The organizations listed below have come to an agreement on the following statement and call upon UN member-states to heed civil society’s experience and expertise:
United Nations resolutions on the `defamation of religions’ are incompatible with the fundamental freedoms of individuals to freely exercise and peacefully express their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs.
Unlike traditional defamation laws, which punish false statements of fact that harm individual persons, measures prohibiting the `defamation of religions’ punish the peaceful criticism of ideas. Additionally, the concept of `defamation of religions’ is fundamentally inconsistent with the universal principles outlined in the United Nations’ founding documents, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the protection of the rights of individuals, rather than ideas.
Such resolutions provide international support for domestic laws against blasphemy and “injury to religious feelings”, which are often abused by governments to punish the peaceful expression of disfavored political or religious beliefs and ideas. Moreover, existing international legal instruments already address discrimination, personal defamation, and incitement in ways that are more carefully focused to confront those specific problems without unduly threatening the rights of freedom of expression and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
It is vitally important for governments to combat violence motivated by bias and hatred and to encourage respectful speech and civil dialogue, while at the same time affirming that freedom of expression and freedom of thought, conscience and religion are integral to the health of free societies and the dignity of the human person.
Finally, legal efforts alone cannot foster an environment of respect and religious freedom. Education and public diplomacy are vital tools in the protection of a peaceful and robust exchange of ideas and beliefs.
Signed by:
ACT! for America
American Center for Law and Justice
American Congress for Truth
American Ethical Union
American Humanist Association
American Textbook Council
Advocates International
American Islamic Congress
American Islamic Forum for Democracy
American Jewish Congress
Anti-Defamation League
The Association of Christian Schools
Atheist Alliance International
Bahá’í International Community
Baptist World Alliance
Barnabas Aid
BCV Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths, Australia
Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Bedfordshire Humanists
B’nai B’rith International
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the U.S.
British Humanist Association
Bund Freireligiöser Gemeinden Deutschlands, Germany
Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa, Germany and Austria
Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia
The Center for Economic and Social Justice
Center for Inquiry
Center for Islamic Pluralism, Washington D.C./London/Koln
Center for Political Studies, Denmark
Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute
Center for Security Policy
Centre d’Action Laïque, Belgium
ChinaAid
Christian Copts of California
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Church of Scientology of Amsterdam
Circulo Esceptico, Spain
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, South Africa
CNP Action, Inc.
Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights
Committee for the Freedom of Prisoners of Conscience in Uzbekistan
Concerned Women for America
Dachverband Freier Weltanschauungsgemeinschaften Deutschlands, Germany
Dalit Freedom Network
David Horowitz Freedom Center
Dharmic Arts Foundation
Democracy Coalition Project
Dutch Platform on International Freedom of Religion or Belief
Endowment for Middle East Truth
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
European Humanist Federation
Fieldstead and Company
Forum for Civic Responsibility
Freedom House
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
GeoStrategic Analysis of Potomac, Maryland
Groupe bahá’í de Neupré, Belgium
Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center
Human Rights Without Frontiers
Humanist Academy, Scotland
Humanist Association of Ireland
The Humanist Society of Scotland, Scotland
Humanistisch-Vrijzinnige Vereniging, Belgium
Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands, Germany
Indonesia Legal Resource Center, Indonesia
Institute for Global Engagement
Institute on Religion and Democracy
International Al Hewar Almasry Center for Copts Human Rights in Egypt
International Center for Religion & Diplomacy
International Christian Concern
International Civil Liberties Alliance
International Humanist and Ethical Union, United Kingdom
International Quranic Center
International Religious Liberty Association
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The Investigative Project on Terrorism
Islam and Civil Society Project of the Witherspoon Institute
Jubilee Campaign
The Legal Project of the Middle East Forum
LibForAll Foundation
Media Rights Agenda, Nigeria
Mission Europa, Austria
Muslims for Secular Democracy, India
National Secular Society, UK
Open Doors International
Open Doors USA
Os Guinness, Author
Oxford Center for Religion and Public Life
The Phyllis Chesler Organization
Polish Humanist Association, Poland
Prometheus Society, Slovakia
Rapid Response Group, Uzbekistan
Rationalist Association, UK
Rationalist Society of Australia
Religious Freedom Coalition
The Rutherford Institute
Sidmennt, the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association
Simon Wiesenthal Center
SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, Russia
Stichting Magenta/Magenta Foundation
TIFA Foundation, Indonesia
Traditional Values Coalition
Unione degli Atei e degli Agnositici Razionalisti, (UAAR), Italy
United Sikhs
UN Watch
U.S. Copts Association
UVV Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen, Belgium
Vapaa-ajattelijain Liitto ry/The Union of Freethinkers of Finland, Finland
Vienna Akademikerbund, Austria
Vigilance, Inc.
Voice of the Copts
The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada
The Westminster Institute
Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO), United Kingdom
Women’s Rights Organization Against Discrimination (AKDER), Turkey
