GENEVA: The OIC Group in Geneva, in a statement, strongly denounced the “repeated public and premeditated” acts of desecration of the Holy Quran that happened in some European countries over the previous week.
The OIC group said: “We recognize that the relevant governments have condemned such incidents, but we remain concerned that extremists may continue to take advantage of the absence of the much-needed preventive legal and administrative policy toolkit in such countries.” Furthermore, it added, the racial motivations behind some of these acts are too transparent to be ignored. “Absence of political will is evident in some States first sanctioning and then condemning such acts,” the declaration read.
We recall the recently passed Human Rights Council resolution on “countering religious hatred,” which calls for accountability and prevention and denounces the public and intentional desecration of the Holy Quran as constituting religious hatred and incitement to violence.
The resolution also requests that such acts be reported to the High Commissioner and the Human Rights special procedures.
The organization argued that it was unacceptable for relevant UN experts to remain silent. “We think that no one should be prevented from fulfilling their moral, ethical, and legal commitments outlined in their specific mandates because of their intellectual beliefs.
“We disagree with the notion that the public and intentional desecration of the Holy Quran is an ‘objectionable but legally lawful’ conduct. The OIC Group said, “On the contrary, it is a condemnable and unlawful act under international law as it constitutes advocacy of religious intolerance, animosity, and incitement to violence. It was noted that the decision of the Human Rights Council takes precedence over individual scholarly opinions, particularly for those who are answerable to the Council and owe their mandates to it.
The statement said, “To safeguard people and communities from the cascading effects of religious intolerance, hatred, and incitement to violence that the desecration of the Holy Quran or other Holy books manifests.”
The group stated that prevention and accountability for such acts are necessary. “Promoting religious hatred should not be allowed to flourish between inaction and denunciation. It must be stopped without further hesitation because it breeds intolerable impunity,” it added. —APP
