ACLJ & ECLJ Pleased that Resolution Used to Silence Religious Minorities - Including Christians - Loses Support at United Nations

(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), along with its international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) said today’s vote in the United Nations General Assembly shows a continued and dramatic erosion of support for the “Combating Defamation of Religions” resolution sponsored by the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

The vote today in the U.N. General Assembly:  86 ‘Yes’ votes, 53 ‘No’ votes, and 42 ‘Abstain’ votes.  It’s the first time the ‘No’ and ‘Abstain’ votes outnumbered the ‘Yes’ votes in a vote before the General Assembly.  It also marks a significant decline in support from one year ago.  In 2007, the vote totals for the resolution were as follows:  108 ‘Yes’ votes, 51 ‘No’ votes, and 25 ‘Abstain’ votes.  The number of ‘Yes’ votes has dropped off sharply – 22 fewer ‘Yes’ votes this year.  And with today’s vote, the number of ‘No’ and ‘Abstain’ votes totaled 95 – compared to just 76 votes for the ‘No’ and ‘Abstain’ one year ago.

“The vote today reflects a significant shift and a dramatic loss of momentum for this troubling resolution,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ and ECLJ.  “It’s clear that world opinion is turning against this dangerous resolution – a resolution that is harmful, not helpful, to preserving religious liberty and freedom.  In recent months, we’ve heard from some 400,000 people who understand the dangers associated with this resolution.  It’s also clear that a growing number of nations understand that this resolution is unacceptable.   We’ll continue with our commitment of advocacy and education to ensure that even fewer nations support this in the future.”

Today’s vote in the U.N. General Assembly comes just one month after an important committee vote at the U.N. when the erosion of support became apparent.  The U.N.’s Third Committee voted in November:  85 ‘Yes’ votes, 50 ‘No’ votes, and 42 ‘Abstain’ votes – marking the first time the ‘No’ and ‘Abstain’ votes outnumbered the ‘Yes’ votes.

The ACLJ and ECLJ have been working to educate and inform member nations about the dangers of the resolution – a resolution that a growing number of organizations and legal experts believe does not encourage religious freedom – but is often used to silence religious minorities – including Christianity in many countries.

In addition to working to convince nations to withhold support for this resolution, the ECLJ also delivered an oral argument before the U.N.’s Human Rights Council.  You can read the ECLJ's written submission to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights here.

The ECLJ has special consultative status from the U.N. – a designation that enhances the global nature of the ACLJ’s religious liberty and human rights work that already spans more than 35 countries. 

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the ACLJ and its worldwide affiliates engage in litigation, provide legal services, render advice to individuals and governmental agencies, as well as counsel clients on global freedom and liberty issues.  The ACLJ and its affiliated organizations also support training law students from around the world in order to protect religious liberty and safeguard human rights and dignity.

The ECLJ is based in Strasbourg, France and the ACLJ is based in Washington, D.C.