Today’s publication by weekly satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo of cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed are not hate speech and the publishers should be protected from acts of violence, says ARTICLE 19.
“Charlie Hebdo’s publication of cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed may be provocative, but they can not be regarded as hate speech or incitement to violence, and cannot legally be censored or banned. All calls to ban them should be firmly resisted,” said ARTICLE 19.
“The cartoons criticise a religious idea, they do not call on people to carry out acts of hatred, discrimination or violence. They may be considered blasphemous, but banning speech based on criticism of ideas is incompatible with freedom of expression, even if they are firmly held religious ones,” added ARTICLE 19.
“The cartoons are also not incitement – they surely aim to provoke a response and a heated debate, but that is not the same as calling on people to conduct violent acts. The person responsible for incitement in that case is the person who decides that they are going to react by urging violence. That person is acting illegally.”
“The French government has a positive obligation to both stop violent attacks after the publication of the cartoons and also to facilitate peaceful protest. Today’s statement by French Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, that the government would preemptively ban protests this weekend, undermines the right to peaceful assembly.”
Publication of today’s issue immediately trended on Twitter globally and Charlie Hebdo’s website has came under a sustained denial of service attack, with claims that the attack originated from Pakistan.
Charlie Hebdo is a weekly satirical magazine and has a left wing and anarchistic editorial line. It is renowned for its provocative style, aimed at prompting debate about issues, and often critiques political and religious leaders globally.
In 2011, Charlie Hebdo’s offices were firebombed after publishing an edition stating that it had been guest-edited by the Prophet Mohammed.
asif / September 19, 2012
Hey Charlie Chaplin, how many more insulting cartoons of the Prophet do you want to do? A million cartoons? No problem, go ahead. Happy? Of course that will earn you enough money to live a posh life in sin city Las Vegas for the rest of your life. Dream on! Only problem is that your cousins Al Qaeda will eat your cartoon magazines with relish like goats. Then these headless chickens (al qaeda/taliban) will produce their own insulting cartoons of Islam that will be broadcast right across the globe just to impress upon the gullible masses that another name for Islam is Al Qaeda or Taliban! And the whole world is like: “Death to Islam and Muslims!” Great!
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Navin Weeraratne / September 19, 2012
Well said Asif, if it is any consolation, religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism (thanks to the great Sinhala race) have all got their share of people with goat brains. So Islam isn’t alone… Anything that the human race touches, turns to sh*t…
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SERUVILA SENARATH / September 21, 2012
hay
“religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism (thanks to the great Sinhala race”
Buddhism is not a religion neither belongs only to Sinhalese.
it is a universal philosophy to all mankind.
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Lanka Muslim, UK / September 19, 2012
Thanks, keep attacking that keeps the Muslims shedding their differences and the Muslims world over are uniting under the banner of Islam.
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Mobeen ul Haq / September 22, 2012
Respect of the Religions and the religious personalities is the basics of the Civilization but unfortunatley Countiries who are declaring most civilized are behaving like gangster and proudy on their naked freedom. But at the back it is the conspiracy against the Islam and for this purpose they uses the Fool like CHARLEY PLAY BOW.
Mr. Fool do your remeber what was the end of the last PLAY BOW, he was BURNT by himself LIKE COAL by the grace of Allah.
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Salma Yusuf / October 2, 2012
The argument that the freedom of expression is curbed by preventing acts that incite hate ought to be a settled matter by now.
The freedom of expression can never extend to inciting hate towards any individual community, based on religion, race or ethnicity. Peace and goodwill should be the ultimate goal of any civilized society pursuing the noble ideals enshrined in the universal norms of human rights.
It is in such situations that we realize that speaking of human rights in a vacuum, sans the corresponding human responsibilities that arise when we live in multi-cultural societies, becomes meaningless.
Human rights should always be considered a means to an end, and not an end in itself. Inciting hatred and abusing religions, whichever religion it may be, under the pretext of protecting the freedom of expression is to make a mockery of the entire regime of human rights promotion and protection, the central and founding ethos of which is to uphold and safeguard the dignity of the human being.
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