UN Defamation of Religions Resolution

UPDATE: Many of you helped speak out against the dangerous defamation of religions resolution at the UN since 2009. We have good news. In 2011, for the first time in 12 years, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) did not reintroduce the resolution. This is a huge victory and we want to thank you for your prayers and actions that helped defeat it! In March 2011, the OIC submitted a new resolution, formulated with input from the U.S. government, that has eliminated nearly all our concerns with the previous resolutions on defamation of religions.

The Defamation of Religions Resolution, introduced in the UN, condemns what are deemed to be intolerant words or actions against a particular religion, especially Islam. Open Doors launched the Free to Believe campaign to combat the passage of this dangerous resolution. Although the resolution was again passed in 2010, its support has been decreasing steadily over the past few years. Open Doors campaigned and lobbied against the resolution in 2009 and 2010 in hopes of further eroding support for it.

More information about the Defamation of Religions Resolution:

The Defamation of Religions Resolution, introduced in the UN, seeks to criminalize words or actions that are deemed to be against a particular religion, especially against Islam. Proponents justify the “defamation of religion” concept by claiming that it protects religious practice and promotes tolerance. In practice, however, countries that prohibit so-called “defamation of religion” are the worst violators of human rights to freedoms of religion and speech, and the least tolerant of religious minorities.
The Defamation of Religions Resolution has the effect of providing international legitimacy for national laws that punish blasphemy or otherwise ban criticism of a religion.
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is an inter-governmental organization of 57 states with majority or significant Muslim populations. The OIC’s resolution originally addressed only the “defamation of Islam,” but was later reframed to address the “defamation of religions” generally to broaden support. Until this year, Islam was the only faith specifically mentioned in the resolutions passed by the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly.
The Defamation of Religions resolutions have passed the UN General Assembly vote every year since 2005. Starting in 2008, however, there was a large decrease in support thanks to advocacy efforts against the resolution. In 2009, Open Doors joined these advocacy efforts and, although it still passed, support for the resolution again decreased.
In March of 2010, a new version of the resolution was introduced and passed by a narrow majority at the Human Rights Council. This new version of the resolution refers once to Anti-Semitism and Christianphobia, but clearly remains focused on protecting Islam. After its victory in the Human Rights Council, the OIC proposed to the UN General Assembly another Defamation of Religions Resolution that was narrowly approved in November 2010.

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