HRC46: Oral statement during ID with Special Rapporteur on FoRB

Item 3:Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief

Organisation:Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)

Speaker: Claire Denman

Thank you, Madame President.

CSW welcomes the Special Rapporteur attention on instances of anti-Muslim discrimination and hatred.

We share the Rapporteur’s concerns regarding India’s discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens.

We urge India to conduct a review of the CAA and NRC, to ensure that it is in keeping with the country’s commitment under the Constitution and to address instances of impunity for incitement, hate speech and violent attacks against Muslims.

On Cuba, CSW regrets the government’s decision to deny Ms Yusdeylin Mercedes Olivera Nuñez, a Muslim woman, the right to travel abroad to seek potentially lifesaving treatment currently unavailable in Cuba, in a move that she believes is linked to her affiliation with the unregistered Cuban Association forthe Dissemination of Islam (CADI).

Ms Olivera Nuñez was first targeted in 2015 after leaving the Islamic League of Cuba, the only officially registered Muslim association and was sentenced to five years of restricted liberty on fabricated charges.

We call on the Cuban government to clear her to travel immediately.

Finally, CSW welcomes the Rapporteur’s attention on the situation for Muslims in China, including in the Uyghur region where individuals have been indefinitely and arbitrarily detained for acts as basic as accessing religious material and engaging in peaceful religious activities, including praying or wearing ‘Islamic’ clothing.

We urge China to immediately release all prisoners of conscience detained in connection with their religion or belief. We reiterate continued calls for the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism into the human rights abuses in the country.

Thank you.