JEDDAH: In response to the Obama administration’s comments that an Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) resolution condemning religious defamation was a violation of human rights, the OIC has said the resolution is based on existing international covenants.
Michael Posner, assistant secretary of state for human rights, democracy and labor, recently said that an OIC resolution that was handed to the UN’s Human Rights Council “goes too far.”
“The notion that a religion can be defamed and that any comments that are negative about that religion can constitute a violation of human rights to us violates the core principle of free speech,” he said. However, OIC Secretary-General Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said that the OIC position on defamation of religions was based on existing international covenants which have outlined limits to freedom of opinion and expression in cases of incitement to hatred on religious grounds.
He added that for the last 10 years OIC-sponsored resolutions on the defamation of religion have been passed by the General Assembly in New York and the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The text of these resolutions has evolved over the years and, in its current form, is not restricted to Islam but denounces defamation of all religions, he said. “It is important to note that passage of these resolutions by a majority vote beyond the membership of the OIC lends international legitimacy to the OIC position on this issue,” Ihsanoglu said.
“It is, however, clear that there is a divergence of opinion on this issue as indicated by Michael Posner’s statement. On our part, we are looking at the positive side encouraged by the recognition on both sides of the need to address the issue of discrimination and incitement to hatred on religious grounds”, he added.
“I believe that the assistant secretary of state was referring to the recent consensual passage of the US and Egypt-sponsored resolution on the freedom of opinion and expression by consensus at the Human rights Council in Geneva,” said Ihsanoglu.
