Violence in the Islamic world and the need to preserve peace

In a world marked by the conflict in the Gaza Strip and civilian terrorism in various parts of the East, the primacy of a human rights perspective becomes essential. Meanwhile, hate speech against the Islamic world is proliferating, opening up dangerous ground.

Although it often tends to be left out of the main media agendas, the violence besetting the Islamic world has become one of the main concerns of international human rights bodies. Historical conflicts and political crises, wars between states and civil wars, have set a trend of stigmatizing Islamic identity, if not rhetorically endorsing any act of violence of which it is the target. Meanwhile, violent attacks against communities, cities and places of religious worship are constant concerns for humanitarian bodies. The conflict in the Gaza Strip, for its part, continues to drive polarization.

Recently, and in the middle of the holiday season, there have been several cases in which the United Nations has issued a message of condemnation and repudiation. In all of them, the Islamic world emerges as the main target. From the attack on a mosque in Nigeria that left 5 dead, to a similar episode at a mosque in Homs (Syria) with at least 8 people killed, to the call for England to protect and guarantee the well-being of pro-Palestinian activists. In all these cases, shaped by different motives and contexts, the Islamic component emerges as a target of attack for a variety of reasons. 

From fundamentalist civilian factions in their own countries to international conflicts with geopolitical triggers, the violence surrounding Islam as a religious, cultural, ethnic and national identity has become a systematic problem that knows no borders. The hostility that has emerged from sectors of the West in the heat of various armed conflicts, combined with new global political realignments, together with the cultivation of waves of xenophobic and racist violence by right-wing political movements, has fueled hatred toward the Islamic world to an extreme degree. 

The position of human rights bodies is clear and forceful. UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the attack on the mosque in Syria, which took place at a highly sensitive moment following the overthrow of Bashar Hafez al-Assad. The attack targeted a place of worship and prayer of the Alawite minority. In this context, the UN's highest authority condemned “sectarian” violence and violence of any kind. In the case of Syria, as in many others, the acts of violence are linked to the violence running through the Islamic world itself due to historical differences between Sunnis and Shiites. 

Burkina Faso and anti-Islamic violence

While many acts of violence against Islamic communities are the result of terrorist attacks by fundamentalist factions, in many other cases the very idea of the “fight against terrorism” has also been a trigger for Islamophobic violence. The case of Burkina Faso has been closely followed by human rights bodies in relation to this phenomenon. Indeed, the organization Human Rights Watch released a report this year detailing the massacre of the civilian population perpetrated by special armed groups supporting the government in the fight against terrorism.

Directed with particular animosity at the Fulani community, these attacks (which already account for more than 120 civilian deaths), carried out by the self-proclaimed Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland, have been investigated by Human Rights Watch. Based on documents and interviews with survivors and specialists, many of these killings were carried out against refugee populations seeking a way out of the conflicts resulting from the two coups d'état that have taken place in the country since 2022. The Fulani ethnic group is predominantly Muslim, and is the victim of the constant stigmatization that links the Islamic religion with terrorism. Among other things, the attacks on the community have caused a forced mass displacement from the area, which has been described as a war crime.  

The fight against Islamophobia and human rights

For reasons such as those mentioned, international bodies have long been promoting new proposals and policies to combat Islamophobia as a systematic evil. This is aimed not only at fostering values such as tolerance between communities and freedom of worship, but also as a strategic element for strengthening human rights and democracies at a particular global juncture. 

In June of this year, the United Nations put this issue on the agenda with the appointment of the organization's special envoy to combat Islamophobia. This set a new precedent for issuing recommendations and positions at the educational and humanitarian levels so that countries take up this issue and apply it in their agendas.

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia