JEDDAH — About 90 international experts in the fields of human rights, minorities, law and politics will meet at the headquarters of the Secretariat General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday to work out a plan for the implementation of the UN resolution on the “Defamation of Religions.” The two-day meeting will consider the modalities to forge an international consensus on implementing the resolution issued by the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). The resolution was aimed at combating hatred, discrimination, intolerance and acts of violence, intimidation and coercion motivated by religious intolerance. The experts are coming from OIC member countries, international organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs), academic circles and legal agencies. The UN adopted the resolution in 2011 on an initiative by the OIC with some of its major partners in the international organization including the US and the EU. Four meetings were held before on the issue in Washington, London, Geneva and Doha. The meeting is expected to issue a host of recommendations that may facilitate a wide consensus on the implementation of the decision and ease the negotiations on it at the UN. A number of countries, especially in the West, are opposing the resolution for various reasons.
