Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 19/02/2015
Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu, On behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the OIC, let me start by commending the holding of this conference on "Countering Violent Extremism"; and underlining that we do value the processes of possible themes and agendas that the United States had put forward for discussion and enrichment in today's meeting. Agreeing to processes is very important if we are to work together, support and complement each other in a detailed and specific manner in countering the menace of extreme violence But just as important, or perhaps a prerequisite to processes, is the need for a clear understanding of the roots, the underlining currents, the formative ideas that create terrorism and turn an individual into a terrorist. We must pause and ask ourselves where have this violence and evil come from; what is it that we have done to our collective self and globalized world to allow extreme violence and mindless disregard and duplicity to the very basics of human rights to grow and take hold of ourselves? We may cite examples and debate endlessly to identify who is responsible for the spread of violent extremism, but pointing fingers is not the answer, it is actually an escape. Soul searching and looking into our inner individual, national, ideological and religious self to identify that black hole within all of us is the beginning of our road to salvation. We have to delegitimize the narratives of dominance, occupation and extremism that claim legitimacy of violent and manipulative acts in the name of religion, ideology or cultural superiority. I can assure you that the OIC is committed to the fight against terror and violent extremism. It firmly stands by its principled position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations committed by whosoever and wherever; and to its unequivocal rejection of all attempts to associate any country, race, religion, culture or nationality with violent extremism. The OIC is proud of its pioneering record in standing up to extreme violence as stressed in the OIC Charter's articles relating to terrorism, extremism, and the promotion of moderation; and in its relevant legal instruments, specifically the OIC Code of Conduct on Combating Terrorism adopted in 1994 and the OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism adopted in 1999. The OIC actively advocates the view that violent extremism cannot be tackled by security or military means alone and that due attention, analysis and concrete plans of action must address the multifaceted dimensions of the phenomenon of violent extremism. Top among these is to understand and address the political and socio-economic contexts that bring forth conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism and violent extremism, such as continued economic deprivation, exclusion, separation, marginalization, alienation and the forced dismantling of political, legal, security and socio-cultural institutions. Just as important, the OIC takes the position that we must recognize, apologize for and ratify the historical injustices done to peoples who suffered under colonialism; and that the denial of the rights of peoples to self-determination in situations of current foreign occupation must end. The OIC also draws attention to the necessity to examine the potential of external actors penetrating terrorist and extremist groups for the purpose of serving their own political agendas. And to look into how much mindless and ideologically tented media coverage has contributed to widening the gap between religions, cultures, races and ethnic groups. As well as to analyze the advent of cyber terrorism through the utilization of new information and communication technologies by terrorist groups. In its continuous efforts to confront extreme violence, the OIC’s Executive Committee held an emergency Meeting on February 15th this year. The Final Communiqué of the said Meeting has specified certain steps and programs for the OIC to enhance its pursuit to counter violent extremism. Some of the actions decided by the Executive Committee are: To work for the activation of the ‘International Terrorism Center of the UN’ to coordinate global counter-terrorism efforts; the OIC is also engaged with CTED to hold its second meeting on 'combating incitement to terrorism' in coordination with the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) in Vienna, Austria; And to hold meetings of experts to seek ways and means to tighten cyber security as a matter of urgency, with due respect to human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law; And to work in areas of sectarian conflicts to crystalize a new paradigm to confront and remedy their causes. To this end, the OIC is finalizing its preparation to hold the second meeting namely 'Makkah II' between the Shiite and Sunni religious leaders of Iraq; And to seek ways to empower youth and other communities at risk of exploitation by extremist groups in order to make them less susceptible to recruitment and radicalization. The OIC is about to launch "messengers of peace", a youth empowerment program through its affiliated institutions on Youth; And to hold, through the Fiqh Academy, an organ of the OIC, a series of meetings, workshops, symposia and conferences of Ulama, intelligentsia and social scientists to focus on and dismantle the discourse of extremism and sectarianism; and to connect this efforts to networks of academia and civil society in the Member States; And to build bridges with Muslim communities outside of the Member States stressing the Islamic values of moderation, justice, equality and tolerance. In addition, the OIC has already been contributing, as a co-founder of 'the network for religious and traditional peacemakers' in developing country-specific projects to identify as well as address the root causes of radicalization of youth. It is also engaged in developing projects with an aim to create hope among the future generations through implementing country-specific micro-finance projects; and the establishment of a 'Culture Fund' at the Islamic Development Bank, IDB, to provide opportunities for young artists and creative people to express themselves in the belief that creating outlets to creativity is a counter discourse for extreme violence Let me conclude by emphasizing that Muslims are among those most widely impacted by extreme violence. Muslims suffer from those groups that have kidnapped Islam in the most inaccurate and illiterate readings of its texts; and at the same time, Muslims are under bombardments of ideological and Islamphobic voices that stigmatize, outcast and blame Islam and Muslims for the ills of the world. Muslims have also been at the receiving end of traditional colonialism, neo-colonialism, and political discourse of neo-liberalism. Thus, we, as an Organization have every interest to join, contribute to and be in the forefront of all efforts in the fight against extreme violence as understood in its multifaceted nature, sources and manifestations. In this regard, we stand firmly by the Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18 and work sincerely with our partners including the USA and EU towards the implementation of its provisions. Once more thank you for conceiving of this stage that can indeed be effective, if it brings our visions together and look at our collective role in effectively fighting the threat of our age: Domination, Extreme Violence and Terrorism.
