Published: 14 November 2013
Country: Georgia
The Council of Religions of Georgia has severely criticised a draft law to ban hate speech in the country.
The government is confident that the law would suppress discrimination and ensure equality of all people. But the Council of Religions and other public organisations fear that the draft law will be used to limit the freedom of expression – thus violating the constitution.The law “On Prohibition of All Forms of Discrimination”, drafted by the Georgian Parliament last summer, sets administrative responsibility for public expression of hatred towards religious monuments, organizations, leaders or believers. Some journalists say that the hate speech in Georgian mass media is primarily used against cultural, religious, ethnic and sexual minorities.
According to the news website Caucasian Knot, the bill stipulates that “a special inspector for protection of equality will supervise the enforcement of the law that obliges public and private institutions to carry out preventive measures to combat discrimination.”
The Council addressed the parliament last week with a statement asking “not to allow the adoption of the draft law and not to question the perspective of the democratic and pluralistic development of our country and our society.”
As stated in the report Freedom of Religion in Georgia and Armenia, edited by the European Centre for Minority Issues Caucasus, the peak in extremism and intolerance was reached in the 1990s, but discrimination against religious communities is still rife in the country.
If traditional (Orthodox, Muslim, or Jewish) religious groups are widely accepted by society, suspicion of non-traditional groups is widespread, the report states. “Public opinion polls in both countries indicate that a majority of citizens believe that non-traditional minority religious groups are detrimental to the state”. Furthermore, both government and the media aggravate the problem with derogatory attitudes and language, concludes the report.
Despite recognising that religious hatred, especially against minorities, is a significant problem that needs to be solved, the Council of Religion strongly opposes the draft law “On Prohibition of All Forms of Discrimination.”
“For years we have been targets of verbal attacks, hatred, offence, discriminative treatment. In this regard, trends that are visible in different types of media, rhetoric of politicians and public persons are extremely alarming,” the Council of Religions stated. “But based on international experience we agree that imposing legal prohibitions against hate speech will not lead to the desired result.”
On the contrary, the Council thinks that the most effective and democratic way to counter hate speech includes “providing objective information to public, conducting correct and active educational work, priests’ teachings and, most importantly, treating people full of hatred in a human way with deep consciousness of religious responsibility.”
The statement against the draft law is now open for signature for religious unions. Among its 19 signatories are the Spiritual Council of the Yezidis, the Georgian Muslims’ Union, the Catholic Church of Armenians, and the Society of Krishna Consciousness.
Hate Speech vs. Freedom of Expression, the Georgian case
Published: 14 November
Country: Georgia
The Council of Religions of Georgia has severely criticised a draft law to ban hate speech in the country.
The government is confident that the law would suppress discrimination and ensure equality of all people. But the Council of Religions and other public organisations fear that the draft law will be used to limit the freedom of expression – thus violating the constitution.
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The law “On Prohibition of All Forms of Discrimination”, drafted by the Georgian Parliament last summer, sets administrative responsibility for public expression of hatred towards religious monuments, organizations, leaders or believers. Some journalists say that the hate speech in Georgian mass media is primarily used against cultural, religious, ethnic and sexual minorities.
According to the news website Caucasian Knot, the bill stipulates that “a special inspector for protection of equality will supervise the enforcement of the law that obliges public and private institutions to carry out preventive measures to combat discrimination.”
The Council addressed the parliament last week with a statement asking “not to allow the adoption of the draft law and not to question the perspective of the democratic and pluralistic development of our country and our society.”
As stated in the report Freedom of Religion in Georgia and Armenia, edited by the European Centre for Minority Issues Caucasus, the peak in extremism and intolerance was reached in the 1990s, but discrimination against religious communities is still rife in the country.
If traditional (Orthodox, Muslim, or Jewish) religious groups are widely accepted by society, suspicion of non-traditional groups is widespread, the report states. “Public opinion polls in both countries indicate that a majority of citizens believe that non-traditional minority religious groups are detrimental to the state”. Furthermore, both government and the media aggravate the problem with derogatory attitudes and language, concludes the report.
Despite recognising that religious hatred, especially against minorities, is a significant problem that needs to be solved, the Council of Religion strongly opposes the draft law “On Prohibition of All Forms of Discrimination.”
“For years we have been targets of verbal attacks, hatred, offence, discriminative treatment. In this regard, trends that are visible in different types of media, rhetoric of politicians and public persons are extremely alarming,” the Council of Religions stated. “But based on international experience we agree that imposing legal prohibitions against hate speech will not lead to the desired result.”
On the contrary, the Council thinks that the most effective and democratic way to counter hate speech includes “providing objective information to public, conducting correct and active educational work, priests’ teachings and, most importantly, treating people full of hatred in a human way with deep consciousness of religious responsibility.”
The statement against the draft law is now open for signature for religious unions. Among its 19 signatories are the Spiritual Council of the Yezidis, the Georgian Muslims’ Union, the Catholic Church of Armenians, and the Society of Krishna Consciousness.