A Life or Death Fight at the United Nations

As you know, the European Center for Law and Justice has been at the forefront of the fight to protect religious freedom around the world.  This week, the fight moved to the United Nations headquarters in New York City as Egypt tabled the Defamation of Religions resolution in the Third Committee, guaranteeing a fight over the most basic of human rights-that of an individual to believe as he or she sees fit. All this week our ECLJ team was on the ground in New York City to contest this dangerous resolution backed by the  57 nations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
 
Over the course of three days, our team made the case for religious liberty around the world, meeting with various member nations who have been voting for this resolution the last few years.  At the center of our argument was the fact that this proposed resolution would undermine the very reason the United Nations was formed-to defend human rights. 
 
We argued that the goal of the Defamation of Religions resolution which is to protect Islam from any form of criticism is in direct violation of the most fundamental principles laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  We also provided evidence from the cases weve litigated around the world, which illustrated the dangerous ramifications of allowing a state-sponsored religion to persecute those who choose to believe differently.
 
With Egypt's tabling of this resolution this week, we know it will be voted on in the coming weeks.  We will continue to work against its approval, and towards ensuring that minority religions - such as Christianity in many of the Islamic nations are free from discrimination or persecution.  If policies like this resolution are allowed to be enshrined in international law, it will literally come at the price of countless Christian lives around the world.
 
We will continue to engage on this critical issue, and will keep you apprised of our progress.