By James Tillman
Geneva, October 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com)—The Obama administration, in combination with Egypt, has sponsored a resolution in the UN's Human Rights Council (HRC) on the issue of “religious discrimination” that critics say would limit freedom of expression.
The resolution, while affirming the right to freedom of speech in its first pages, nevertheless includes clauses some argue may be used to censor those who express their opinions about religion, especially about Islam. In particular, the document says that states must take “effective measures … to address and combat” those who advocate “religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence.” It also contains language condemning “religious stereotyping.”
The ranking US diplomat, Douglas Griffiths, said that the United States was “very pleased to present this joint project with Egypt,” and praised the resolution as a manifestation of the Obama administration's principles, according to The Weekly Standard.
Griffiths' Egyptian counterpart, Ambassador Hisham Badr, also praised the resolution, but for different reasons. He said that “freedom of expression … has been sometimes misused” and that there must be limits placed on it in accord with the “true nature of this right.”
But the very thing that Badr praised the measure for is what worries some free-speech defenders.
Article 19, an organization that promotes freedom of expression and of information, said that unfortunately, “the Resolution makes reference to 'religious stereotyping',' a vague and difficult concept which suggests that religions, religious ideas and religious symbols (rather than believers) may be protected by international human rights law.”
The European Union also expressed concern with the measure. Speaking on behalf of the EU, the French Ambassador Jean-Baptise Mattel declared that “human rights law does not, and should not, protect religions or belief systems, hence the language on stereotyping only applies to stereotyping of individuals … and not of ideologies, religions or abstract values. The EU rejects the concept of defamation of religions.”
Some commentators have said that they see the resolution as a sign that the Obama administration is willing to compromise on fundamental rights in order to engage with Islamic countries.
Pakistan's Ambassador, Zamir Akram, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, indicated that they understood the resolution to allow free speech to be restricted if it defamed or negatively stereotyped religion, according to the Standard.
Adding to the concern of critics of the measure, is the fact that the cosponsor of the resolution, Egypt, has itself been accused of various violations of freedom of speech. Freedom House, a Washington-based international non-governmental human rights organization, lists Egypt as a “partly free” country in spite of the government's “ongoing—and in some cases increasing—harassment, repression, and imprisonment of journalists.” Reporters without Borders, on the other hand, lists Egypt as 146th out of 173 in its 2008 edition of the world press freedom index.
Islam, which commentators say the U.S.-sponsored UN resolution is uniquely designed to protect from criticism, is the state religion of Egypt.
The UN's Human Rights Council has come under criticism in the past for uneven condemnation of human rights violations around the world. According to Eye on the UN, the country fifth most frequently condemned by the HRC is the United States of America, ahead of China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt.
The HRC was formed in 2006 in a push by the UN to reform its discredited predecessor, the U.N. Human Rights Commission.