A number of States have entered reservations to articles of core human rights conventions on the grounds that national laws, traditions, religion or culture are not in line with the principles outlined in the respective treaty. The practice of entering reservations to the UN human rights treaties raises crucial questions about the universality of human rights and, conversely, about cultural and religious relativism.
With this programme, URG looks to analyse, understand and generate awareness as to the extent, impact and necessity of religion-based reservations to the core human rights conventions. In the past, URG has analysed reservations motivated by doubts as to the compatibility of the treaty in question with certain religious or belief systems. Building on this analysis, URG seeks to establish a dialogue between States on the subject and create the conditions under which states can consider tightening or removing such reservations.
