Racism destabilises societies and weakens governments

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman assures the Human Rights Council that racism destabilizes societies and weakens governments.

The Sultanate of Oman assured that racism constitutes a challenge to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, destabilizes societies, weakens governments, impedes development opportunities and undermines the integration of people.

The delegation of the Sultanate of Oman stated at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the continuation of the tendencies of hatred and intolerance increases the possibility of depriving people their rights to development and well-being for ethnic or religious reasons, so that their rights are affected by stigmatization, humiliation, lack of integration or isolation.

The Sultanate of Oman pointed out the discriminatory treatment Muslims in many countries are subjected to, be it against their people or against their religious symbols, such as burning copies of the Holy Qur’an under the pretext of freedom of expression.

In the speech, the Sultanate noted the experiences in this field, including many of its initiatives like the Sultan Qaboos Chair (may God rest his soul in peace) for the dialogue of civilizations and the "Human Reconciliation" and "Peace Message" projects which stem from a well-established policy and directions based on supporting a culture of coexistence and spreading tolerance among citizens.