UNHRC criticizes Sweden. India and China supported an OIC resolution on "religious hatred" in response to Quran burnings.
Recent Quran burning instances were condemned by the UN Human Rights Council, however several nations chose not to support the resolution out of concern that it would restrict their ability to express themselves. After an Iraqi immigrant burnt Koranic verses in front of Stockholm's largest mosque last month, Pakistan and other OIC nations initiated a discussion and resolution. The OIC resolution to combat religious hate received support from the top human rights body of the UN with 28 votes in favor, 12 against, and 7 abstentions. The resolution has the support of Argentina, China, Cuba, India, South Africa, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
Islamophobia is on the rise, and there have been several instances of desecrating the holy Koran in certain nations.
Federico Villegas, the ambassador for Argentina, said that although they supported the resolution, they would have preferred to have come to a draft that was clearer and more unanimous. The resolution was rejected by Costa Rica, Montenegro, the United States, France, and other members of the European Union. Among the nations that didn't vote were Benin, Chile, Mexico, Nepal, and Paraguay.
Francisca Mendez Escobar, Mexico's ambassador, remarked that not all criticism of religion is an invitation to prejudice, hate, or violence. A resolution that all nations could support, according to Paraguay's ambassador Marcelo Scappini Ricciardi, was "clearly possible." The ambassador of Chile, Claudia Fuentes Julio, stated that some of its clauses would aim to curtail free speech.
Although the vote was approved amid cheers, the room was not particularly upbeat. A agreement may have been reached with more time and conversation, according to US ambassador Michele Taylor, but "Unfortunately our concerns were not taken seriously." The resolution stresses the need to prosecute those accountable and denounces any forms of religious intolerance, including "public and premeditated acts of desecration of the Holy Koran". It exhorts states to pass legislation to deal with, stop, and punish actions and promotion of religious intolerance that amount to inciting hatred, hostility, or violence. Volker Turk, the UN representative for human rights, is tasked with identifying legal omissions in the wake of the resolution.
A wide variety of nations supported the resolution, which was centered on battling religious hate, underscoring the widespread concern about religious intolerance and the requirement to defend religious liberty. The UNHRC's censure represents a group effort to combat hate crimes and discrimination based on religion.