Denmark’s Muslims to take cartoon case to UN

Published
0

STOCKHOLM, March 17: Danish Muslim organisations are to take the cartoon case to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, the Danish Islamic Community organisation said on Friday.

The move came after Danish State Attorney Henning Fode on Thursday ruled that the controversial drawings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) published in daily Jyllands-Posten did not violate Danish blasphemy and racism laws.

“The UN is the natural place for us to file our complaint,” Islamic Community spokesman Kasem Said Ahmad told the Ritzau national news agency on Friday. “Muslims living in the Islamic world have greater confidence in the United Nations than in the European Union,” he said. “The state attorney’s ruling was lousy.”

Ahmad Akkari, the Imam in Denmark’s second city Aarhus, accused Denmark of breaching UN human rights conventions.

“Our point is that in failing to censure Jyllands-Posten, Denmark has committed a breach of its duties as a signatory of UN conventions on human and political rights as well as international agreements on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination,” he said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The Danish Islamic Community is an umbrella organisation for 27 Muslim organisations throughout Denmark. The organisation had previously said it might take its case to the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg.

Of Denmark’s 5.3 million people, 200,000 are Muslims. —AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Kashmir unresolved
Updated 30 Sep, 2026

Kashmir unresolved

The just solution lies in India addressing the issue through a trilateral dialogue involving the legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.
Water shortage
30 Sep, 2026

Water shortage

THAT the country is entering the Rabi season with an anticipated water shortage of nearly 25pc, the lowest carryover...
Young hearts
30 Sep, 2026

Young hearts

THE observance may have passed, but the message of World Heart Day should not fade with it. The occasion is a useful...
Terror and politics
Updated 29 Sep, 2026

Terror and politics

There is an urgent need to tone down the rhetoric and tackle terrorism as a collective challenge for both the affected provinces and the federation.
Watching the glaciers
29 Sep, 2026

Watching the glaciers

THE latest signs from Pakistan’s mountains are worrying. Suparco says the number of unfrozen glacial lakes it...
Dangerous agenda
29 Sep, 2026

Dangerous agenda

AS the world remains fixated on the US-Iran conflict, elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel is consolidating its grip...