Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance: seeking consensus amid differences.

• Author: Talwar, Namrita
• Position: Unlearning Intolerance

In a break from tradition, the General Assembly passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Christianophobia as part of a broader text against religious intolerance.

The adoption of resolution 59/199, "Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance", marks the culmination of arduous negotiations, especially involving the Netherlands, which sponsored the draft on behalf of the European Union (EU), members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and Israel. On the recommendation of the Third Committee, the Assembly adopted the resolution by a recorded vote of 186 to none.

"Religious intolerance is an issue that affects us all and needs to be combated". Peter-Derrek Hof of the Netherlands told the UN Chronicle. Ireland had been the main sponsor of the resolution at the fifty-eighth Assembly session; however, "as eliminating religious intolerance is one of the priorities of the EU, we decided to sponsor the resolution this year", he said.

The drafting of the momentous resolution started in Brussels in July 2004, where EU officials worked on modifying its language. After initiating some linguistic changes, the Netherlands, on behalf of the European Union, introduced revisions to the text that launched informal discussions and debates among delegates on the wording and its outcome during the Third Committee meetings at UN Headquarters in New York. The text was essentially similar to that of 2003, except for changes made to paragraph 9, which recognizes with deep concern the overall rise in instances of intolerance and violence directed against members of many religious communities, including cases motivated by Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and Christianophobia.

"We do not know whether there is a 20- or 30-per cent rise in violence directed against religious communities", Mr. Hof said. However, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief had indicated a rise in hostility towards religious minorities, and "in our own European experience we have noted an increase in such incidents", he added. The language of the draft was consistent with the Commission of Human Rights resolution, which had spelt out the names of religious communities facing incidences of violence and hatred against its people. The 2004 resolution is similar to that of the Commission, "where the language was agreed upon through consensus", Mr. Hof commented.

Yet, paragraph 9 of the resolution was also the cause of disagreement in the debate...