Miguel Angel Moratinos from UNAOC said that the right to freedom of religion and expression are interdependent and interrelated.
The director of a United Nations anti-extremism body has expressed “deep concern” over growing tensions over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, urging “mutual respect” between people of different political beliefs and opinions.
Wednesday’s statement by Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who heads the UN Alliance of Civilizations, follows mounting anger in the Muslim world over France’s response to the beheading of a teacher who had shown his students the images as part of a class on freedom of expression.
President Emmanuel Macron has vigorously defended the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet on freedom of expression grounds, prompting angry protests in parts of the Muslim world and campaigns to boycott French products.
“The incendiary cartoons have also provoked acts of violence against innocent civilians who were attacked for their religion, beliefs or pure ethnicity,” Moratinos said in the statement, without explicitly referring to Macron’s defense of the images.
“Insulting religions and sacred religious symbols provokes hatred and violent extremism that leads to polarization and fragmentation of society,” he warned.
The statement said that freedom of religion and freedom of expression are “interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing rights” rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“Defending and protecting these fundamental rights is the primary responsibility of the member states,” the statement said.
Many activists have criticized France for attacking the sacred symbols of minorities in the name of freedom of expression.
Outraged muslim world
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Macron, saying the French leader needed “mind checks” on his attitude towards Islam.
Senior officials in the Muslim world have condemned France and Macron, including Pakistan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Iran; while tens of thousands have attended protests in Bangladesh calling for a boycott of French products.
Tensions escalated further on Wednesday after the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published a new cartoon depicting Erdogan.
In response, the Turkish president has threatened to sue the magazine.
Amid the escalating dispute, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote a letter on Wednesday to the leaders of Muslim-majority countries, calling on them “to act collectively to counter the growing Islamophobia in non-Muslim states.”
My letter to the leaders of Muslim states to act collectively to counter the growing Islamophobia in non-Muslim states, especially in Western states, which is causing growing concern among Muslims around the world. pic.twitter.com/OFuaKGu2c1
– Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 28, 2020
Khan said that the leaders of these countries did not understand the “love and devotion that Muslims around the world have for their Prophet and his divine book, the Holy Quran.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the French president’s defense of cartoons depicting the Prophet a “stupid act” and an “insult” to those who voted for him.
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