GENEVA, Jul 27 (APP): The OIC Group in Geneva issued a statement Wednesday strongly condemning the “repeated public and premeditated” acts of desecration of the Holy Quran in some European countries over the last week.
“We recognize condemnation of such incidents by relevant governments, but remain concerned that extremists may continue to exploit the absence of much needed preventive legal and administrative policy toolkit in such countries,” the OIC group said.
In addition, it said, the racial motives behind some of these incidents are too obvious to ignore.
“Absence of political will is conspicuous in certain States first sanctioning and then condemning such acts,” the statement said.
“We recall the recently adopted Human Rights Council resolution on ‘countering religious hatred’, which condemns public and premeditated acts of desecration of the Holy Quran as it constitutes religious hatred and incitement to violence; and calls for prevention and accountability”.
The resolution also calls upon the High Commissioner and Human Rights special procedures to call out such acts.
“The silence of relevant UN experts is indefensible,” the group said.
“We believe that personal academic views should not hold anyone back from their moral, ethical and legal obligations as elaborated in their respective mandates.
“We reject the view that public and premeditated desecration of the Holy Quran is an ‘objectionable but legally permissible’ act. On the contrary, it is a condemnable and a prohibited act under international law as it constitutes advocacy of religious hatred, hostility and incitement to violence,” the OIC Group added.
The Human Rights Council’s determination overrides personal academic views, especially for those who are accountable to the Council and owe their mandates to it, it was pointed out.
“Prevention and accountability on such acts are needed to protect individuals and communities from cascading impacts of religious hatred, hostility, and incitement to violence that desecration of the Holy Quran or other Holy books manifest,” the group said.
“Advocacy of religious hatred should not be allowed to thrive between condemnation and inaction. It is breeding untenable impunity, which must be put to an end without further equivocation.”