ABSTRACT
What is significant about the works that have analysed the human right to freedom of religion, is the recognition that the treaties establishing the international human right to freedom of religion also include therein the right to freedom of conscience. Expanding on the travaux preparatoires of the principal human rights treaties can serve to sharpen the meaning of the text in a manner that can enhance the applicability of the right to conscience. Considering the obscure nature of the right to freedom of conscience in the principal human rights treaties, namely the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, European Convention on Human Rights, American Convention on Human Rights, and African Convention on Human Rights, analysis of the legal development of the right would seem an important exercise. Regarding the regional treaties that codify the right to freedom of conscience, it appears that the right is placed on equal footing with the freedom of religion.
