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Global Human Rights Group Aims to Bridge Gap Between Islam and West
Ismira Lutfia | February 21, 2012

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BilboBaggins
11:28am Feb 23, 2012

As one of their first innitiatives maybe they could tackle the misconceptions caused by Iran giving the death sentence to Youcef Nadarkhani, a muslim who converted to Christianity.

This wrong interpretation of sharia by Iranian clerics could cause islamophobia in the west and should be addressed.

I am sure they are already looking into it.

DrDez
10:59am Feb 22, 2012

sounds good I agree :) peace to us all

BilboBaggins
10:17am Feb 22, 2012

This sounds like a great step forward.

Will they start with equal rights for all religions within Saudi Arabia and other OIC countries I wonder?

Maybe the OIC will also drop their push threough the UN for worldwide blasphemy laws.

enakajah
7:57am Feb 22, 2012

I think this is a marvelous step in the right direction. The fact that there are 4 women nominated implies a giant leap forward in Islamic tolerance to to gender equality especially as one is from Afghanistan. This, one would hope, is a huge step that combines with the Last Pope visiting a Mosque nad is the beginning of real dialog.

My only criticism is the perception of victimization. " ...feeding a rising Islamophobia world wide leading to greater discrimination against Muslims." The reverse is also true. The Muslim world seems bent on discriminating all non-Muslims in ways they do not even see.

Get rid of this we are the "victim" from all parties and this organization will have achieved massive steps.

Muslims are victim to discrimination in many ways but they equally discriminate all non-muslims.

However this is marvelous and if Indonesia is the host for the secretariat perhaps we are final enroute to the end of endless tension.


jetset24
6:15am Feb 22, 2012

Easy said than done. Before challenging Islamophobia, Muslims must respect one another first. God is not looking for a competition among various Muslims and beliefs.

The Muslim cultural diversity is beyond the imagination. Therefore from all corners of the world, Muslims must respect differences in all the grey areas without the fear of voicing one common religion.


Jakarta played host on Monday to the inaugural meeting of the human rights commission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an event that the commission said carried “profound historical significance.”

Indonesia’s deputy foreign minister, Wardana, said the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the OIC was expected to bridge the growing divide between the Muslim world and the West on the issue of human rights.

“Our hope is that this commission will be the engine that drives the reform process to transform the OIC into an organization that can effectively address the challenges facing the Muslim world,” he said.

“We also hope it can address the misunderstandings in both the Muslim world and the West about the compatibility between Islam, human rights and democracy.”

The IPHRC, agreed upon at a summit of OIC foreign ministers last June, has 18 commissioners, six each from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Four of them are women, including the Indonesian representative, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, and those from Malaysia, Afghanistan and Sudan.

The commission will serve in an advisory role and promote human rights in the OIC member states, which have a combined population of 1.3 billion Muslims.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the group’s secretary general, said the establishment of the rights commission was testament to the “moderation and modernization” of the OIC in the face of global challenges.

“This is a moment of profound historical significance,” he said.

Ihsanoglu said misconceptions about Muslim communities failing to respect human rights were feeding a rising Islamophobia worldwide and leading to greater discrimination against Muslims.

“While no country in the world can claim a perfect human rights record, there always is room for improvement, including in the OIC member states,” Ihsanoglu said.

“There is a motivated campaign at portraying Islam as inherently incompatible with international human rights norms and standards. I am of a firm belief that the case is exactly the opposite. Islam is not incompatible with human rights standards.”

He added that the human rights framework offered the “most plausible avenue of structured engagement” to address these misconceptions.

“An engagement geared toward removing misconceptions and promoting interfaith harmony. An engagement that could underwrite global peace,” he said.

Julian Wilson, the EU ambassador to Indonesia, welcomed the development.

“The important element in all this is that no one is above anyone else when it comes to human rights issues,” he said. “We also face similar challenges that we need to address. This is a way to maintain the course of democracy and human rights.”

Siti told reporters that Indonesia was being considered as a possible choice to host the permanent secretariat of the IPHRC. She said Iran and Saudi Arabia had put themselves forward, but because they championed different Islamic schools of thought (Shia and Sunni Islam) a neutral state like Indonesia would be more appropriate.

“We’re ready to host the secretariat on the assumption that Indonesia can bridge the differences between these two branches, but of course the final decision will be made at the next ministerial summit,” she said.