Jordan calls for urgent laws to combat religious hatred in all its forms

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stressed the need for the international community to work immediately to enact laws that criminalise and prevent abuse of religious symbols and sanctities. 

In a speech at an emergency session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on acts of religious hatred rising from multiple attempts to abuse the Holy Koran, Safadi stressed the need to address acts of hatred in all their forms, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. 

At the meeting, which was held upon the request of Arab countries and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, he said that "this is a shared responsibility to which we must affirm our commitment today, by explicitly condemning the crime of burning a copy of the Holy Koran and immediately working to enact laws that criminalise and prevent it".

Safadi stressed that in order to address a culture of hatred, discrimination and the rejection of others, a culture of peace and shared human values must be fostered. He stated that respecting others and their religious symbols and the promotion of a culture of peace and dialogue were well established Islamic values, and that "the burning of a copy of the Holy Koran is a breach of these values, a serious reflection of a culture of hatred and racism and a manifestation of Islamophobia that Jordan absolutely condemns".

“The burning of the Holy Koran is a hate crime that represents a crude provocation of the feelings of some two billion Muslims, which cannot be justified in the context of freedom of expression,” he added.

Safadi stressed that Jordan emphasises “the need to cease such extreme provocative acts immediately and criminalise them as incitement of violence and hatred,” and the need to respect religious texts and symbols and promote a culture of peace and acceptance of the other.

He stressed the need to adhere to the United Nations resolutions, which call for global efforts to promote tolerance, peace and dialogue among civilisations, and Human Rights Council resolutions to address the challenges of intolerance and incitement of hatred and violence on religious grounds.

Member states, observers of the Human Rights Council and civil society organisations participated in the meeting.