E/CN.4/1989/44
paqe 48
"In reply to the query of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission,
we are certain that a businesslike open dialogue on all aspects of human
rights, including religious matters, will contribute to a further
development of constructive international co-operation, help to do away
with confrontational rhetoric and counter any attempts at preserving an
atmosphere of distrust and hostility between countries at the
United Nations human rights bodies.
"These goals would also be served by the elaboration of an
international legally binding instrument on the elimination of all forms
of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief.
Seizing upon this opportunity, we renew our proposal to all States to
start working on such an instrument.
Viet Nam
78. In a communication of 21 July 1988 addressed to the Government concerned,
the following information was transmitted by the Special Rapporteur:
"It has been reported that (one name provided), aged 81, and the
other members of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix as well as
parishioners and their families have been arrested and detained since
20 May 1987 for religious motives. The monastery and properties of the
Congregation have reportedly been seized and occupied by the authorities.
"It was also stated that the charge of anti-revolutionary activities
and sabotaging public security against members of the Congregation could
not be substantiated by evidence, such as the finding of anti-government
or anti-socialist documents or shotguns and ammunition in the monastery,
and that, according to the response of the Congregation to those charges,
it printed purely reliqious materials."
79. To date no reply has been received from the following Governments:
Albania, Burundi, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Nepal, Nicaraqua, Sudan
and Viet Nam.
B.
Consultations and visits
80. In carrying out his mandate, the Special Rapporteur received Government
representatives, members of non-qovernmental orqanizations, representatives of
various reliqious communities and individuals in Lisbon. He went to Geneva
for consultations at the Centre for Human Rights from 18 to 22 July and from
14 to 18 November 1988. During these consultations he received the
representatives of various Governments, non-governmental organizations and
reliqious communities.