HUMAN RIGHTS: Religious Intolerance Persists

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Mar 24 1997 (IPS) - The world came up against suppressed religious freedom and intolerance again in 1996, said the United Nations special commentator on the issue, Abdelfattah Amor, Monday.

The report writer said the “new religions” or “sects” were causing problems, and he recommended moderation and abstinance from generalisations both here and in relation to other longer- established religions.

During the period analysed, the UN reporter sent communiques to 49 countries accused of violating the right to free worship.

But the denunciations registered are only “the tip of the iceberg,” said Amor, adding that there are “really far more” cases of intolerance and violations of religious freedom.

Religious extremism did not recede during 1996 either, and in fact is extending all around the world he said in a press conference. “No particular religion or region” has a monopoly on extremism,” he added.

The communiques sent to governments included urgent calls to China, Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, said Amor’s report.

The message to China was related to the imprisonment of the Tibetan monk Yulo Dawa Tsering, who the special reporter met on his visit to China. The Chinese authorities had promised the interview would not result in mistreatment of the monk, said Amor.

Meanwhile, the call to Iran discussed Yusefi, a born Muslim who converted to Christianity, and was later hanged in unclarified circumstances.

The special researcher said that taking into account the murders of protestant ministers committed in 1994, Yusefi’s death “could raise legitimate questions.”

Egypt, meanwhile, was criticised for the treatment of professor Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, from the University of Cairo, who the Egyptian courts declared apostate for his writings on the Koran which were considered anti-Islamic by some Muslims.

The sentence against Abu Zeid also established he could not remain married to his wife, for she was Muslim.

And the complaint to the United Arab Emirates mentioned the case of a Christian, Elie Dib Ghalib, who was apparently arrested and mistreated for having married a Muslim wife.

On Oct. 29, 1996, Ghalib was condemned to 39 lashes and a year’s imprisonment for maintaining immoral marital relations.

The communiques sent by the special reporter covered the special problems facing various religious communities including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Bahai, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hare Krishnas, Al Arquam, Darul Arquam, Mormons, Navajo and Apache Indians.

The questioned countries belong to both the industrialised world like the United States, Australia and Britain, and to other blocs like Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam, amongst others.

Britain was sent a communique criticising the publication of newspaper articles which transmit a negative and discriminatory image of Muslims.

Amor said the intolerance could affect different groups. In Algeria and Yemen, religious extremism is threatening all society. In Afghanistan and Bangladesh, women are the main victims. In Chad, artists are the favourite target.

In Egypt, teaching staff can be sued because of declarations by Islamic extremists. Certain religious minorities are also affected by extremism in Bangladesh, Mexico, Somalia and Turkey.

In the case of Algeria, Amor said the problem was in how the religion policy is implemented.

He stressed the difference between the freedom of belief, which is absolute and is protected by international law, from the freedom to show this belief, which can be limited by the States.

Amor mentioned the Order of the Sun Temple, which had been considered reponsible for causing the suicide of 69 of its followers in Canada, Switzerland and France, with a further five suicides in Canada this weekend.

The UN reporter also mentioned the case of the Scientologists, who are supported by leading figures in US society, but are facing problems in Germany.

He stressed that international law and human rights law both consecrate the freedom of belief, even in cases where the spirituality is linked, for example, to a tree or a snake.

“Even trees and snakes can have a religious connotation,” said Amor.

The precise distinctions between freedom of belief and freedom of worship are difficult to establish.

But the freedom to worship openly “can be interpreted in various ways,” whereby the regulating role of the State is needed, he added.

The State should be responsible for regulating this freedom to worship in order to prevent crimes like those alleged in the case of the Order of the Sun Temple and other groups.

Amor proposed the UN initiate an investigation into the problem of the new minority religions, sects or religious communities.

In the report he presented to the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, he said “the opposition between religion and sect is too forced to be acceptable.”

The hostility often suffered by the sects, said Amor, can be sometimes be explained as a reaction to the extravagances, changes to public order, and even at times, crimes committed by certain groups making religious claims.

But at other times, this hostility is related to the tendency for the major religions to fight anything unorthodox, he concluded.