The representatives of the participating States of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, the Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Yugoslavia met in Vienna from 4 November 1986 to 17 January 1989 in accordance with the provisions of the Final Act relating to the Follow-Up to the conference, as well as on the basis of the other relevant CSCE documents.
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The representatives of the participating States examined all the proposals submitted to the Meeting and agreed on the following:
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PRINCIPLES
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11. They confirm that they will respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. They also confirm the universal significance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for which is an essential factor for the peace, justice and security necessary to ensure the development of friendly relations and co-operation among themselves, as among all States.
12. They express their determination to guarantee the effective exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, all of which derive from the inherent dignity of the human person and are essential for his free and full development. They recognize that civil, political, economic, social, cultural and other rights and freedoms are all of paramount importance and must be fully realized by all appropriate means.
13. In this context they will
13a. develop their laws, regulations and policies
in the field of civil, political, economic, social, cultural and other
human rights and fundamental freedoms and put them into practice in order
to guarantee the effective exercise of these rights and freedoms;
13b. consider acceding to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights and other relevant international instruments, if they
have not yet done so;
13c. publish and disseminate the text of the
Final Act, of the Madrid Concluding Document, and of the present Document
as well as those of any relevant international instruments in the field
of human rights, in order to ensure the availability of these documents
in their entirety, to make them known as widely as possible and to render
them accessible to all individuals in their countries, in particular through
public library systems;
13d. ensure effectively the right of the individual
to know and act upon his rights and duties in this field, and to that end
publish and make accessible all laws, regulations and procedures relating
to human rights and fundamental freedoms;
13e. respect the right of their citizens to
contribute actively, individually or in association with others, to the
promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
13f. encourage in schools and other educational
institutions consideration of the promotion and protection of human rights
and fundamental freedoms;
13g. ensure human rights and fundamental freedoms
to everyone within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction, without
distinction of any kind such as race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status;
13h. ensure that no individual exercising,
expressing the intention to exercise or seeking to exercise these rights
and freedoms, or any member of his family, will as a consequence be discriminated
against in any manner;
13i. ensure that effective remedies as well
as full information about them are available to those who claim that their
human rights and fundamental freedoms have been violated; they will, inter
alia, effectively apply the following remedies:
the right of the individual to appeal to executive, legislative,
judicial or administrative organs;
the right to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time
before an independent and impartial tribunal, including the right to present
legal arguments and to be represented by legal counsel of one’s choice;
the right to be promptly and officially informed of the decision
taken on any appeal, including the legal grounds on which this decision
was based. This information will be provided as a rule in writing and,
in any event, in a way that will enable the individual to make effective
use of further available remedies.
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16. In order to ensure the freedom of the individual
to profess and practice religion or belief the participating States will,
inter alia,
16a. take effective measures to prevent and
eliminate discrimination against individuals or communities, on the grounds
of religion or belief in the recognition, exercise and enjoyment of human
rights and fundamental freedoms in all fields of civil, political, economic,
social and cultural life, and ensure the effective equality between believers
and non-believers;
16b. foster a climate of mutual tolerance and
respect between believers of different communities as well as between believers
and non-believers;
16c. grant upon their request to communities
of believers, practising or prepared to practise their faith within the
constitutional framework of their states, recognition of the status provided
for them in their respective countries;
16d. respect the right of religious communities
to
--establish and maintain freely accessible places of worship or assembly,16e. engage in consultations with religious faiths, institutions and organizations in order to achieve a better understanding of the requirements of religious freedom;
--organize themselves according to their own hierarchical and institutional structure,
--select, appoint and replace their personnel in accordance with their respective requirements and standards as well as with any freely accepted arrangement between them and their State,
--solicit and receive voluntary financial and other contributions;
17. The participating States recognize that the exercise of the above-mentioned rights relating to the freedom of religion or belief may be subject only to such limitations as are provided by law and consistent with their obligations under international law and with their international commitments. They will ensure in their laws and regulations and in their application the full and effective implementation of the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief;
18. The participating States will exert sustained efforts to implement the provisions of the Final Act and of the Madrid Concluding Document pertaining to national minorities. They will take all the necessary legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures and apply the relevant international instruments by which they may be bound, to ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons belonging to national minorities within their territory. They will refrain from any discrimination against such persons and contribute to the realization of their legitimate interests and aspirations in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
19. They will protect and create conditions for the promotion of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of national minorities on their territory. They will respect the free excercise of rights by persons belonging to such minorities and ensure their full equality with others.