While fanaticism flourishes and actions disrespectful to religions have been increasing all over the world, little known to the common man, efforts have been going on at the highest level at the top international body – the United Nations – to put a stop to this phenomena. The UN General Assembly has passed a “defamation of religions” resolution in each of its last three sessions from 2005 to 2007. As always with any issue, proponents and opponents are putting forward and supporting their respective views. The two main parties are the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the United States, respectively. The resolution aims to amend the UN's Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and make it a criminal act and violation of international law to defame another religion. The United States fears that the “defamation of religions” resolution would be viewed by some as justification to restrict freedom of speech and limit public dialogue on faith issues. In the resolution passed in March 2008, the Human Rights Council (which replaced the Commission on Human Rights in 2006) urged all UN member states “to provide, within their respective legal and constitutional systems, adequate protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from the defamation of any religion” and stated that while “everyone has the right to freedom of expression…the exercise of this right carries with it special duties and responsibilities, and may therefore be subject to certain restrictions….” “The growing trend of Islamophobia that seeks to defame and denigrate Islam through distortion and misperception and subject Muslims to racially motivated discrimination and xenophobic treatment, is an issue of great concern for Muslims,” Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, OIC chief, said in an interview here last week. Asked if this issue could be considered to be within the scope of the interfaith dialogue initiated by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and the Global Agenda for Dialogue among Civilizations, and how helpful that would be, the secretary general said that these forums are designed to pave the way for a better understanding among different cultures, religions, and civilizations. “The OIC has no agenda against any religion, rather (it) has full respect for religious and cultural diversity,” he said and added that the organization has been pro-active in its interaction with Western institutions including governments, regional organizations, academics, media and civil society to raise awareness of the dangerous consequences of the rising phenomenon of Islamophobia. “We seek a meaningful and result oriented dialogue that would bring about the understanding of the correct image of Islam in order to develop a culture of tolerance among civilizations,” he said. “When we can do this, we are confident that we will be able to effectively neutralize those who use religion to foment terror, intolerance, mistrust and violence,” he added. Ihsanoglu stressed that the concern for racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance is global and shared by the entire international community. Sada Cumber, US Special Envoy to the OIC, believes that his country could be a useful model for addressing some of the issues raised by “the defamation of religions” resolution in the United Nations. “In my country, freedom of speech is paramount and is protected by the constitution. Citizens are entitled to criticize public officials, religious leaders, policies to which they object,” he said. “My fear is that such a resolution would be viewed by some as justification to restrict freedom of speech and limit public dialogue on faith issues. I believe these are questions best left to civil society to address according to local need, and not by UN resolution,” he added.
