By Gabe Joselow
In the wake of a
U.N. resolution condemning discrimination on the basis of religion, the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation has stopped pushing for an international
treaty banning the defamation of religion.
The 57-member
confederation of Muslim countries has lobbied for years for an international
treaty that would outlaw blasphemy against Islam and other religions.
Ufuk Gokcen, the
OIC's Permanent Observer to the U.N., played a key role in that effort.
But the Turkish
diplomat said the OIC is now satisfied with U.N. Human Rights Council
Resolution 16/18 adopted last year.
"I don't see
any attempt to go back to the old controversy over defamation and
blasphemy," he said.
U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton has said Resolution 16/18 recognizes that free expression
plays an important role in bolstering religious tolerance.
Gokcen says that is
correct.
"What
Resolution 16/18 achieved is exactly that, that we put the emphasis - instead
of the protection of the concept of religion - to protection of rights of
individual believers, and I believe this framework is compatible with the First
Amendment as well," he said.
The First Amendment
of the U.S. Constitution protects free speech, including blasphemy.
Gokcen says he
accepts that it prevented U.S.
authorities from taking down a recent anti-Muslim Internet video produced in
the United States
"I believe
that in the age of communication and the Internet you cannot stop this type of
insulting or denigrating videos or books or publications by criminalizing. The
best way to combat this issue would be to develop a kind of understanding, a
mutual understanding among the international community, that we should not
insult each other, and we should not defame each other. Of course, this
requires a long-term cooperation and promotion of understanding," he said.
Critics of the OIC
say it should focus its efforts on the racist portrayals of Jews in Arab
newspapers and school textbooks as well as attacks against Christians in some
predominately Muslim countries.
Gokcen says that in
its advocacy efforts the OIC treats anti-Semitic and anti-Christian prejudice
as seriously as Islamophobia. ---VOA News
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