Preventing incitement to violence and the Fez process

Main points of presentation Hate speech and incitement to violence Role of religious leaders Fez Process and the Plan of Action

Why the focus on incitement and its prevention Incitement to what? - Discrimination - Hostility - Violence - Terrorism In both peace and conflict situations, incitement is both an indicator of therisk of escalating tensions and/or violence and/or a trigger for this tensions/violence OGPRtoP Framework of Analysis To prevent/counter conflict, violence and terrorism, it is therefore necessary to also prevent or counter incitement

Offensive speech, “hate speech” and incitement Offensive speech: lack of consensus on what is offensive. What is offensive to some, may not be offensive to others “Hate speech”: lack of definition, covers a variety and a spectrum of expressions – and is a very unclear area of (international and national) law. Only the most extreme forms of hate speech are prohibited under international law Incitement to terrorism and violent extremism: complicated area, due to the lack of an agreed definitions of terrorism and violent extremism Incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence: constitute the most extreme forms of hate speech, prohibited under international law

“Hate speech” definition used by the OGPRtoP Any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that denigrates a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race or other identity factor. Hate speech may suggest that the person or group - it is usually groups - is inferior and that they should be excluded or discriminated against on this basis including, for example, by limiting their access to education, employment or political position.

Examples of hate speech and incitement to violence Narrative used by certain European and US media regarding migrants The Holocaust– Der Sturmer Rwanda genocide, Radio Milles Collines Media strategy of the so-called Islamic State 01/01/2019 A Callamard

Protected (by international human rights law) and non protected speech Incitement (not protected speech) “Hate speech” (usually not protected, with the exception of the US) Offensive speech (usually protected by the right to freedom of expression - with notable exceptions, eg blasphemy, in some parts of the world)

International sources for prevention of incitement ECRI, European Court of Human Rights CERD, article 4 (focus on incitement to racial discrimination, e.g. indigenous peoples, descent-based groups, and immigrants or non-citizens, including migrant domestic workers, refugees and asylum seekers) ICCPR, article 19 and 20 (focus on incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence) ICC Statute (Rome Statute, focus on incitement to atrocity crimes, e.g. genocide, was crimes and crimes against humanity) Genocide Convention (focus on incitement to genocide) Also: UN SC Resolution 1624, which calls on States to prohibit incitement to terrorism

Incitement to genocide (Genocide Convention) Incitement to violence (advocacy of hatred); to terrorism (a. 20, ICCPR, various SC resolutions) Incitement to discrimination and hostility (a 20, ICCPR) Glorify, propagate, promote, justify (eg terrorism, racial superiority, racial hatred (a.4, CERD, various SC resolution on terrorism) Other hate speech acts that disseminate or spread hostility and hatred, negative stereotypes, vilify, denigrate, etc. “incitement to commit a terrorist act or acts” in Article 1(1) of Security Council Resolution 1624 (2005))

Incitement Speech: how to recognize it? Context: is there a history of violence, discrimination, censorship particularly targeting specific groups? Speaker: does he/she have influence? Hold position of power and authority? Can he/she influence the audience? Intent: Did the speaker intended to provoke discrimination, hostility or violence? Negligence and recklessness are not sufficient for an article 20 situation which requires “advocacy” and “incitement” rather than mere distribution or circulation. Content or form: to what extent was the speech provocative and direct? Also consider the form, style, nature of the arguments deployed in the speech etc .

Incitement Speech: how to recognize it? Extent of the speech: was the speech public? How large was the audience? Which were the means of dissemination employed? Is the audience capable or does it have the means to act on the incitement? Likelihood: including imminence: Incitement, by definition, is an inchoate crime. The action advocated through incitement speech does not have to be committed for that speech to amount to a crime. Nevertheless some degree of risk of resulting harm (a reasonable probability that the speech would succeed in inciting actual action against the target group) must be identified.

