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Freedom Rights Project’s Aaron Rhodes blogging from the Human Rights Council in Geneva UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues Rita Izsák reported to the Human Rights Council on 18 March, focusing on “hate speech and incitement to hated against minorities in the media.” In the report, it is acknowledged that “[t]here is no universally accepted definition of ‘hate speech,’” and that the concept poses an intrinsic pro

Jacob Mchangama on freedom of speech and blasphemy. Location: The European Parliament Topic: In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack, the discussion on the scope of free speech has flared up again. Does the right to freedomof speech also include the right to blasphemy? The purpose of this meeting was to have an open discussion on the unlimited right to freedom of speech on one hand, and the desire to prohibit bl

Why the new United Nations human rights advocate is the wrong man for the job. The nomination of longtime career diplomat Ambassador Zeid (shown in the picture above) has been largely met with approval from major human rights organizations. But there are grounds for concern about how Ambassador Zeid will treat what is arguably the most consequential human right: the right to freedom of expression.

Is the right to peaceful protest a fundamental human right? In Europe the answer seems to depend on whom you protest against. The Freedom Rights Project's Aaron Rhodes and Jacob Mchangama exam the Chinese state visits to several European countries, where diplomatic sensitivities were prioritized at the cost of the rights of pro-Tibetan peaceful protesters.

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 or not you are a national of an Arab League state or where the irreverent activity was carried out...

Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human RIghts, has recently called for the introduction of broad-sweeping measures that would criminalise Holocaust denial and gender-based hate speech. However, while driven by good intentions, the proposals not only fail to find support in international law, but also stand to seriously dilute the fundamental right to freedom of expression.

The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief recently explained that religious intolerance and hatred needed to be tackled by "trust-building" and not by prohibiting critical or even hostile speech. The Freedom Rights Project Aaron Rhodes blogs on the issue from the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Anti-Semitism in Europe cannot merely be relegated to the dark chapters of the past. One need only look to the recent explicitly anti-Semitic protests in France or a survey by the Anti-Defamation League showing that all but one European country had experienced an increase in anti-Semitic attitudes. However, the way to combat anti-Semitism and racism is not draconian hate speech laws and censorship.

Outlawing of the Koran, aggressive anti-Islamic advertising campaigns and support for state wide bans on Islam as a religion; these are just some of the methods advocated by a like-minded group of activists intent on eliminating the spread of Islam in the West. Yet at the same time, the so-called “counter-jihad movement” maintain that they are champions of free speech and are not in the least xenophobic.

In the Daily Beast today FRPs Jacob Mchangama comments on the story of Ahmed Akkari, who spearheaded the protests against the Danish Muhammed cartoons in 2005, but now says he is sorry.