From the Presbyterian Washington Office:
U.N. Says Terrorism Used As Excuse For Religious Crackdown
Tuesday, September 30, 2003 [posted here 10-2-03]
The terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 have been used
as an excuse for a crackdown on religion in many countries, especially in
Central Asia, and the media have sometimes incited hatred of certain
religious groups, a new U.N. report says.
In the interim report to the General Assembly, Special
Rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights Abdelfattah Amor calls for
preventive steps against terrorism by addressing the root cause of extremism
rather than the later acts.
"Many states have taken the simplistic view that since
religions are at the root of many terrorist acts, the most direct means of
preventing such acts is to limit the exercise of religion, and have focused
their genuinely or purportedly counter-terrorist activities on limiting the
exercise of civil and political rights, including the right to freedom of
religion and belief," the report says (U.N.
release, Sept. 29).
Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director, Washington Office
Presbyterian Church (USA)
110 Maryland Avenue, NE, Suite 104
Washington, DC 20002
202-543-1126
Email
eivory@ctr.pcusa.org
