- The West is likely to oppose the Pakistan-led initiative on Tuesday.
- Rights should be protected, not religion: Western diplomat
- The OIC initiative has increased tensions with Western states.
Geneva: In the wake of the reprehensible incident of Quran desecration in Sweden, the Human Rights Council is set to debate a controversial draft resolution on religious hatred on Tuesday (tomorrow).
The initiative has underlined major rifts in the UN body and challenged human rights protection practices.
Pakistan tabled a draft resolution on behalf of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Council, describing the incident in Stockholm last month as an “aggressive, humiliating and clear act of provocation” that incites hatred and violates human rights. violates. Violation.
The draft – which condemns “repeated acts of public burning of the Holy Quran in some European and other countries” – has provoked protests from Western diplomats, who argue that it aims to violate human rights. Instead of protecting religious symbols.
“We don’t like the text,” a Western diplomat said of the draft, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Human rights are supposed to belong to individuals, not religions.”
The OIC’s initiative escalates tensions between Western states and the Islamic organization at a time when the group has unprecedented clout in the council, the only body made up of governments worldwide to protect human rights.
Nineteen OIC countries are voting members of the 47-member council, and other states such as China have aligned with their draft resolution.
It remains to be seen whether Pakistan will be able to get all the OIC countries behind it.
The Saudi-led effort to end the Yemen war crimes investigation in 2021 was successful.
Mark Lymon said, “If the resolution passes, as is likely, it will reinforce the notion that the council is overturning and confronting the West major debates such as the boundary between free speech and hate speech, and whether religions have rights.” But it is losing its grip. Director of the Universal Rights Group based in Geneva.
“This could lead to bitterness in the council.”
The EU has urged all parties to reach a consensus on this issue.
“The denigration of religions has been a difficult topic within the United Nations for decades,” an EU diplomat told the talks last week.
“The question is really very complex as to where to draw the line between freedom of expression and inciting hatred.”
