The Arab Guideline Law for the Prevention of Defamation of Religions, a model blasphemy law introduced by the League of Arab Nations, prohibits blasphemous dancing, singing and miming. But blasphemers beware- criminalisation is possible regardless of whether you are a national of an Arab League state or where the irreverent activity was carried out…
In his recent article for the National Review Online, The Freedom Rights Project’s Jacob Mchangama examines the content and consequences of the latest, far-reaching effort by the Arab League and OIC to push their long-standing agenda to prohibit defamation of religion:
“…international human-rights norms clearly do not support the Arab League’s proposed law. Sweeping bans against blasphemy violate not only freedom of expression but also the right to freedom of conscience and religion, since these laws target atheists, religious minorities, and those who hold heterodox religious beliefs or beliefs that conflict with majority or state-sponsored creeds.”
Read the full article here
(Photo: Meeting of the Arab League, AFP/Abdelhak Senna)
Freedom Rights Project