Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson of the High Representative
for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)
on the Recent Acts of Islamophobia in France
4 June 2025, New York
The High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations strongly condemns the latest spate of Islamophobic hate crimes in France.
As the UN Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, the High Representative unequivocally condemns the heinous murder of Mr. Aboubakar Cissé, a Malian man who was stabbed to death several times while performing Friday prayers at the mosque in La Grand-Combe in south-eastern France. The High Representative also strongly condemns the shooting to death of a Tunisian man by his neighbor in Southern France. The suspect had posted numerous racist and threatening comments on social media before carrying out the attack.
Among other Islamophobic acts, the UN Special Envoy strongly denounces the burning of the Quran in the southeastern French commune of Villeurbanne, Lyon. He deplores the recurrence of such hate crimes against Muslims as unacceptable and unjustifiable and should not have a place in any society.