OIC rejects Human Rights Council’s call for “protection against discrimination" based on sexual orientation

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said that the notion of sexual orientation is foreign to the values and principles of international human rights and contrary to the basic teachings of Islam, as well as many other religious and cultural groups.

Jeddah (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly rejected the resolution on “protection against discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity” adopted during the recently concluded 32nd Session of the Human Rights Council.

OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani reiterated his organisation’s position that the notion of sexual orientation is alien to international human rights norms and standards as well as against the fundamental precepts of not only Islamic but many other religious and cultural groups.

While reaffirming OIC’s strong commitment to combating all forms of violence and discrimination against any person or group on any ground, Madani noted that pushing and adoption of this resolution, particularly the establishment of an independent expert to promote and protect this issue, amounts to imposing one set of values and preferences on the rest of the world and counteracts the fundamentals of universal human rights that call for respecting diversity, national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds, which are clearly set out in various international human rights instruments.

Madani appreciated the good work done by the OIC Ambassadorial Group in Geneva that took lead in spearheading the opposition against this resolution and aptly explained the non-relevance of this subject to the international human rights discourse during its presentation.

• islam
• human rights
• organisation of the islamic conference
• sexual discrimination
• orientation
• gender