RELIGIOUS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Pakistan has presented a draft resolution to the human rights council of the United Nation on behalf of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Reuters reported in the draft the OIC described the burning of the Koran in Stockholm last month as “offensive, disrespectful and a clear act of provocation” that incites hatred and constitutes a human rights violation.
The Human Rights Council is set to debate the draft proposal on religious hatred in the wake of a Koran burning in Sweden. The initiative has highlighted rifts in the U.N. body and challenged practices in human rights protection.
The draft – which condemned “recurring acts of public burning of the Holy Koran in some European and other countries” – has stoked opposition from Western diplomats who argue it aims to safeguard religious symbols rather than human rights.
“We don’t like the text,” one Western diplomat said of the draft, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday. “Human rights are supposed to be attached to individuals, not to religions.”
The OIC initiative also stokes tensions between Western states and the Islamic organisation at a time when the group has unprecedented clout in the council, the only body made up of governments to protect human rights worldwide.
Nineteen OIC countries are voting members of the 47-member council, and other states such as China have aligned with their draft resolution.
It remains to be seen whether Pakistan will succeed in rallying all OIC countries behind it.
The European Union has urged parties to reach a consensus on the issue.