Abstract
In 2005, 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. This event triggered mass protests and riots by Muslim activists across the world. These protests have not, however, been the only form of resistance to the Western secular liberal order and its preference for freedom of expression over the protection of religion against insult. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) sought to get such protection established as a new norm in international human rights law, through a series of United Nations resolutions banning ‘the defamation of religions’. Despite initial success, the highly contradictory natures of the two norms at issue, amongst others, prevented a lasting change in the normative hierarchy between freedom of expression and the protection of religion.
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Notes
- 1.
Their second target was a Jewish supermarket in Paris.
- 2.
Other Islamic scholars—such as those from the Al-Azhar University in Egypt—objected to the fatwa.
- 3.
For a verbatim version of the lecture, see Ratzinger (2006).
- 4.
The international human rights regime that has evolved within the framework of the UN is based essentially on three documents: The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966); and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). In terms of institutions, the bodies chiefly responsible for implementing human rights rules and norms are the UN Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (see Donnelly 2013: 162).
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- 6.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, A/RES/217 A (III).
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International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, CCPR/C/3/Rev. 6, art. 18:
1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching. 2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice. 3. Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. 4. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.
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The great majority of OIC member countries have signed the Covenant. Amongst the exceptions are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia, which have neither signed nor ratified it.
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Full text available at E/1999/23E/CN.4/1999/167.
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Which, however, continues to attract the kind of criticism levelled at the Commission (see Besant and Malo 2009).
- 11.
During the Danish cartoon controversy, Diéne was also amongst the few UN officials who did not hesitate to call the cartons ‘racist’ (Keane 2008: 867–70), thereby taking a different position than the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief at the time.
- 12.
For an overview of the voting results in the various UN forums in the period from 1999 to 2010, see Kayaoglu (2015: 76–7).
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- 14.
‘Freedom of expression and incitement to racial or religious hatred’, Joint Statement by Mr. Githu Muigai, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Ms. Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief; and Mr. Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, OHCHR Side Event during the Durban review conference, Geneva, 22 April 2009, available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/rapporteur/docs/Joint_Statement_SRs.pdf, accessed 14 June 2016.
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Baumgart-Ochse, C. (2017). Protecting Religion: Muslim Opposition and Dissidence against Western Representations of Islam. In: Gertheiss, S., Herr, S., Wolf, K., Wunderlich, C. (eds) Resistance and Change in World Politics . Global Issues. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50445-2_6
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