UN officials sickened by public hatred against Muslims

In this Monday Feb. 8, 2010 file photo, Muslim residents walk past racial slurs painted on the walls of a mosque in the town of Saint-Etienne, central France. Graffiti reads: “Muslims”. Firebombs and pigs’ heads are being tossed at mosques and women in veils have been insulted in a surge of anti-Muslim acts . AP

UNITED NATIONS — Two senior U.N. officials say they’re “sickened by blatant manifestations of hatred and intolerance,” particularly against Muslims, expressed by public figures and others in response to recent extremist attacks.

Adama Dieng, the special adviser on prevention of genocide, and Jennifer Welsh, the special adviser on the responsibility to protect civilians, say that any “advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” is prohibited by international human rights law and laws in many countries.

In a statement Monday, they denounced “the deliberate and dangerous spread of misinformation and the manipulation of people’s fears and concerns for political gain.”

Dieng and Welsh said calls by some U.S. political figures to bar Muslims from entering the United States are “unacceptable” and “an affront” to humanity.