A/HRC/13/40/Add.2 II. International human rights standards 6. The right to freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in various international human rights instruments.2 These include articles 2, 18-20 and 26-27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; 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. Apart from the latter convention, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has ratified all of the other abovementioned human rights treaties. 7. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur is guided in her mandate by other relevant declarations, resolutions and guidelines of various United Nations bodies, including those issued by the Human Rights Committee, the General Assembly, the former Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council. Of these instruments, of particular relevance for the mandate are articles 2, 18 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The Special Rapporteur also takes into account human rights instruments adopted at the regional level containing provisions relating to the freedom of religion or belief, for example articles 9 and 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as well as related jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. III. Domestic legal framework on freedom of religion or belief 8. Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees the right to express one’s faith freely and publicly, individually or with others. Amendment VII to the Constitution provides that the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Islamic Religious Community in Macedonia, the Catholic Church, the Evangelical Methodist Church, the Jewish Community, as well as other religious communities and religious groups are separate from the State, equal before the law and free to establish religious schools as well as other social and charitable institutions under the procedure determined by law. Article 48 of the Constitution, according to amendment VIII, emphasizes that members of communities have a right to freely express, foster and develop their identity and community attributes, and to use their community symbols. Furthermore, the State guarantees the protection of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of all communities. 9. According to article 20 of the Constitution, the programmes and activities of political parties and other associations of citizens may not be directed at the encouragement or incitement of ethnic, racial or religious hatred or intolerance. Article 54 emphasizes that the freedoms and rights of the individual and citizen can be restricted only in cases determined by the Constitution and that such restrictions cannot discriminate on grounds of, inter alia, religion. Pursuant to article 118, the international agreements ratified in accordance with the Constitution are part of the internal legal order and cannot be changed by law. The Constitutional Court decides on the conformity of laws with the Constitution and protects the freedoms and rights of the individual and citizen relating to the freedom of 2 For an overview of the Special Rapporteur’s legal framework, see her reports to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2005/61, paras. 15-20 and E/CN.4/2006/5, annex) as well as the online digest of her framework for communications (www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/standards.htm). 5