Q Association: Hate Speech in the Name of Religion

02 August 2006

On Sunday, July 16, the �Svjetlost-Menar� Cultural Advancement Association held a public debate, at the Bosnian Cultural Centre in Sarajevo, on the topic The Path of Salvation from Homosexuality.

Harmin Suljic, one of the featured speakers at the debate, said that �...Sharia Law says that homosexuals should be thrown from a cliff, wall should be bring down on them and they should be stoned�. Suljic added that the Bosnian and Herzegovinian community agrees with that position, but that it is not implemented, having in mind that B&H is not a Sharia state.

The Q Association commented that this was a clear case of hate speech on behalf of religion, and that Suljic�s speech represents public incitement of hate and intolerance, as well as a public call for a lynch of homosexual persons.

"Svjetlost-Menar has to be held responsible, as locally registered legal entity, while the speaker should be charged for his personal responsibility. Through their work, they publicly abuse their position, express intolerance and use hate-speech against the whole gay and lesbian population in B&H, acting, therefore, against the Constitution, public safety, rights and freedoms of other people�, said Q Association in a public statement.

The Q Association remind the public that the Law on Foundations and Associations of the B&H Federation (Article 3) is decisive that �...goals and activities of an association can�t be in direct collision with the Constitutional order in Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Federation, now directed at its violent overthrow, neither shall they incite national, racial, religious and other hatred or call for discrimination, as prohibited by the Constitution and the Law�.

�This hate speech was not directed at any specific individual, but towards a whole population, therefore to the whole population of B&H�, says Q Association. They warn that this could lead to a situation in which persons that advocate LGBTIQ rights in the country could be put in direct danger, having in mind that the public knows them as such.

�After this lecture, they could be marked as potential targets for followers of Harmin Suljic and similar public speeches�, says the Association.

The Q Association invites all organizations to join them in their appeal to the relevant organizations and institutions to react to this hate-speech and discrimination and take appropriate action.

They also call upon the Islamic Community, and other denominations in Bosnia and Herzegovina to publicly denounce events that stigmatize them as fundamentalists, and ultimately demonstrate that they are an important factor on the country�s road towards becoming a state that truly respects and observes that human rights of all its citizens and actively promotes them.