.... The resolution is designed to bolster discriminatory laws in Muslim countries and to combat Islamophobia in non-Muslim countries, in many of which, the OIC says, there is a campaign to promote intolerance, especially by linking Islam with violence and terrorism.
The danger of even a non-binding resolution, according to campaigner Nigel Rooke, is that it utterly contradicts the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and will be used to legitimise blasphemy and apostasy laws (which make it a capital offence to convert from Islam) in the countries that have them.
.... "The Australian government considers human rights are about protecting the rights of individuals, rather than the protection of institutions," he said.
Tragic tales like that of Asia Bibi or Latif Masih are far from unusual. If the resolution passes they will become much more widespread, because many Islamic states and Islamist groups will treat it as tacit UN approval to jail, torture and kill Christians, Sabaean Mandeans, Baha'is, Ahmadiyyas and other minorities. Open Doors's Nigel Rooke says: "Once you put an ideal above human beings, you open up serious abuses. Minority groups in these nations will face deeper persecution." [The Age] Read more
