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http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1655
http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3420
An international humanist organization has warned that Islamic governments are trying to use the United Nations to shut down free speech. The warning comes as a bloc of Islamic states is holding a summit with “Islamophobia” high on the agenda.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on Thursday began a meeting in Senegal, with the shadow of Danish cartoons and a Dutch lawmaker’s http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3358 criticizing the Koran hanging heavily over the gathering.
The 57-member bloc is considering a report by a new body set up to monitor instances of what many Muslims view as growing prejudice against them and their religion, particularly since 9/11.Warning that Islamophobia poses a threat to global peace and security, the 58-page report by the “Islamophobia Observatory” examines the reasons for the perceived trend — exemplified by stereotyping, hostility, discriminatory treatment and the denigration of “the most sacred symbols of Islam” — and suggests ways to combat it.
The recommended steps include a range of responses, including monitoring of and responding to incidents, and a campaign to show Islam to be a “moderate, peaceful and tolerant” religion.
But the report also says that legal measures are required.
“There is a need for a binding legal instrument to fight the menace of Islamophobia in the context of freedom of religion and elimination of religious intolerance,” it says.
“The Islamophobes remain free to carry on their assaults due to http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1972 of legal measures necessary for misusing or abusing the right to freedom of expression.”
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200803/FOR20080313a.html