On October 2nd, the managing director of a Muslim human rights group, Muhammad Rabbani was denied entry into Poland at the behest of French authorities, according to a Coalition Against Global Extremism (CAGE) press release. This happened ahead of his speaking at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Human Dimension Conference (OSCE). OSCE is “the world’s largest regional security intergovernmental organization with 57 participating states,” according to CAGE.
Muhammad Rabbani said in the release, “France banned me in response to a speech I gave at last September’s OSCE conference – exposing its Systematic Obstruction Policy. CAGE has been monitoring the racist implementation of that [French] policing strategy and the way it targets Muslim citizens.”
CAGE is an independent advocacy organization working to empower communities impacted by War on Terror policies worldwide. The organization highlights and campaigns against such policies in hopes of achieving a world free from oppression and injustice. Rabbani pointed out in the press release how France has not achieved its objectives to silence CAGE’s efforts as a coalition of his colleagues are prepared to attend as well.
Authoritarian responses by France to prevent CAGE from bringing international awareness to their systematic persecution of Muslims backfires as a coalition of seven Muslim NGOs take part in the OSCE conference this month from October 2 to October 13.
France’s attack on CAGE’s freedom of expression exposed their discomfort with public scrutiny and the international awareness of its persecution of Muslim citizens.
OSCE states on its website “…The conference is dedicated to discussions… on human rights and fundamental freedoms in the OSCE area,” which spans from North America and Europe to Asia. The OSCE “provides an opportunity to address …tolerance and non-discrimination, fundamental freedoms and humanitarian issues.”
Concerns of Muslims worldwide were brought to light by the coalition’s presentations at the OSCE conference. CAGE reported on their efforts to shine light on what they say are “unacknowledged systemic Islamophobia.”
“The conference heard statements from the participating NGOs including CAGE Austria, Perspectives Musulmanes from France, the Anti-Racist Association for Human Rights from Spain, the MRWN from the Netherlands, INSAN from Sweden and the Muslim Youth in Denmark,” said CAGE.
They spoke of their concerns affecting Muslim communities throughout Europe, also condemning the Quran burnings in Sweden and the enforcement of the abaya ban in France. The coalition presented “an urgent plea for an end to state-sponsored Islamophobia and the increasingly aggressive discrimination faced by Muslim communities across the continent,” according to the website.
How the Muslim coalition’s presentations were received this year has yet to be seen, as of press time. Efforts made by CAGE to participate have been met by forced suppression in the past. “We will not be silenced,” the press release insists.
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, one of the high-level speakers amongst the almost 1,500 registered participants from across the OSCE region, put forth his view on the importance of the event:
“The Warsaw Human Dimension Conference is a vital human rights event. At the heart of any human rights movement is the fundamental belief that every individual, regardless of their background or circumstances, possesses inherent rights and dignity. These rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent.”
One coalition speaker, Elias d’Imzalene, said: “We ask international diplomacy to react strongly to this Islamophobic policy of terror and humiliation of the French government… All my tributes and my respect go to these young Muslim girls who continue despite threats, to fight for their freedom to remain Muslim even if the French government does not want it.”
Adeelah Ahmad
