UN Human Rights Commissioner condemns incidents that saw burning of Qur’an

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, condemned on Monday the series of incidents that saw the burning of the Holy Qur’an in Europe earlier this year.

In his remarks, Turk called for the “preserving of human dignity”.

His comments came during the opening of the 54th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The council is expected to discuss the Qur’an burning matter on October 6.

Denmark and Sweden saw several protests in July where copies of the Qur’an had been burned, or otherwise damaged, prompting outrage in Muslim countries, which demanded the Nordic governments put a stop to the burnings.

The UN human rights council is also expected to discuss a number of human rights issues, including religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, among other human rights related topics.