The United Nations Human Rights Council today passed a resolution aimed at restricting criticism of religion, or ‘religious defamation’. Roy W Brown examines why the UN is putting protection of ideas above freedom of expression
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Najam Sethi, chief editor of Pakistan’s Daily Times, received death threats from militant group the Islamic Taliban Movement for publishing a cartoon in one of the paper’s sister publications, Aaj Kal. The cartoon depicted the leader of a radical women’s madrassa, Umme Hassan, calling for female students to wage violent jihad. The threat followed a demonstration in Lahore last week during which Hassan called the cartoon blasphemous.
The repeal of the blasphemy laws could be a Pyrrhic victory if other laws are used to provide greater protection for religion, writes Padraig Reidy
Secularist groups greeted the first step in the repeal of the blasphemy laws with delight last week. Hanne Stinsen of the British Humanist Association suggested that the House of Lords’ vote indicated ‘a clear commitment from across the political and belief spectrums to abolish the outdated and discriminatory blasphemy laws’.
Quite so.
Over at the National Secular Society, Keith Porteous Wood said: ‘It is disgraceful that such a relic of religious savagery has survived into the 21st century.’
Indeed, Keith. Indeed.
Meanwhile, in free-speech land, Jonathan Heawood of English PEN was preparing the wake for a law he declared already ‘long dead’ (the last prosecution having been in 1977 — the infamous Gay News trial).
Hurray!
The House of Lords last night approved amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill that would abolish the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel in England and Wales.