2024-05-14 00:10:12
On the occasion of a meeting on Islamophobia, organized by the United Nations Office in Geneva and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr. Boutadghart expressed Morocco’s “strong condemnation” of Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination and hatred against any religion or belief, reiterating the categorical rejection of the desecration of the Holy Quran, and attacks against the sacred religious symbols of Muslims.
“These Islamophobic acts are dangerous and provocative,” he added, noting that they offend the feelings and beliefs of more than a billion Muslims around the world, and can in no way be interpreted as a form of of freedom of expression.
Morocco, whose Constitution makes, in its preamble, religious and cultural coexistence an essential prerequisite, has also put in place a multidimensional national immigration and asylum strategy, based on the values of coexistence, integration and humanism, he recalled, noting in this same vein the creation, in 2014, of the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates, which constitutes a vector for disseminating the values of coexistence and acceptance and to deconstruct the dangers of narratives of hatred, extremism, radicalization and terrorism.
On the international level, he continued, Morocco, which hosted the 9th World Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations last November, contributes significantly to the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue and to the fight against hate speech.
Thus, the Kingdom continues to call for efficient implementation of UN instruments in this area, in particular the ”Rabat Action Plan on the prohibition of calls for racial or religious hatred”. ‘ and the ”Fez Action Plan on the role of religious leaders and actors in preventing incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes”, as well as relevant General Assembly resolutions on the fight against hate speech, which Morocco initiated at the United Nations, he said.
This event, organized on the sidelines of the work of the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), warned against the increase in attacks against places of worship and Muslim religious symbols, believing that this undermines the rights and freedoms of Muslims and harms social cohesion.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 76/254 in 2022, making March 15 the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
2024-05-14 00:10:12