Speech of David Erzet – Warsaw – OSCE 2012

By Pierre RENVERSEZ • on October 7, 2012

Meeting about intolerance and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions. Speech of David ERZET, President of the Belgian Association NONALI and Belgian Representative of the Organisation I.C.L.A. .(International Civil Liberties Alliance). The text of the speech is avalaible on the bottom on this page. Many others videos are also available on the website of ICLA-BELGIUM : www.icla-belgique.com or on the website of ICLA International : libertiesalliance.org

Text of the speech of David ERZET in WARSAW – OCDE 2012

To begin, we would like the OSCE to give us a precise definition of a word that has been used several times in this meeting …

That word is “Islamophobia”.We ask for the removal of the ambiguity with regard to this word because many organisations are using it as a tool to victimise and demonise those with whom they disagree.

In the absence of clarification, we ask that the use of this expression is banned by the assembly.

This prohibition is logical if we consider that the word “Islamophobia” is never used by the OSCE which uses the term “intolerance against Islam,” while some associations continue to use that word.I remind members of the OSCE that a phobia is a mental illness.

The practice of suppressing freedom of expression by characterizing it as mental illness is reminiscent of the techniques practiced in the USSR under Brezhnev when opponents deemed mentally ill were subject to arbitrary detention.

The International Civil Liberties Alliance-the-ICLA is keen to ensure that freedom of religion is respected and is extremely concerned about the discrimination and even violence that is people endure for religious reasons.

We therefore request that the OSCE, and particularly the representative of my country, Belgium, implement appropriate measures to prevent the dissemination of texts containing incitement to discrimination or violence, in the form of books, journals and other publications on paper or through internet.

With regard to Belgium, it is intolerable that religious centers or libraries spread openly and with impunity publications whose content clearly incites discrimination, hatred and violence against individuals for their membership or non-membership a religion, or against those with people on grounds of their sexuality.

We ask Belgium for strict application of its laws.Our organization is at the disposal of the OSCE, especially the Belgian representative, in providing a list of offenses of incitement to hatred and discrimination found in Belgium and the places where they can be found.

Thanks