Mexican Legislation on Religion and the 1981 Declaration on Intolerance and Discrimination

I. INTRODUCTION It has been said-and with good reason-that religious freedom is the alpha and omega of human rights. After all, religious freedom concerns people's inner life, the place where they make the major decisions that guide the very meaning of their existence. Since the ratification of Mexico's Constitution in 1917, which afforded few protections for religious freedom,1 Mexico has made numerous efforts to expand these protections. Nevertheless, there are still some areas of Mexican law that unnecessarily restrict religious freedom. This Article provides a background of the international and Mexican laws that set forth principles of religious freedom and highlights some areas of Mexican law that conflict with these principles. Part II of this Article gives a brief introduction to the nature and history of international religious freedom. This Part outlines important international documents that provide protection for religious freedom, focusing specifically on the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Part III then explores some areas of Mexican law that unnecessarily restrict religious freedom in light of international standards and the Mexican Constitution. Part IV offers a brief conclusion. II. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE A. Internationalization of the Right to Religious Freedom Religious freedom cannot be dissociated from humans' moral and psychological freedom. "In the affirmation of the right to personal liberty," says Antonio Perez Luno, "the right to religious freedom had particular relevance. ... As Jellinek demonstrates in his now classic work, Die Erklarung der Menshen- und Burgerrechte, religious freedom was at the root of the fight for all other fundamental rights of liberty."2 Along the same lines, Natan Lerner notes that international protection of human rights began in areas related to religion.3 At a very early stage in the development of international law, provisions referring to the fundamental rights of minority religious communities were incorporated into various treaties.4 This internationalization process began during the nineteenth century. It was during that century that international accords protecting Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire were established.5 Through these accords, the member states comprising the Concert of Europe were able to intercede diplomatically-and at times militarily-on behalf of Christians living in the Ottoman Empire.6 The Treaty of Berlin, signed in 1878, is particularly interesting because it grants special legal status to certain religious groups.7 The Treaty also served as a model for the system of protection for minorities that was later established within the framework of the League of Nations, an organization that played a very important role in creating an international system for protecting minorities.8 In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt eloquently promoted the cause of international human rights, among which he included religious freedom. In his famous "Four Freedoms" speech, he called for "a world founded upon four essential human freedoms."9 He labeled these freedoms as follows: "freedom of speech and expression," "freedom of every person to worship God in his own way," "freedom from want," and "freedom from fear."10 Roosevelt's vision of "moral order,"11 as he characterized it, became a clarion call for the countries that fought against the Axis during World War II and subsequently founded the United Nations.12 The foregoing should not be too surprising given that religion exists in all societies, at all times, and in all places. No society, ancient or modern, has existed in which the phenomenon of religion does not occupy a significant place in people's lives.13 In The Ancient City, Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges states that during ancient times, religion or religious ceremonies constituted the nexus of all societies: "Just as a domestic altar held the members of a family grouped around it, so the city was the collective group of those who had the same protecting deities, and who performed the religious ceremony at the same altar. …