OIC suspends status of Sweden’s Special Envoy over Quran desecration

JEDDAH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday announced to suspend the status of the special envoy of Sweden over the desecration of the Holy Quran.

In a statement, OIC said Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha conveyed the decision in a letter addressed to the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The OIC General Secretariat held an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee on July 2 after the incident first occurred outside a mosque in Stockholm.

The meeting discussed considering possible steps to review links to any country in which copies of the Holy Quran or other Islamic values and symbols are desecrated with the consent of the authorities concerned, including suspending the status of the Special Envoy.

The statement said the Secretary-General welcomed the measures taken by some member states to protest against the repeated attacks on Islamic sanctities.

The statement indicated that Taha called on all member states “to take the sovereign decisions they deem appropriate to express their position condemning the granting by the Swedish authorities of licenses that enabled the repeated abuse of the sanctity of the Holy Qur’an and Islamic symbols, and to express the OIC states’ rejection of such disgraceful acts under the pretext of freedom of expression.”

In addition, the OIC Secretary-General “stressed the importance of taking the necessary legislative measures to criminalize such attacks, bearing in mind that the exercise of freedom of expression entailed special duties and responsibilities.”

He stressed the importance of adhering to the UN Human Rights Council’s recently adopted resolution, which addresses the issue of “combating religious hatred that incites discrimination, hostility, or violence.”

The OIC General Secretariat is preparing to call an emergency meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers to further discuss the situation and make any necessary decisions.

Earlier, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the OIC is due to convene in an emergency meeting regarding the recurring acts of the burning of the Holy Quran in Europe.

The OIC’s emergency meeting came in response to two requests by Iraq’s Foreign Ministry over the occurrences in Sweden and Denmark.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said the OIC meeting is expected to tackle “the most important collective procedures and positions of the member states” in addition to “mechanisms to confront the phenomenon of Islamophobia.”

“Provocative and heinous practices against Islamic sanctities are fueled by laws that permit them under the pretext of freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate, and this revives hatred and extremism, threatens social peace and security, and brings human societies back to the [era] of violence,” the statement read.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry reached out to the international community to stick to “moral and civilized obligations in a responsible and equal manner by dealing in accordance with what was stipulated in international resolutions, by criminalizing racism and … its followers in the world.”

“Religions and races should be respected together, and practices that disgrace their symbols and followers should be criminalized,” it continued.