The United Nations General Assembly on December 19 adopted a new resolution condemning religious intolerance that could still lead to an increase in the persecution of Christians.
The resolution — following on from a similar one at the UN’s Human Rights Council in March 2011 — marks a shift from those passed annually by the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) which urged all members of the UN to outlaw ‘defamation of religions’.
Welcome and concern
Barnabas Fund and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) both welcomed the resolution as an improvement on previous agreements. Nevertheless, human rights experts at both charities are concerned that the resolution will continue to be used to give credence and legitimacy to the criminalisation of any criticism of Islam and could bolster blasphemy laws such as those already in place in Pakistan. As it stands, in countries where one religion is dominant, the new resolution can still be twisted to keep religious minorities under tight control or even leave them open to forced conversion or oppression.
