Past November marked the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of a major document concerning religious liberty by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN). Seventh-day Adventists played a key role in producing the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. For the first time one of those involved in the negotiations reveals how Seventh-day Adventist influenced the negotiations surrounding the document's acceptance.--The Editors.

IERRE LANARÉS, AT the time director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty at the Euro-Africa Division and general secretary of the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty (AIDLR), invited me to participate in the work of preparation of this document at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. At the time I was president of the Italian Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, involved in the cause of religious liberty.

In Italy I had worked in favor of religious liberty. I had gathered and used many documents from international organizations and different countries relating to the Sabbath or to the weekly day of rest. The Lord had blessed my work with the Italian authorities, who had issued declarations regarding freedom to observe a day of rest (in our case, the Sabbath) for students, military personnel, and general workers.

Slow Progress
At the Palais des Nations in Geneva, on February 4, 1981, a working group that had been assigned by the UN Commission on Human Rights to prepare the declaration resumed its activities. Preparing a document of just eight articles had proven to be extremely difficult; in nearly 20 years the working group had been able to prepare only the introduction, the first four articles, and the first paragraph of the fifth article.

Most of the representatives in the working group intended to finish the preparation of the project within the current UN session.

Lanarés and I, representing AIDLR, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) recognized by the UN, were the only Adventists taking part in the meetings. Our interest in the document as a whole was paramount; however, our special aim was to request that a paragraph regarding religious freedom on days of rest be inserted in the declaration.

On February 6 the delegates from the United States presented a proposal on article 6, the one we were most interested in. It detailed some of the specifics of religious freedom, such as the freedom to open places of worship, to spread religious literature, to solicit and receive funds, etc.

Unfortunately, among the specifics the freedom of the day of rest was not taken into account. Lanarés proposed that such freedom be included in article 6. No one supported his proposal. Proposals from an NGO were not considered as weighty as proposals from official government representatives. We saw that in order to achieve the concrete goals we considered necessary, we needed the support of some governmental delegations. We had communicated with Monsignor Bressan, the delegate from the Vatican, but he was unwilling to support our position.

Delicate Maneuvers
Lanarés had to leave the meetings for pressing matters in Bern, Switzerland, and in his absence I tried then to contact the Dutch delegate, Jaap A. Walkate. "The right to observe a day of rest is vitally important," I said. "There are millions in the world whose convictions require this freedom." I showed him a Dutch law that grants both Saturday and Sunday as days of rest for those whose religious convictions require them. I showed him also a copy of the law and administrative documents issued by other countries (Philippines, United Kingdom, Israel, United States) and the text of the convention concerning weekly rest (article 106 of the International Labour Organization) that specifically supports the rights of minorities on such issues.

Mr. Walkate said, "You have so much material, you could write a book on the topic." I also showed him the text of an amendment that I had prepared and suggested that it could be added to article 6 as a new paragraph. It read: "The freedom to observe the holidays or the days of rest according to the precepts of religion or belief." Walkate expressed interest and made only one observation on the text. He suggested that the word "customs" was more useful than "precepts." More important, he assured me he would do something about bringing this before the entire group.

I also contacted the Filipino delegation, because I was able to talk to Ambassador Leticia Ramos-Shahani, the head of the delegation. I mentioned her colleague, Mr. Lim, who in 1957, as a delegate of the Philippines at the International Labour Conference, had supported the introduction of the words "The traditions and customs of religious minorities shall, as far as possible, be respected" in a document issued by this body.

I showed her the transcript of Mr. Lim's speech, in which he specifically mentioned Seventh-day Adventists: "In the Philippines there are more than a half million Muslims who would not like to work on Friday, for example. The Christians believe that Sunday is the day of rest, although even among those Christians we have the Seventh-day Adventists, who believe that of the seven days of the week, the Lord meant Saturday to be the day of rest."

I showed her text from Filipino law that allows employees to ask their employer for a weekly day of rest according to their religious convictions. I showed her also documents from other countries. "Would you be willing to propose the amendment I prepared," I asked, "the same amendment I presented to the Dutch delegate?" Ambassador Ramos-Shahani responded positively and assured me she would. I thanked her (and the Lord) for her answer.

The next day when the Filipino delegate was to make the proposal for the amendment, a revised version of article 6 was distributed. Proposed by the U.S., it contained a new paragraph that read: ". . . the freedom to celebrate holidays in accordance with the customs of religion or belief." Seeing that the paragraph had the word "customs" and not "precepts," I thought the Dutch delegate had met with the U.S. delegate and asked for the paragraph I had suggested.

