Five years after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and two UN special rapporteurs called on international organizations and states to "protect journalists" in the face of a rise in "religious intolerance" ".
At a press conference in Paris, RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire said that "the lessons of the attack on the French satirical weekly have not been learned". Eight countries have removed the notion of blasphemy from their legal framework since this tragic event, but 69 continue to repress it, and 6 countries punish it with the death penalty (Mauritania, Brunei, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan).
Pressures and threats
And even in states like France where the right to blasphemy has been recognized "since 1881", journalists must live under police protection, like those of Charlie Hebdo . According to RSF, the exercise of this right is becoming increasingly difficult, in the face of the pressures and threats that are exerted, in particular via social networks.
In some countries, worries Christophe Deloire, there is a serious risk that “States, platforms and the media give in, that self-censorship prevails, and that the right formally subsists, but that it will no longer be exercised ". A finding confirmed by Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of religion, and David Kaye, his counterpart responsible for freedom of opinion and expression.
"Anti-blasphemy laws are still there"
"Anti-blasphemy laws are still there, and they continue to be used to stifle certain debates," said the latter. And even when blasphemy is not illegal, "the state and the authorities continue to fail to protect individuals", especially those who face harassment and threats via social networks, he added.
"I do not believe that there can be democracy or human rights without exercising blasphemy," added Richard Malka, lawyer for 27 years of Charlie Hebdo , calling to tirelessly defend this founding principle, which served spark in the Enlightenment. "Freedom of expression is the mother of all freedoms", yet "never has this freedom of expression regressed so much", he said, noting that "the cancer that is 'ban on blasphemy has metastasized in all areas of thought'.
“The censorship software has been reversed. He mutated. Today, we are again asking for a ban on profanity, ”he said. "Who dares today to criticize religions five years after Charlie ? In reality, no one. Fear has won, ”he said.
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