A cross-party group of 27 parliamentarians wrote on Friday to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in support of a campaign to enact a global treaty to ban the political use of religion.
The proposed treaty has been drafted by leading officials, legislators and United Nations’ experts, and represents a new approach to introduce clear, simple and indisputable international rules to ban: all political uses of religion that undermine human equality; all religious discrimination in rights and duties; all religious exclusion; and all restrictions to freedom of religion and belief.
The group, led by the Labour MP for the City of Durham Mary Kelly and the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Rowan Williams, believe the treaty could play a key role in disarming extremism and reducing human rights violations across the world.
The letter claims that “the proposed treaty would make a massive difference to the lives of billions and serve all international humanitarian objectives by eliminating the root causes of many intractable conflicts and a long list of abuses of human rights. It would subsequently enhance stability and open the doors for sustainable development.”
The treaty has been proposed by BPUR International, which was registered in the United Kingdom as a non-profit NGO in February 2019 following an article by founder Salam Sarhan in The Independent, highlighting why the international community is in need of a solution to deal with current and future conflicts.
The treaty has already received legislative support from across the world, with the Moroccan PrimeMminister Saadeddine Othmani expressed his support for the treaty in August last year.
BPUR International have since announced that an international conference, entitled Global Rules to Disarm Religious Extremism, will take place in Rabat, Morocco on 11-12 May 2022.
The conference is sponsored by the Moroccan National Human Rights Council and seven Moroccan NGOs, and Lord Williams will appear as a guest speaker.
“As a Catholic whose politics has very much been shaped by my faith, I have no hesitation in supporting this campaign. While the major faiths preach tolerance and respect, it is too often the case that religion is used as an excuse for conflict, discrimination, and the persecution of minority groups,” said Labour MP for the City of Durham Mary Kelly.
“BPUR International’s proposed treaty offers a clear set of rules for the international community to address this issue. I hope the Prime Minister sees the merit in this proposal and puts the UK at the forefront of addressing human rights abuses across the worlds,” she added.
Salam Sarhan, BPUR International’s Secretary General, said, “this is a new approach to introduce global indisputable rules for a global chronic problem. There is no long-term solution on any national stage. It has to be on the international stage because any confrontation with any specific religion is doomed to make things worse.”
“All previous attempts to navigate this minefield have disastrous blind spots. They very often do more damage than good by overlooking the ammunition they give to the extremists. This proposed treaty is the only way to build a global consensus to disarm religious extremism and make the world more tolerant, more fair and more peaceful,” he added.
The letter to the Prime Minister
Pressure builds on British government to help ban political use of religion -The Arab Weekly
