Jeddah meeting reaches consensus on combating religious intolerance

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Thursday 04 Jun 2015 - 22:05 Makkah mean time-17-8-1436 Jeddah (IINA) - Wrapping up of the two-day session of the 5th Meeting of the Istanbul Process here on Thursday,  International experts called for promoting freedom of religion while out-rightly combating intolerance and hatred based on religion. The participants reached widespread consensus on how to take forward UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18, which deals with religious intolerance. Speaking at the event’s closure at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Secretary General of OIC Iyad Madani said that the meeting was a high point for the OIC to host. “We would like to build up consensus on this… we hope that this meeting has provided if not all but some of those opportunities to take us down the road for the goal that we share,” he said. More than 90 leading stakeholders met to consider the full and effective implementation of the UN resolution. The leaders who attended the meeting included Secretary General of King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue Faisal bin Muammar, President of the UN Human Rights Council Joachim Rucker and the Director of the Doha forum for Dialogue Ibrahim Saleh.  “The meeting reaffirmed the significance of the resolution as a milestone achievement in the UN’s efforts to combat incitement to hatred, discrimination, stigmatization and violence based on one’s religion or belief, and called for all out efforts to preserve international consensus on this important document,” according to OIC sources. The meeting was represented by UN Member states, academics, UN officials, independent experts, legal practitioners, NGOs, as well as media and civil society figures. The meeting was the second of its nature to be held in the Muslim world and follows previous meetings in Washington, London, Geneva and Doha. The UN Human Rights Council adopted, by consensus, Resolution 16/18 in March 2011. The resolution deals with religious discrimination and violence from the perspective of international human rights law and outlines actions that governments need to implement to effectively combat religious-based violence and discrimination. The meeting was divided into three panel discussions that covered the eight-point Action Plan of the resolution in three broad groups. Panellists from different legal, social and cultural backgrounds delivered presentations and recommendations on various aspects of the Action Plan. Participants also provided useful input and raised important questions on how best to implement steps at different levels. The participants welcomed the announcement by Chile to host the next meeting of the Istanbul Process in 2016. HA/IINA