To Criminalize or not? Policies v. laws CERD: The Committee recommends that the criminalization of forms of racist expression should be reserved for serious cases, to be proven beyond reasonable doubt, while less serious cases should be addressed by means other than criminal law, taking into account, inter alia, the nature and extent of the impact on targeted persons and groups. The application of criminal sanctions should be governed by principles of legality, proportionality and necessity. Rabat Plan of Action on Incitement: similar conclusion + Decriminalize blasphemy (offensive speech protected by freedom of expression and opinion) General recommendation 35, paragraph 12

The role of religious leaders in preventing incitement to violence Religious leaders and actors play a major role both in inciting to violence and in preventing and countering incitement It is important that religious leaders who want to contribute to peacebuilding and the protection of human rights learn how to recognize, prevent and counter incitement

The Fez Process The process consists of several meetings in different world regions to discuss the specific role that religious leaders and actors play in preventing incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes Timeframe for completing the consultative phase of the Process: Approximately two years (April 2015-November 2017) An Advisory Committee composed of religious leaders and experts has been established to provide advise from a substantive and logistical point of view to the Fez process (meets every two months) 01/01/2019 A Callamard

- Regional Plans of Action targeted to specific regional contexts The Fez Process Outcome: - Plan of Action fore Religious Leaders and Actors to Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes - Regional Plans of Action targeted to specific regional contexts 01/01/2019 A Callamard

The Fez Process Regional consultative meeting: Fez, Treviso, Amman, Washington D.C., Addis Ababa, Bangkok Some 200 participants from 77 countries, from five continents, from different religions and denominations, including Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Indus, Bahais and other minorities as well as humanists. 01/01/2019 A Callamard

The Plan of Action What is the Plan of Action? A set of practical options that religious leaders may consider to implement in situations where political/religious tensions are high, incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence is widespread and there is an assessed risk of atrocity crimes. The options aim at countering existing incitement and at preventing future instances of incitement 01/01/2019 A Callamard

The Plan of Action Pillars of Plan of Action PREVENT: incitement to violence, to violent extremism and gender violence STRENGHTEN: education, media, interfaith dialogue and partnerships with regional and international organisations BUILD: peaceful, inclusive and just societies, international human rights standards, networks of religious leaders 01/01/2019 A Callamard

The Plan of Action Launch the Fez Plan of Action: 14 July 2017 in New York by the United Nations Secretary-General Meeting on the implementation of the Plan of Action: 13-15 February 2018 in Vienna (200 religious leaders and actors + 60 Member States) Focus on the grassroots Focus on youth and women Collaboration with Member States  Establishment of the “Friends” Education Covenant Establishment of the Global Steering Committee and regional coordination committees 01/01/2019 A Callamard

Implementation Luton, November 2016 Burundi, Addis Ababa, May 2017 and Arusha, October 2017) South Asia, Bangkok, November 2017 Bangladesh, June 2018 Upcoming: the Balkans, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Cox Bazar, as well as ten workshop on reviving religious education in Muslim countries 01/01/2019 A Callamard

Synergies with ongoing initiatives Rabat Plan of Action SG Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism (Pillar I on conditions conducive and Pillar IV on preventing and combating incitement to radicalisation) SCR 1325 and 2250 SDGs, (#16 in particular) Marrakesh Declaration on the rights of religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries 01/01/2019 A Callamard

Break-out session: 1) choose a group withing the nice sub-headings of the three PoA pillars 2) think about specific activities you or your organisation could implement, 3) develop an ECC Plan of Action to Prevent incitment to violence (time:30 minutes + 30 minutes reporting back Preventing Preventing incitement to violence Preventing incitment to violent extremism Preventing incitement to gender-based violence Strenghtening Enhance education and capacity-building to prevent incitment to violence Foster interfaith and intra-faith dialogue to prevent incitement to violence Strengthen collaboration with traditional and new media to prevent incitement to violence Strenghten engagement with regional and international partners to implement the Plan of Action Build Build peaceful, inclusive and just societies thorugh respecting, protecting and promoting human rights Establish networoks of religious leaders to prevent and counter incitment to violence 01/01/2019 A Callamard