Monday at the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) asked the world community to criminalize all deliberate provocations and calls to hatred and violence.
In a statement read at a high-level United Nations meeting on combating hate speech, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation expressed great concern about the “denigration of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)” by Bhartiya Janata Party officials. Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan to the UN read the statement on behalf of the OIC. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation demanded that “willful provocations and incitement to hatred and violence” be generally prohibited.
Ambassador Akram warned the international community that the OIC “remains concerned over deliberate provocations and defamation of Islamic holy figures and religious symbols.”
By a resolution recently adopted by the General Assembly, the OIC joined the international community on June 18 in observing the first-ever international day for combating hate speech.
The resolution to observe this day was presented by the Kingdom of Morocco, and the OIC praised it as “an important milestone in the advancement of worldwide efforts to combat hate speech.”
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation claimed that honoring this day will encourage interreligious and intercultural communication and tolerance in the fight against hate speech, as well as highlight the need to combat all forms of prejudice and xenophobia.
In his statement to the high-level meeting, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated, “Hate speech is an attack on tolerance, inclusion, diversity, and the very essence of our human rights values and standards.”
“Hate speech,” he continued, “undermines societal cohesion, erodes shared values, and can lay the groundwork for violence, undermining the cause of peace, stability, sustainable development, and the realization of human rights for all.”
Ambassador Akram noted that “the volume and impact of hate speech are enhanced by new communication technology to such an extent that hate speech has become one of the most common means of propagating divisive rhetoric and ideas on a worldwide scale.”
He warned that “if left uncontrolled, it can destroy peace and development because it sets the environment for conflicts, religious tensions, and large-scale breaches of human rights, and can be a forerunner to atrocity crimes.”
The statement added that while hate speech had spread throughout the world, “the OIC is particularly disturbed by the significant rise in Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hostility in many parts of the world.
Such Islamophobic activities, the OIC noted, “hurt the sensibilities of more than 1.5 billion Muslims and represent a flagrant violation of the right to free speech. In addition, they bolster radical narratives.”
The OIC condemned “the practice of insulting Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion,” adding that it opposes “any acts of hatred and violence based on religion or belief.”
