Tag: UNHRC

Maldives calls for end to state-sponsored violence against civilians in Syria

The Foreign Minister of the Maldives Ahmed Naseem has called on Syria to immediately stop all the violence committed against civilians and urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to refer the issue in its upcoming session if the Syrian government continues to oppress its citizens.

Syria remains in turmoil following anti-government riots that spread across the Arab world earlier this year. Al-Jazeera reports that 1730 civilians and 406 security personnel have been killed in clashes in Syria since the start of the violence.

“The Maldives, like many other peace-loving Muslim nations as well as the wider international community, is deeply disturbed by the State-sponsored violence being perpetrated against civilians in Syria, violence which represents a serious violation of Islamic values, as well as of international human rights and humanitarian law,” Naseem said.

“The fact that such violence is increasing as we enter the Holy Month of Ramadan, a period of devotion and compassion, makes the actions of the Syrian authorities even more unacceptable.”

The Foreign Minister called on Syrian authorities to cease all violence against citizens and to begin a process of democratic and human rights reform.

“The time for promises is over – it is now time for action. That means the government must immediately stop all violations of human rights, including arbitrary killings, arbitrary detention, disappearance and torture; and must immediately allow the full enjoyment of all core human rights including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. It also means that stated commitments of reform – which the Maldives has welcomed in previous statements – must be translated into real and urgent change, including free and fair multiparty elections.”

In addition Foreign Minister Naseem said that Syria must also fully comply with UN Human Rights Council resolution S-16/1, noting that Syria had yet to comply with any of the provisions of the  resolution including the call to cooperate fully with the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission.

“The indiscriminate killing of innocent Muslim men, women and children by the Syrian State security forces, especially during the Holy Month of Ramadan, is completely unacceptable to the Maldives,” Naseem said.

“The Maldives, which is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, voted in favor of resolution S-16/1 because of our strong commitment to human rights, especially in the Muslim world.”

“The Maldives takes note of, and supports, the recent statements on this matter made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council,” he added.

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“Stigmatisation of persons based on religion pressing human rights concern”: Ambassador Adam

Maldives Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Iruthisham Adam, has welcomed the council’s resolution to tackle Islamophobia under the framework provided by UN Resolution 16/18.

“Islamophobia and other forms of intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatisation of persons based on religion or belief is one of the most pressing human rights concerns of our time,” said Ambassador Adam.

“The problem is not new but has reached new heights in our globalised world where ideas and information, whether good or bad, moves from one country to the next, and one individual to the next, with startling ease. This, together with the fall-out from 9/11 and the War and Terror, have led to a situation where Muslims around the world face daily intolerance and discrimination,” Ambassador Adam said.

The resolution was jointly proposed by the Maldives during the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

“It provides a comprehensive framework for action including awareness-raising and education, legislative steps and administrative measures,” Iruthisham said. “Most importantly, it was adopted by consensus. Only by working together, by taking action individually and collectively, can states hope to build a world where people of all faiths and religions live side-by-side in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance, understanding and good-will.”

“This last point – the importance of all States working individually as well as collectively – is, we think, key. In the context of tackling Islamophobia, this means that the Maldives does expect countries, especially in the West, which are faced with problems stemming from societal intolerance and vilification of Muslim minorities, to take real and robust action in line with Resolution 16/18. But it also means that we in the Maldives, and in the wider Islamic world, must be willing to also take steps to promote a better understanding of our religion and what it stands for, and to promote dialogue with people of other faiths.”

Ambassador Adam claimed all states had a responsibility to take action against those who promoted violence in the name of religion, and said that it was important to defeat such people “in the battle of ideas.”

“For example, in the Maldives, we are working, in our new democracy, to counter act the false perception that people must make the false choice between devotion to Islam on the one hand, and the full enjoyment of human rights on the other,” she said.

“None of this is easy, for the simple reason that the Maldives does not exist in a vacuum. Rather, we are buffeted by global winds. This is why, in response to the numerous [Universal Periodic Review] recommendations we received on matters of religious tolerance, the Maldives recently announced its intention to organise, during 2012, a major international conference on progressive Sharia jurisprudence and human rights. With this conference we hope to revive the concepts of peace and tolerance, co-existence and inter-faith harmony that exist in Islam.”

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