Chair,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The European Union condemns anti-Muslim hatred and discrimination, just like we condemn all forms of discrimination, hostility and violence based on religion or belief.

The EU is concerned about the rise in cases of hate speech and hate crime in all parts of the world, including in Europe.

In various parts of the world, people are killed, attacked, persecuted or discriminated against because of their race, their religion or belief, or on any other ground.

Many of them are persecuted and sometimes executed for criticizing religions, exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression or for exercising their right to change their religion.

We recall that Article 18 of the ICCPR guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to have, not to have, change, adopt or stop adhering to a religion or belief, as a fundamental right of every human being, as well as to practise and manifest it freely either individually or in community with others, in public or private.

The EU is firmly committed to protect human rights, freedom of region or belief and the rights of persons belonging to minorities everywhere, regardless of their religion or belief. One example of this is the joint EU-OIC resolution on human rights in Myanmar and human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar.

In recent years, the European Union has taken a number of important steps to counter discrimination, hostility, violence and intolerance based on religion or belief, including against Muslims.

• Today and yesterday, the European Commission and the Council of Europe are co-hosting a Coordination Meeting on Combating Anti-Muslim hatred in Strasbourg, with wide participation of the European Union and its Member States.

• In December last year, the European Commission adopted a Communication on “No place for hate: a Europe united against hatred”. It is a call for action to all Europeans to stand up against hatred and speak up for tolerance and respect. We are stepping up the efforts to fight hatred in all its forms, by reinforcing action across a variety of policies, including security, digital, education, culture and sport.

• In September 2020, the EU presented a five-year action plan against racism, recognising the link to religion or belief in cases such as anti-Muslim hatred, coordinating the efforts of the EU.

Chair

As the main sponsor of the annual resolutions on "Freedom of Religion or Belief" - in New York and Geneva - the EU advocates for a comprehensive and universal approach which seeks to eliminate all forms of incitement to discrimination, hostility, violence and intolerance directed against persons based on their religion or belief, including non-believers.

We recall that freedom of religion or belief protects persons not the institution of religion and its leadership as such, nor does it prohibit the criticism of religions or beliefs. Everyone is allowed to express their opinion on religions or beliefs, including to criticize them.

The international community has invested much diplomacy to advance a concrete framework for combatting religious intolerance, discrimination and incitement to violence against persons based on religion or belief in all parts of the world.

The Rabat Plan of Action, the resolution on freedom of religion or belief, the 16/18 Resolution and the Istanbul Process all offer important tools and mechanisms designed to help us tackle these challenges in a human rights-compliant manner.

In our view, the UN should be impartial and have a universal and comprehensive approach, rather than singling out one specific religion. We believe that the focus should be the protection of the human rights of all individuals. Our common objective must be to address all forms of violence and hatred, against victims from all religions and beliefs, globally in an inclusive way.

I thank you.