The Special Rapporteur on
contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance, Mr Githu Muigai, under agenda item 9 presented his recent report
on "all manifestations of defamation of religions, and in particular on the
serious implications of Islamophobia, on the enjoyment of all human rights by
their follower" to the Human Rights Council (the Council) on 30 September 2009.
(Source: 30 September 2009, International Service for Human Rights)

The Special Rapporteur on
contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance, Mr Githu Muigai, under agenda item 9 presented his recent report
on 'all manifestations of defamation of religions, and in particular on the
serious implications of Islamophobia, on the enjoyment of all human rights by
their follower' to the Human Rights Council (the Council) on 30 September 2009.

During the interactive dialogue with
the Special Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance two opposing positions became apparent. Several Islamic States
supported the concept of 'defamation of religions', whereas other mainly
non-Islamic States rejected the concept as not relevant to international human
rights law. Countries in favour of the concept attacked the Special Rapport for
having engaged in a theoretical discussion on the issue in the report rather
than having taken stock of the various manifestations of 'defamation of
religion'. These States also strongly criticised the Special Rapporteur's
conclusion that the existing international legal framework provides effective
mechanisms to combat and protect people from religious discrimination. In
contrast European and Latin American States as wellas the US welcomed the
approach taken by the Special Rapporteur to look at the issues related to
'defamation of religions' within the existing legal framework for the protection
against incitement to hatred. They claimed that the existing framework,
including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination (ICERD) and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Durban Declaration and Programme of
Action (DDPA), provides norms and standards to guide governments to
combat religious discrimination. States that generally were supportive with
regards to the Special Rapporteur's report reiterated that the focus of the
report on Islamophobia does not reflect religious intolerance fully as it is
apparent worldwide and not only affects one specific religion or region.

To read the complete report, please click here.