TORONTO, April 10 /CNW/ - The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) welcomes the statement issued yesterday by the Ontario Human Rights Commission in response to complaints about Maclean’s magazine. The complaints, regarding an October 2006 article titled The Future Belongs to Islam, were filed by law students Muneeza Sheikh, Naseem Mithoowani, Khurrum Awan and Ali Ahmed in April 2007.
In its statement, the Ontario Human Rights Commission expressed "...serious concerns about the content of a number of articles concerning Muslims that have been published by Maclean’s magazine and other media outlets.” Referring to the articles published by Maclean’s the Commission stated:
<< This type of media coverage has been identified as contributing to Islamophobia and promoting societal intolerance towards Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Canadians. The Commission recognizes and understands the serious harm that such writings cause, both to the targeted communities and society as a whole. >>
“The Commission’s recognition of the prejudicial impact of Maclean’s targeting of Muslim Canadians and the importance of establishing viable avenues to challenge racism in the media has vindicated our concerns,” said Sheikh, referring to the Commission’s Statement that read:
<< ...it should be possible to challenge any institution that contributes to the dissemination of destructive, xenophobic opinions. >>
Said Mithoowani: “We couldn’t agree more with the Ontario Human Rights Commission when it wrote: ‘Freedom of expression should be exercised through responsible reporting and not be used as a guise to target vulnerable groups and to further increase their marginalization or stigmatization in society.’”
“The Commission recognized in strong and clear language that Maclean’s has been part of the racism and Islamophobia that exists in the media. This should be cause for shame and embarrassment,” said Faisal Joseph, legal counsel for the Canadian Islamic Congress. “Maclean’s should now try to solve the problem, not escalate it.”
Related complaints have been filed with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Hearings have been scheduled for the BC complaint from June 2 to 6 under s. 7(1) of the BC Human Rights Code which prohibits publications that subject identifiable communities to hate. The federal commission is investigating the complaints.
The complete text of the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s statement can be accessed on the Commission’s website:
http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/resources/news/en/resources/news/statement.
For further information: Faisal Joseph, CIC’s Legal Counsel, (519) 640-6342 or (519) 619-8855