Countering Religious Hate: UN Human Rights Resolution 14 July 223 UN Resolution Religious hatred
Almost two decades ago, following the the rise of Islamophobia, incitement to violence and hate speech, the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) requested the UN Human Rights Council to address the frequent incidents of premeditated and public displays of religious disrespect.
At long last, the disputed resolution was adopted on Wednesday July 12th, during the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council. The resolution on “Countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” is considered a historic event in preventing and prosecuting advocacy of religious hatred. Through the resolution, the
Geneva based Council encourages members to “address, prevent and prosecute acts and advocacy of religions hatred” through the adoption of corrective measures and national laws if necessary.
The OIC views the resolution as the dawn of a new era of collective tolerance and peace coexistence among different civilisations. However, Western countries, who although they expressed their condemnation on “the incitement to religious hatred, discrimination and violence” argued that such resolution conflicts with the right to freedom of opinion and expression as per Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The French representative commented that human rights were not about protecting religions but protecting people, expressing the Western concern that the Council respected freedom of religion, but disregarded the freedom of expression.
Freedom of Religion a Sine Qua Non for Peace and Development
The United Nations Human Rights has traditionally argued that often the root cause of conflict can be found in the persecution of religious minorities. Social disturbance hinders social prosperity, cultural development and economic growth.
Then, it will only be fair to say that religious freedom is one of the fundamental elements that contribute to human dignity. Today, freedom of religion constitutes one of the main pillars of human rights.
As a matter of fact the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was founded on the believe that freedom to worship God in one’s way was paramount in the pursuit of international peace and
security.
President Roosevelt eager to reestablish a robust League of Nations delivered his famous speech at the 1941 State of the Union Address: “The Four Freedoms”, respect for freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship God in one’s way, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
A year later, the Allies calling themselves the United Nations, issued a joint declaration stating that victory was necessary “to defend life liberty, independence, and religious freedom and to preserve human rights and justice in their own lands as well in other lands”.
The Broad Picture
If there is hardly any room to argue that both freedoms, freedom of religion and freedom of speech and opinion, are essential to build on civilised development, the question that needs to be addressed is, why should speech and opinion be violent or disrespectful? This week alone, freedom of expression was illustrated in various forms sparking indignation among Muslims,
Hindus and Japanese. Burning the Quran in Sweden, a Holy Book revered by millions of Muslims, reading The Bhagavad Gita in an “intimate setting” on the first scene of Oppenheimer, a Hollywood film that provoked outraged among millions of Hindus, as well as many Japanese who viewed the film glorifying the life of a scientist, without acknowledging the human devastation and collective trauma of his creation, the nuclear bomb.
Freedom of expression also means being respectful, thoughtful and considerate, otherwise freedom becomes a carte blanche to the return of barbarism delaying even further the evolution of human development.