Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič said the report highlighting Islamophobia could prove to be "divisive" because it focused on one religious group to the exclusion of others.

The report is entitled "Countering Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred to Eliminate Discrimination and Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief".

It was presented to the council by Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.

The report, which was released last week, is unsparing in its critique that governments around the world, including in the United States and China, should do more to combat Islamophobia.

Jurkovič, the Vatican's Permanent Observer to the U.N. in Geneva, expressed dismay at "the narrow scope of the report."

"The Holy See cannot but lament that the report does not adequately consider the overall context of persecution of all people of faith (or of no faith)," he said.

While the Vatican condemned "all acts of religious hatred, discrimination and persecution … including against Muslims," the archbishop said that highlighting one group appeared to mark "a substantial change" in approach.

In a footnote to his statement, the Slovenian archbishop noted that a 2007 Human Rights Council resolution outlining the special rapporteur's mandate only made one reference to Islamophobia, which it set alongside anti-Semitism and Christianophobia.

"It is clear from this context that the focus is on the elimination of instances of intolerance and violence against religious groups as a whole. Individually combating Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianophobia or discrimination against any other specific group is not considered in the special rapporteur's mandate," he said in the footnote.

Jurkovič concluded: "It is deeply concerning, therefore, that the present report, which should defend the fundamental and universal human right of freedom of religion or belief, has been focused on a single religious group to the exclusion of others with the risk of polarising the international community and creating more conflict that may further endanger the rights this council should promote and protect."

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• Religion News

Jurkovic is the Vatican observer to the United Nations (UN) agencies in Geneva.

He told a UN session for the "Group of Governmental Experts" on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) that autonomous systems would undermine efforts to achieve peace through dialogue.

These systems "would lead us imperceptibly to dehumanisation and to a weakening of the bonds of a true and lasting fraternity of the human family," he said.

LAWS technologies are also referred to as robotic weapons or "killer robots."

Jurkovic said developing LAWS "will provide the capacity of altering irreversibly the nature of warfare, becoming even more inhumane, putting in question the humanity of our societies.

"Any armed intervention must be carefully weighed and must at all times verify its legitimacy, legality and conformity with its purposes, which must also be both ethically and legally legitimate."

Jurkovic says these tasks are becoming too complex and nuanced to be entrusted to a machine.

He pointed out machines "would be ineffective when facing moral dilemmas or questions raised by the application of the so-called principle of ‘double effect'".

He explained the double effect: "The Catholic principle teaches it is morally acceptable to pursue a good goal that could have an unintended evil effect if and when there is a proportionate or adequate reason for allowing the evil."

Jurkovic told the UN that robotisation and dehumanisation of warfare present several serious ethical and legal problems.

As an example, he said increased automation will blur or erase accountability and the "traceability of the use of force with an accurate identification of those responsible.

"Such loss or dilution of responsibility induces a total lack of accountability for violations of both international humanitarian law and international human rights law and could progressively incite to war."

Furthermore, he said autonomous weapons systems don't have "unique human capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making," which involves input much more complex than a "collection of algorithms."

They cannot understand a situation or context and apply the appropriate rule or principles, since such discernment or judgment "entails going well beyond the potentialities of algorithms.

"The idea of a war waged by non-conscious and non-responsible autonomous weapons systems appears to hide a lure for dominance that conceals desperation and a dangerous lack of confidence in the human person.

"International security and peace are best achieved through the promotion of a culture of dialogue and cooperation, not through an arms race."

Source

• Catholic Herald
• Vice
• Image: CNN