The UN Human Rights Council did the right thing, both for religious liberty and the freedom of speech, in its annual resolution on religious freedom, passed late last week. While previous statements have emphasized the need for protection against the "defamation of religion", in somewhat of a surprise this year, the council abandoned that approach, as the US and religious liberty advocates have been urging.
Religion News Service reports:
The United States supported the resolution, which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called a “significant step forward” in global efforts to combat “intolerance, discrimination and violence … based upon religion or belief.”
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The independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which has helped marshal opposition to the blasphemy resolutions in the U.N., said Thursday’s vote should prompt Pakistan to rescind its blasphemy law.
“The resolution properly focuses on protecting individuals from discrimination or violence, instead of protecting religions from criticism,” the commission said in a statement.
You can read a press release from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom here.
