The United Nations on Tuesday adopted a decision, co-sponsored by Pakistan, towards hate speech and Islamophobia.
The decision has been named as “selling interreligious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance in countering hate speech”.
The decision, calling on the worldwide neighborhood to counter hate speech in all its kinds and dimensions, was adopted by consensus on the UN with 44 nations in favour, 62 towards and 24 absent.
“It additionally recognises with deep concern the general rise in cases of discrimination, intolerance and violence, whatever the actors, together with instances motivated by Islamophobia in PP18, a proposal put ahead by Pakistan, later joined by Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia,” a press release by the Everlasting Mission of Pakistan Mission to the UN learn.
Pakistan, it added, additionally led efforts together with Malaysia and Egypt on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) international locations to incorporate language within the textual content, by the phrases of which the Meeting strongly deplored all acts of violence towards individuals on the premise of their faith or perception, in addition to any such acts directed towards their spiritual symbols, holy books, locations of worship, spiritual websites and shrines in violation of worldwide legislation, making the primary decision adopted by the Common Meeting to strongly deplore all acts of violence towards spiritual symbols and Holy books.
Pakistan Mission Counsellor Bilal Chaudhry, on behalf of the mission, expressed profound satisfaction with the decision’s adoption.
He mentioned that the textual content adopted resonates with a decision on spiritual hatred, adopted not too long ago on the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which was offered by Pakistan on behalf of the OIC group.
That landmark decision within the Human Rights Council condemned “all advocacy and manifestations of non secular hatred, together with current public and premeditated acts which have desecrated the Koran” and referred to as for international locations to undertake legal guidelines enabling them to deliver to justice these chargeable for such acts,” the counsellor added.
Chaudhry mentioned Islamophobia is on the rise with repeated incidents of desecration of the Holy Quran.
“These acts are usually not only a provocation to the sentiments of greater than two billion Muslims on the earth, however a step to sabotage interfaith concord and peace,” he maintained, including that such incidents are additionally a manifestation of racial hatred and xenophobia, and absence of preventive authorized deterrence, inaction, and shying away from talking out encourages additional incitement to hatred and violence.
The counsellor additionally famous that the textual content adopted by the UN “doesn’t search to curtail the appropriate to free speech” however tries to underline the “particular duties and duties” of the worldwide neighborhood to safeguard interfaith peace and concord”.