In five years, opposing votes doubled among United Nations member countries
Opposition to a defamation of religions resolution is accelerating among member countries of the United Nations General Assembly, despite the measure's annual passage for more than a decade, religious liberty experts said.
The measure, first introduced in 1999, seeks to curtail speech offensive to the religious sensibilities of listeners. What religious liberty advocates find troubling is its arbitrary enforcement and capacity to restrict freedom of religious expression, the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA)'s board of experts said in a statement last year.
The oldest association dedicated to freedom of conscience for people of all faiths and persuasions, the IRLA is routinely vocal in its opposition to the defamation of religions resolution.
Dwindling support for the measure is encouraging, said Barry Bussey, director of UN relations for the IRLA and the Seventh-day Adventist world church. "We are seeing numbers in the right direction," Bussey said. "We are now only 13 votes away from defeating this problematic resolution."
In 2005, 101 UN member countries voted to support the resolution, 53 voted against it and 20 abstained, Bussey said. This year, 76 voted Yes, 64 No and more than twice as many countries abstained when compared to five years ago, he said.
"As we've raised the problems with the resolution, more country delegates recognize the pitfalls," Bussey said.
