AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The United Nations warned against rising hate speech across the world, as the global body's Human Rights Council held an urgent meeting to discuss the recent Quran desecration in Sweden.
These appear tailor-made to inflame anger and divide communities, the UN human rights chief Volker Turk said as he opened the debate at the UN's top rights body in Geneva on Tuesday.
A copy of the Holy Quran was burnt outside the Swedish capital's main mosque on June 28, which happened to be the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, triggering a diplomatic backlash across the Muslim world.
Muslim nations called for a discussion of "the alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred as manifested by the recurrent desecration of the Holy Quran in some European and other countries."
Members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation hope to get a resolution passed on the issue on Tuesday or later in the week.
Turk said the recent Quran-burning incident "appears to have been manufactured to express contempt and inflame anger; to drive wedges between people; and to provoke, transforming differences of perspective into hatred and, perhaps, violence."
He said that irrespective of the law or personal belief, "people need to act with respect for others."
"Speech and inflammatory acts against Muslims; Islamophobia; anti-Semitism; and actions and speech …. are manifestations of utter disrespect. They are offensive, irresponsible and wrong," said Turk.
He said hate speech needed to be combated through dialogue, education, raising awareness and inter-faith engagement.
"Powered by the tidal forces of social media, and in a context of increasing international and national discord and polarization, hate speech of every kind is rising, everywhere," Turk said.
"It is harmful to individuals, and it damages the social cohesion necessary for the sound functioning of all societies."
The Geneva-based Human Rights Council meets for three regular sessions per year. The UN's top rights body is currently in the second session, which runs until Friday.
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