UN Council's Defamation of Religion resolution slammed

PARIS: Attempts by Islamic countries to have a “defamation of religion” resolution passed at the UN's Human Rights Council have been criticised by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum (WEF), which believe that such a resolution could be misused by authoritarian governments.

31 Mar 2009

The organisations yesterday, Monday, 30 March 2009, condemned the resolution approved by the United Nations Human Rights Council on “defamation of religion”, calling the measure an attack on the basic human right of freedom of expression.

“This decision brings discredit on the UN Human Rights Council, which should not justify censorship and the stifling of dissenting voices,” said the Paris-based WAN and WEF, the global organisations of the world's press.

“Suppress freedom of expression”

“Religion is a legitimate subject for criticism, satire and debate. The concept of defamation of religion is likely to severely stifle that debate,” the statement said. "We are seriously concerned that this resolution will be relied on by authoritarian governments to suppress freedom of expression.”

WAN and WEF called on council members to "take all steps necessary to ensure that international standards of freedom of expression are fully supported by the UN Human Rights Council and not undermined by resolutions such as this."

The council's resolution, proposed by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and approved by the council on Friday, calls for a global fight against “defamation of religions”. Islamic countries argue that criticising or lampooning religions is a violation of the rights of believers and leads to discrimination and violence against them.

But such measures are also used to stifle debate and dissent. A list of some recent cases can be found at www.wan-press.org/article18081.html.