The United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 7/19 Combating defamation of religions is absurd, but not because nothing demonstrably false can ever be said about a religion or because every differing religious belief defames another. Those are absurd ideas, as well. "All Scientologists are child molesters." certainly implies something false about Scientology and if that implication is expressed it becomes: "Scientology requires child molestation." Please tell me you don't believe that cannot be proven false, to the satisfaction of a court. Lying is saying something you know to be false. If I said that rabbits are rodents, I would be lying, but most people who say it are not lying. They're just wrong. Disagreeing with someone's beliefs is not the same as calling them a liar; it is simply believing that they are wrong. Even if a zealot called another religion a lie, it still wouldn't fit the traditional definition of 'defamation.' This latter take on the phrase does come closer to exposing the real problems with the resolution, however.
To see the truly ridiculous hypocrisy of the resolution, you must first consider who proposed the resolution and their definition of "defamation of religion." The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Proposed Resolution 7/19. The resolution has seventeen references to Islam or Muslims, and absolutely no mention, by name, of any other religion. As noted by Human Rights First, what this resolution, and the other attempts at resolutions with the "defamation of religion" language, actually did "was provide cover for abusive national blasphemy laws." The OIC members are also the authors of and adherents to the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI):
ARTICLE 10:
Islam is the religion of true unspoiled nature. It is prohibited to exercise any
form of pressure on man or to exploit his poverty or ignorance in order to force
him to change his religion to another religion or to atheism.
ARTICLE 12:
Every man shall have the right, within the framework of the Shari'ah, to free
movement ... and if persecuted, is entitled to seek asylum in another country.
The country of refuge shall be obliged to provide protection ..., unless asylum
is motivated by committing an act regarded by the Shari'ah as a crime.
ARTICLE 19:
(d) There shall be no crime or punishment except as provided for in the Shari'ah.
ARTICLE 24:
All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the
Islamic Shari'ah.
ARTICLE 25:
The Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference for the
explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration.
The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) made a list of how some of the OIC member nations deal with "defamation of religion." Here are a few:
In September 2005 in Punjab province [Pakistan], 40-year-old Christian Younis Masih made derisory comments about Mohammed, the so-called Prophet. The Christians who heard him beat him, hoping he would retract his comments. A mob of Muslims attacked him. Even his wife was physically assaulted. He was taken into custody, while Muslims rioted, demanding that Masih be charged. In May 2007 Masih was sentenced to death. He appeared in court only on a video link, such was the fear that he would be lynched. His lawyer was also threatened.
23-year-old Jagdeesh Kumar worked at a garment factory in Karachi, a port city in Sindh province. He was beaten to death while a contingent of police stood by and did nothing. It took days for a police report to be filed on the case, but arrests did not happen until weeks later. According to a Pakistani Christian journalist, when the three workers who killed Jagdesh were arrested, they were "charged not with murder but with 'failure to inform the police that blasphemy was underway.'" Qaiser wrote that Jagdeesh was the first Hindu to die as a result of Pakistan's blasphemy laws.
Saudi Arabia prevents members of other faiths from openly following their religion. No Bibles or crucifixes are allowed into the country.
On November 2, 2007 Mustapha Ibrahim, an Egyptian pharmacist, was beheaded in Riyadh. He was found guilty of witchcraft and also desecrating a Koran.
It is important to note that Resolution 7/19 was a non-binding resolution that was never approved by the UN General Assembly. No resolution with the "defamation of religion" language has ever been approved by the UN General Assembly.
Resolution 16/18 Combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of, and discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against, persons based on religion or belief was adopted by the UN General Assembly without vote, on 24 March 2011. It is a non-binding resolution, does not contain the "defamation of religion" language, mentions no religion by name, and does not create openings to infringe on free speech.