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Why the U.S. Should Oppose "Defamation of Religions" Resolutions at the United Nations

By Steve Groves

Heritage Foundation

November 10, 2008

For the past several years, the United Nations Human Rights Council and General Assembly have adopted resolutions recognizing and promoting the concept of "defamation of religions." Proponents seek to establish an international ban on any speech that would insult, criticize, offend, or disparage any per son's religion. Specifically, the Organization of the Islamic Conference has suggested that national legisla tures pass laws to ensure protection against "defama tion of religions."

Such a ban, however, could not withstand legal scrutiny in the United States. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects free speech and expres sion, even when speech is offensive or insulting. Moreover, a religious "speech code" would disrupt the assimilation of religious minorities that has occurred throughout U.S. history and could breed resentment rather than understanding among America's religious communities.

The U.S. government has spoken out strongly against the "defamation of religions" effort at the United Nations. The next U.S. Administration should oppose the further promulgation of "defamation of religions" at the U.N. and must resist any attempt to legitimize the concept within the United States. Given the penchant of some federal judges—including jus tices on the U.S. Supreme Court—to rely on the deci sions and opinions of international courts and organizations, the "defamation of religions" effort at the United Nations must be confronted.

The "Defamation of Religions" Effort at the U.N.

In 1999, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution titled "Defamation of Religions" that expressed concern over the "negative stereotyping of religions" and "that Islam is fre quently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and with terrorism."[1] In its most recent resolution passed in March 2008, the Human Rights Council (which replaced the Commission on Human Rights in 2006) urged all U.N. member states "to provide, within their respective legal and constitutional systems, adequate protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from the defamation of any reli gion" and stated that while "everyone has the right to freedom of expression…the exercise of this right carries with it special duties and responsibilities, and may therefore be subject to certain restric tions…."[2] In short, the resolution maintains that while everyone has a right to free speech, that right does not permit the "defaming" of Islam or any other religious denomination.

The U.N. General Assembly, of which all the nations of the world are members, has passed a "def amation of religions" resolution in each of its last three sessions from 2005 to 2007. The text of these resolutions is similar to that of the resolutions passed by the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council from 1999 to the present. The votes on the General Assembly resolutions split along the same general lines as the votes on the res olutions adopted by the Commission and the Coun cil—with the Islamic nations and the developing world voting in favor, and Western democracies, including the United States, voting against.

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