Ad Hoc Committee: New Resolutions

Two new draft resolutions have been submitted by Nigeria and the United States

.   The Nigerian draft (Microsoft Word document) outlines four points, the first of which advocates a final outcome consisting of protocols to ICERD.  Other points call for the creation of a draft resolution on cyber  crime and scheduling the  committee’s third session for November 30–December 10 of 2010.

The American draft, though highly abstract and vague, hints at shifting the focus from “defamation” & “negative stereotyping” of Islam to acts of intimidation and assault, including those performed or sponsored by governments.

Noting with deep concern continued evidence of intolerance and discrimination  against individuals on the basis of race, religion and belief, including government – endorsed discrimination, violence, exclusion and bias.

The draft urges states to put a high priority on ratifying ICERD & ICCPR. It calls on states to strengthen and enhance actions against discrimination and hate crimes.  Then, as I anticipated, it slides down the slippery slope of ambiguity toward the swamp of deceit.

Welcomes the role the Ad Hoc. Committee. has played in helping to identify specific proposals for concrete steps to combat racial and religious discrimination, intolerance, and hated.

“Racial and religious discrimination” and “intolerance”  do not have common meanings  crossing  the  civilizational divide between Western Civilization  and Eastern Barbarism.  Used by the West, they should refer to the persecution of indigenous Christian minoritys in Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan.  Used by Muslims, they conflate the terms with criticism & mockery of Islam.

In its final paragraph, the American draft  drowns in the swamp of deceit.

Decides to request the Ad Hoc Committee, as an immediate positive step forward, and without prejudice to its mandate, to focus on determining which of those proposals enjoy the consensus necessary for their successful implementation with a view to their adoption by the Human Rights Council at its 16^th session.

Our State Department has endorsed the committee’s mission: disarming the defenders in the war of ideas by criminalizing criticism & questioning of Islam.

Related posts:

• Letter from OIC to Ad Hoc Committee
• Ad Hoc Committee Leaves Work Unfinished
• Ad Hoc Cmte: Non-Paper
• Ad Hoc Committee: African Submission
• Ad Hoc Committee: Iranian Submission
• AdHoc Cmte: Pakistani Submission
• Ad Hoc Cmte USA Submission
• Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards