E/CN.4/2003/66/Add.1 page 9 II. LEGAL AND POLITICAL SETTING FOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF A. Legal setting 35. Some features of the international and national legal setting for protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief are discussed below. 1. The Constitution 36. The Constitution of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria was adopted on 28 November 1996. Many of its clauses have to do with religion: the basic components of the national identity are Islam, Arabism and Amazighitism (Berber identity). Islam is the State religion (art. 2). Freedom of conscience and freedom of opinion are inviolable (art. 36). Political parties cannot be founded on religion and are not allowed to put out religiously based propaganda (art. 42). The right to inherit is guaranteed, endowments (waqf) and foundations are recognized; their intended purposes are protected by law (art. 52). To be eligible, candidates for the Presidency must be Muslims (art. 73). The Presidential Office incorporates a High Islamic Council whose members are appointed by the President; its responsibilities include encouraging and promoting the interpretation of Shariah law and giving opinions on religious prescriptions (art. 71). No amendment to the Constitution may adversely affect Islam as the State religion, basic liberties, or human and civil rights (art. 178). 37. It should also be pointed out that the Constitution guarantees equality before the law, bans discrimination on the basis of birth, race, sex, opinion, status or personal or social circumstances (art. 29), and guarantees the right to education, which is to be provided free of charge. Basic education is mandatory, and the State organizes the education system (art. 53). 2. International conventions 38. Algeria has ratified numerous international conventions on human rights, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its first Optional Protocol, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It has also been party to the adoption of numerous declarations, including the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. 39. While Algeria has been in the avant-garde as regards the ratification of international conventions on human rights, it is to be noted that it has made numerous interpretative declarations and reservations to the agreements it has ratified. Still, according to article 132 of the Constitution, treaties ratified by the President rank above the law.