A/HRC/23/34
right to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any
literary or artistic production of which a person is the author; and (d) the right to leisure.
12.
Provisions are to be implemented without any discrimination of any kind, such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status, as stated in article 2 of ICESCR and ICCPR. Article 5 (e)
(vi) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, article 13 (c) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, articles 43 and 45 of the Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and article 21 of the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, stress that all persons, irrespective of
their specific situation or status have the right to freedom of artistic expression and
creativity.
13.
Article 27 of ICCPR is crucial for guaranteeing the artistic freedoms of persons
belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities. Particular attention must also be paid
to article 31 of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
14.
Important positive obligations devolve on States. Under article 15 (2) of ICESCR
and article 14 of the San Salvador Protocol, States must adopt steps necessary for the
conservation, the development and the diffusion of culture, which includes arts. Article 30
of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities calls for measures providing
persons with disabilities the opportunity to develop and utilize their creative, artistic and
intellectual potential. Article 42 of the Arab Charter for Human Rights stresses that States
shall work together and enhance cooperation among them at all levels, with the full
participation of intellectuals and inventors and their organizations, in order to develop and
implement recreational, cultural and artistic programmes.
15.
Few decisions in the United Nations system relate to artistic freedom. In its
Communication 926/2000 of 2004, concerning a painter, Hak-Chul Shin, who had been
convicted for a painting deemed to be an “enemy-benefiting expression” contrary to the
National Security Law, the Human Rights Committee found that the Republic of Korea had
violated article 19 of ICCPR. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, it its Opinion
32/2011, declared that Lapiro de Mbanga, a famous Cameroonian musician and composer,
had been arbitrarily detained for the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of
expression.
16.
Some court decisions have also been adopted at the regional level, particularly by
the European Court of Human Rights. 5 At least on one occasion, the Inter-American Court
on Human Rights adopted a decision relating to artistic freedom. 6
Relevant UNESCO instruments7
2.
(a)
Recommendation concerning the status of the artist
17.
The underlying principle of the 1980 United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organizational (UNESCO) Recommendation Concerning the Status of the Artist is
that Governments should help to create and sustain a climate encouraging freedom of
artistic expression and the material conditions facilitating the release of creative talents. The
5
6
7
Council of Europe, “Cultural rights in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights”,
January 2011, http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/F8123ACC-5A5A-4802-86BE8CDA93FE58DF/0/RAPPORT_RECHERCHE_Droits_culturels_EN.pdf.
“Last temptation of Christ”, Chile, 5 February 2001.
See UNESCO’s input to the Consultation on the right to artistic freedom.
5