A confrontation over freedom of expression is brewing in the UN Human Rights Council after Egypt began circulating a draft resolution that Western countries and human rights groups fear could circumscribe free speech.
Egypt began passing a resolution on Friday among delegations from the 47 countries currently serving on the UN Human Rights Council that reportedly calls for further “limitations” on speech that could be construed as defaming religions.
Canada has for years sponsored UN resolutions upholding freedom of expression that have found ready support from other Western countries. These resolutions, while non-binding, help inform international human rights law.
The draft resolution has not yet been made public, but reports in the Canadian press on Saturday said Canadian Ambassador to the UN Marius Grinius “complained forcefully” to his Egyptian counterpart after the Egyptian draft was distributed.
Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized Egypt’s record on free expression. They now say they fear the new resolution could resemble previous Egyptian attempts to exempt speech that adherents to a religion find offensive from speech protected by human rights treaties.
“Be concerned, be very concerned, any time a government with Egypt’s sorry record on freedom of expression attempts to set the parameters for free speech for the rest of the world,” said Joe Stork, associate Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, on Saturday.
“We reject any depiction of the repeated affronts to religions and sanctities as a legitimate exercise of the freedom of expression,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit told the UN General Assembly in September. “There are many glaring slogans in the name of which crimes have been committed against thousands and millions of people through offending them and their beliefs and faiths.”
A spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment on the resolution.
Egyptian and international human rights groups said they feared the change could leave human rights law open to misinterpretation.
“It’s ironic that Egypt is portraying itself as a protector of these principles of freedom of expression and religion, when it imprisons people for their religious beliefs,” said Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui, associate Middle East director at Amnesty International.
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