Cairo: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Islamic world’s largest bloc, has condemned a French magazine’s republishing of offensive caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him).
The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has recently republished the cartoons that prompted a deadly attack on its offices in 2015.
The Jeddah-based OIC called the republication of the cartoons a “manifestation of hatred and foolish stereotyping” constituting a flagrant violation of international law of human rights, the Saudi press agency SPA reported.
The OIC human rights commission expressed a grave concern over what it described as a “horrifying act prompted by stereotyping and mocking of Islam’s greatest personality”.
The commission said that the republication of the blasphemous material has nothing to do with freedom of expression.
“Mankind needs in such crucial times facing the world due to the continuation of the coronavirus pandemic to exert more efforts to achieve solidarity, tolerance and respect of cultural and religious diversity,” the commission said in a statement.
It warned that such hate moves will boost extremists’ exploitation of the cultural gap.
