UN to vote on a resolution to prevent burning the Quran

On Jul 12, 2023

RELIGIOUS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – The United Nations is expected to vote today on a resolution to prevent the burning of the Quran.

AP reported the proposal has been promoted by Pakistan and Palestine following several incidents when the Quran has been burned in public protests, including one event in Stockholm which has led to protests from Muslim led countries.

In the debate, western countries condemned the intolerance but affirmed the right to freedom of expression, while predominantly Muslim countries wanted laws tightened up to ban such acts. Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights chief, said the manufactured stunts were intended to drive a wedge between communities and showed a lack of respect.

Applause broke out in the cavernous chamber of the Human Rights Council on Wednesday after the 28-12 vote, with seven abstentions, on a measure brought by Pakistan and Palestine that was backed by many developing countries in Africa, as well as China and India, and Middle Eastern countries.

After the vote, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi of Pakistan insisted the measure “does not seek to curtail the right to free speech,” but tries to strike a “prudent balance” between it and “special duties and responsibilities.”

“The opposition of a few in the room has emanated from their unwillingness to condemn the public desecration of the Holy Quran or any other religious book,” Hashmi said. “They lack political, legal and moral courage to condemn this act, and it was the minimum that the council could have expected from them.”

A day earlier, however, Michele Taylor, the U.S. ambassador to the council, said that the United States “strongly condemns the acts that have precipitated today’s discussion, including desecration of the Holy Quran on June 28” — a reference to an incident in Sweden last month that fanned protest in some Muslim communities.

After the vote, Taylor said she was “truly heartbroken” that the council was unable to reach consensus “in condemning what we all agree are deplorable acts of anti-Muslim hatred, while also respecting freedom of expression.”