OIC human rights body holds intensive debate to draw lines between hate speech, freedom of speech

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Tuesday 24 Nov 2015 - 10:42 Makkah mean time-12-2-1437 Jeddah (IINA) – The Eighth Regular Session of the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), held here on Monday, witnessed intense deliberations on its pivotal theme of “Freedom of expression Versus Hate Speech”. The meeting started with a statement from the Ambassador of Sudan, Chairwoman of IPHRC’s current session Ms. Ilham Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed, in which she affirmed that the Commission strives to ensure that its deliberations on the issue of freedom of speech and hate speech are objective. She further stated that “Although freedom of speech is a contributor to sustained progress, yet we have to be cognizant of the boundaries of such freedom under international law”. Amb. Ilham underscored the need to distinguish between freedom of speech and hate speech, noting that “Hatred and Islamophobia have reached such an alarming level and that non-observance of the authentic teachings of the Holy Qur'an could lead to major pitfalls”. On his part, OIC Secretary-General Iyad Ameen Madani proposed that UN resolution No.16/18, which lays stress on the concept that freedom of speech correlates with a necessary sense of responsibility, be adopted as the key reference in discussing the subject of “freedom of speech versus hate speech”, with the OIC currently pushing for a “reformulation of the proposition aimed at ensuring that our own advocacy is mindful of the others’ beliefs”. Also, Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy Dr Abdussalam Al Abadi delivered a statement in which he noted that “the human society’s is founded on the concept of inhabiting the earth in accordance with God’s established prescriptions and that Islam affirms Man’s stewardship on earth and seeks to achieve justice among humans”. He further added that Islam has regulated relations between Muslims as individuals or communities as well between Muslims and non-Muslims. It is worth noting that the proceedings of the IPHRC’s eighth session started on November 21, and is scheduled to continue till the 26th of the same month. This session is allocated to undertake an in-depth discussion of all its agenda items including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in the OIC member states, as well as the violations perpetrated against human rights in Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir. AB/IINA