Lanarés and I were delighted with this proposal by the U.S. delegation. We were, however, not fully satisfied, because the paragraph mentioned only "holidays," not "days of rest."

I contacted the delegate from the Philippines, who assured me that during the discussion of this new paragraph she would propose the wording "to observe days of rest" and the substitution of "precepts" for "customs."

All seemed in readiness for a happy ending.

Last-minute Wrinkle
During the discussion about a paragraph in article 6 there was a moment when we almost lost hope. The working group debated over the freedom to solicit and receive funds. Since the parties could not find grounds for agreement, the Belorussian delegate suggested setting aside the paragraph and leaving two other paragraphs not yet discussed unfinished; one of the two concerned the freedom to observe holy days.

The president of the group and the delegate of the Holy See declared themselves not ready to include in article 6 the last three paragraphs in order to complete the draft of the declaration by the end of the current UN session. The meeting adjourned on that note.

At the next meeting the delegate from the Vatican was absent. As the meeting began, the president launched the discussion of paragraph h, starting with the initial U.S. suggestion: " . . . the freedom to celebrate holidays in accordance with the customs of religion or belief."

The French representative asked to speak. Lanarés had spoken with the French delegation, and the delegation had agreed to add the words "and ceremonies" after the word "holidays."

Then the Filipino representative expressed satisfaction that such an important issue was considered. She mentioned the convention on weekly rest and proposed to add the words "and to observe the days of rest" and also to substitute the word "precepts" for "customs."

The Nigerian delegate spoke next, asking to invert the order of the words, inserting first "the freedom to observe days of rest" and then "to celebrate holidays."

The president asked if any others wanted to comment. With no more than a moment's hesitation he declared that paragraph h had been accepted by a consensus, as amended by the suggestions made by France, the Philippines, and Nigeria.

Afterward the Canadian representative asked to be recognized. He indicated Canada's full agreement with the paragraph as discussed, and he underscored that the International Labour Convention had already included such freedom in its text. The president volunteered that that was the reason so many countries had accepted paragraph h without opposition.

The delegations of the U.S.S.R. and Belorussia, present at the time, had not asked to speak about this paragraph. I thought it was rather strange, especially since they had intervened on all other issues (generally against and not in favor). But about this paragraph they said nothing.

Paragraph h was accepted as we wanted. I thanked the Lord for such a great victory, so important for Advent-ists in all the world, as well as for religious people of all faiths and convictions.

For All People
At the end of the session Ambassador Ramos-Shahani, asked me if I was happy. "This is one of the greatest joys of my life," I told her as I warmly thanked her for her important motion. I also thanked the president of the group and the other delegates who had contributed to achieve the results for which we had hoped.

The working group finished the draft of the declaration on March 5. On March 10, 1981, the Commission on Human Rights approved the text suggested by our working group. The General Assembly of the UN proclaimed the declaration without vote by unanimous consensus on November 25, 1981.

Over the past two decades this declaration has contributed to further understanding, religious liberty, and more openness for the spread of the gospel in all countries. And as long as governments agree to abide by its conditions, it will continue to do so.

The document is of great value to a church that teaches the importance of observing God's commandments, including the fourth-the Sabbath. Seventh-day Adventists were able, with God's help, to contribute essentially to the paragraph that underscores that religious liberty implies the freedom "to observe days of rest and to celebrate holidays and ceremonies in accordance with the precepts of one's religion or belief."

This declaration, issued in 1981, has proven very useful in the decades since. In some countries, such as Italy, Spain, Poland, etc., this declaration has been used extensively. For example, article 17 of the Italian law N. 5126, dated November 22, 1988, reads: "The Italian Republic recognizes to the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Churches the right to observe the biblical sabbath rest, which lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday."

If we consider that the right to keep the Sabbath was recognized specifically by law for the first time in Rome, center of a religious power that hallows Sunday, we must admit that God has providentially intervened to help His children keep His commandments.

Twenty years have passed since the issuing of the declaration. I have often wondered: Why did the working group need so long, almost 20 years, to prepare a text of only eight articles? Why did Adventists intervene only shortly before the work was concluded?

I'm sure I don't know all of God's reasons; I can only guess. All I know for certain is that God's thoughts are much higher than our own. All we can do is humbly follow Him as far and as fast as He leads us. To God be all glory.

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Gianfranco Rossi is the former director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) of the Euro-Africa Division and secretary general of the International Association for Defense of Religious Liberty (AIDLR). He is now retired and lives with his wife in Lugano, Switzerland.