief The General Assembly, Reaffirming the commitment made by all States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote and encourage universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to, inter alia, religion or belief, Reaffirming also the obligation of States to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion or belief and to implement measures to guarantee the equal and effective protection of the law, Reaffirming further that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, Reaffirming that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1 provides, inter alia, that everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, which shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one’s religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching, Welcoming Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 of 24 March 2011, 2 Reaffirming the positive role that the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information can play in strengthening democracy and combating religious intolerance, Deeply concerned about incidents of intolerance, discrimination and violence against persons based on their religion or belief in all regions of the world, Deploring any advocacy of discrimination or violence on the basis of religion or belief, _______________ 1 See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53), chap. II, sect. A. 2 11-46884 *1146884* Please rec cle ♲