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<p>Promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between
different religious and non-religious communities is a longstanding priority for the
UK Government. We believe that one of the most effective ways to tackle injustices
and advocate for respect amongst different religious groups is to encourage countries
to uphold their human rights obligations, particularly through international institutions
such as the UN. While the UK supported the underlying theme of A/75/L.36/Rev.1 at
the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, Her Majesty's Government abstained in
the voting on the resolution because there were elements of the text which the UK,
along with others, were unable to support.</p><p>The UK's views on the Resolution
are clear. While the UK and Pakistan do have differences in approach to FoRB and Freedom
of Expression, the large bulk of operative paragraph 7 of the previous version of
the Resolution is a verbatim copy of Article 20.2 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the UK ratified in 1976. In the ongoing
academic and legal debate about whether this reference can be used domestically to
justify blasphemy legislation, the longstanding UK position is that this provision
does not require that. We remain deeply concerned by the misuse of blasphemy laws.
These laws generally limit Freedom of Expression and are only compatible with international
human rights law in narrow circumstances. We regularly raise at a senior level the
issue of blasphemy laws with the authorities in Pakistan and elsewhere. We believe
that people must be allowed to discuss and debate issues freely, including exercising
their right to Freedom of Expression, to invoke, peacefully, discussions about thought,
conscience and religion.</p>
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