ISLAMABAD, May 27 (APP): The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (OIC-IPHRC) on Wednesday welcomed United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ rejection of anti-Muslim bigotry during the situation of coronavirus pandemic.
“(This) echoes his commitment to challenge and combat ethno-nationalism and all forms of intolerances which are rising in post-COVID scenario,” the OIC-IPHRC said in a tweet.
The OIC-IPHRC reiterated that instances of Islamophobia were violative of human rights law, undermined multiculturalism and posed a threat to international peace and security.
The OIC’s expert body with advisory capacity supported “focused, consistent and system wide collective OIC and the UN approaches to counter the Islamophobia”.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said that countering anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia was his “top priority” and he “fully agreed” with the assessment that it could pose a threat to international peace and security.
The UN Chief gave the statement recently at the virtual meeting of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states at the United Nations (UN) in response to the comments from Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, who drew his attention to the rising cases of anti-Muslim violence and Islamophobia in India and urged him to adopt a more focused and consistent system-wise approach to fully tackle the menace.
The OIC-IPHRC, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is one of the principal organs working independently in the area of human rights.
