Baku, July 13, AZERTAC

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) hails the adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council of the resolution on “Countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” as an important milestone towards strengthening the collective efforts and resolve in rejecting desecration of holy books and religious intolerance, according to the official website of the organization.

The resolution was adopted at the urgent debate at the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council following a request by the OIC Group of countries in Geneva in response to a series of provocative acts of desecration of copies of the Holy Qur’an in a number of European and other countries.

The adopted resolution condemns the recent public and premeditated acts of desecration of the Holy Qur’an, and underscores the need for holding the perpetrators of these acts of religious hatred to account in line with obligations of States arising from international human rights law.

It also urges the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and all relevant special procedures to speak out against advocacy of religious hatred. It requests the Human Rights Council to identify drivers and manifestations of religious hatred and to outline existing gaps in laws, policies, practices and law enforcement that impede the prevention and persecution of public and premediated acts and to propose measures aimed at countering acts of religious hatred that hinder the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Through the resolution, States are encouraged to adopt national laws and policies to prevent and counter acts and advocacy of religious hatred.

The OIC has always urged the international community to resolutely tackle the repeated incidents of desecration of holy books, rise of xenophobia, Islamophobia, racism, discriminations based on religion or belief, hate speech and incitement to violence.

It has called for the condemnation and rejection of the abhorrent Islamophobic actions which constitute incitement to hatred, exclusion and racism, and clearly undermine inter-religious harmony, dialogue and peaceful co-existence of diverse communities, highlighting that these premeditated acts cannot be accepted under any justification nor conflated with the exercise of the right to freedom of expression or opinion.

The OIC strongly believes that the adoption of the historic resolution by the Human Rights Council will open a new era in terms of dialogue and collective efforts aimed at curbing manifestations of religious hatred and incitement to violence.

In these challenging times, there is an urgent need to unite in the upholding of the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence among peoples and civilizations.

Following the adoption of the resolution, OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha has commended all the States which have sponsored the draft resolution and those which have supported it. He also commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, current Chair of the Islamic Summit and Chair of the OIC Executive Committee, for its commitment and initiative to convene an urgent meeting of the Executive committee on this matter, which led to the successful debate at the UN Human Rights Council. He reiterated the OIC’s call upon the international community to stand firm against the manifestations of discrimination and intolerance and incitement to hatred and to unite in the upholding of the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence among peoples and civilizations. He urged the international community to ensure the implementation and follow up of the resolution adopted, today, by the UN Human Rights Council.