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At the June 16th meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (the Council) controversy broke out after the Egyptian delegate interrupted an NGO report about human rights abuses in the Middle East. An NGO representative, Mr. David Littman, was given the floor to deliver a joint statement for the Association for World Education (AWE) and the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), denouncing female genital mutilation, the penalty of stoning for adultery, and child marriage. Within 22 seconds, he was interrupted on a “point of order” by the delegate of Egypt. The Egyptian delegate, Amr Roshdy Hassan, noted that the Human Rights Council President, Doru-Romulus Costea, had previously barred discussions of Sharia law in December, and therefore, he suggested that Mr. Littman should not be able to speak about Sharia law. In 2006, the Organization of the Islamic Conference decided to adopt a policy of zero tolerance against any perceived insults to Islam. Plans were then put in place to seek changes in the UN in order to provide additional “protection” for Islam. Since then, several Islamic countries have been quick to challenge any type of rhetoric that might be perceived as an attack on Islam. Correspondingly, following Mr. Hassan’s challenge, the delegate from Pakistan also offered his support for the censorship. However, the delegate from Slovenia then reminded the Council that, according to the rules, any NGO representative has the right to make a statement within the merits of the agenda item under discussion. The meeting became heated when Mr. Hassan responded by claiming that Sharia law should not be discussed in any capacity. The delegate from Pakistan reiterated his support for Mr. Hassan’s comments, insinuating that any discussion of Sharia law would amount to spreading hatred against Islamic countries. Delegates from both Canada and Slovenia responded by supporting Mr. Littman, arguing that he was not attempting to discuss religion, but rather human rights. President Costea subsequently called for a five minute adjournment in order to “seek a better judgment.” Forty minutes later the meeting resumed and Littman was finally allowed to proceed. He claimed that AWE believes that only a clear fatwa from Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Sayyed Tantawi will change the prevalent practice of FGM in Sudan and Egypt. The Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, had already issued a fatwa denouncing FGM, but since the Grand Sheikh is considered the foremost Sunni Arab authority, AWE believes that a clear fatwa issued by him would have a greater impact. Mr. Hassan quickly interrupted Mr. Littman, proclaiming that “Islam will not be crucified in the Council.” President Costea responded with a ban on references to religion in the Council, stating that “this Council is not prepared to discuss religious matters in depth, and consequently, we should not do it.” When the Council was established in April 2006, the UN Member States decided that members of the Council “shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights.” However, since President Costea’s proclamation, several media organizations have speculated that Islamic countries like Egypt will continue to accuse NGOs and Western countries of vilifying Sharia law in order to prevent in-depth discussions of their own prevalent human rights abuses. Regardless of whether abuses are related to Sharia law, this ban will likely have a negative effect on the protection of women’s rights, since it may now be difficult to by-pass religious discussion and press member nations like Egypt to better-address abuses. In addition, several organizations have framed Mr. Costea’s ban on religious discussion in the Council as an attack on free speech. Correspondingly, in commenting on the meeting at a press conference on June 18th, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said: “It is very concerning in a Council which should be…the guardian of freedom of expression, to see constraints, taboos, or subjects that become taboo for discussion.” * Live Webcast of HRC 8th session: http://www.un.org/webcast/unhrc/archive.asp?go=008