> ## 📌 General Comment No. 34 (2011) Paragraph 38 (Original Text)
> The following is a quote from the official English version published by the UN Human Rights Committee:
>
**“Laws that penalize the expression of opinions about historical facts are incompatible with the obligations that the Covenant imposes on States parties…
…Nor is it compatible with the Covenant for a State party to criminalize the holding of an opinion.
Laws should not provide for penalties for disrespect for a flag, or a symbol, or for the State, or its institutions, or for a public official.”**
— General Comment No.34, para. 38 United Nations Digital Library System
>
> ## 📝 Key Points (Japanese)
>
> * Laws that penalize the expression of opinions about historical facts violate the Covenant.
> * Criminalizing the holding of an opinion itself also violates the Covenant.
> * Laws that penalize "disrespect" toward a national flag, symbol, the State, public institutions, or public officials are incompatible with the obligations under Article 19 of the Covenant.
>
> In other words, from a standpoint that places particular importance on freedom of political speech, the UN Human Rights Committee explicitly rejects criminalizing disrespect toward national flags and state symbols.
>
> ## 🔍 For Further Verification
> * Read the full text of General Comment No. 34
> * Learn about the contents of ICCPR Article 19
> * Examine the detailed relationship between the crime of national flag desecration and international human rights law
>