human rights council
By Kulamarva Balakrishna
Vienna, Tuesday,March 4,2008: Here is
the Ambassador of Pakistan presenting Islamic
Human Rights Declaration in 1990 as
completing the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights made by the United Nations.
He made the statement in Geneva on December 10
2007 at the Human Rights Commission.Did he
care to look at the English dictionary what it
means by =complement=? If he meant another
word,=compliment= as he spoke then the meaning
would change a bit but did not convey clearly
what he wanted to say.If compliment is meant
then, it is in praise of the U.Declaration of 1948.
It is welcome.In reality however,Cairo
Declaration has not spelled it out.On the
contrary, it proposes retroactively negate the
U.N.Declaration in major parts.That is to say
the least absurd. The parties to the Universal
Declaration can not undo privately, what has
been done more than 25 years before by the
world body.
I have before me a written statement
submitted by the International Human &
Ethical Union on the implication of two
words =complementary= and =alternative=.
I think even the IHEU has no idea about
the meaning fo the words =complementary
& Complement=. Strange. It,the statement
makes no sense to me I like to bring
to the notice of my readers to the text of
IHEU written submission to the United
Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The Text:
Islamic Law vs
Human Rights
Submitted by International Human & Ethical Union
(IHEU) admin on Geneva,March 3, 2008 :
(IHEU) admin on Geneva,March 3, 2008 :
IHEU has responded to claims that the “Cairo
Declaration of Human Rights in Islam” is “not
an alternative” to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights but “complementary”( meaning
completing.look dictionary.kb.) to it. In a
written statement to the UN
Human Rights Council, IHEU opposed any
resolution that seeks to limit the rights enshrined
in the Universal Declaration.
On Human Rights Day, December 10, 2007, the
Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Human Rights
Council claimed that the Cairo Declaration of
Human Rights in Islam, adopted in 1990 by the
56 member states of the Organisation of the
Islamic Conference "is not an alternative" to
the Universal Declaration but "complementary".
Complementary? Yet the Cairo Declaration
makes no mention of the Universal Declaration
and clearly states that: "All the rights and
freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are
subject to the Islamic Shari'ah", and "The
Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference
for the explanation or clarification to any of
the articles of this Declaration."
On February 24, in a strong response to this
challenge to the universality of human rights,
IHEU submitted the following written statement
to the Human Rights Council:
The Cairo Declaration and the
Universality of Human Rights
The International Human
Rights Instruments
1. On December 10, 1948 the General
Assembly of the United Nations adopted
and proclaimed the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights [1] (UDHR). The UDHR
was adopted by the vast majority of Member
States of the United Nations including all of
the Islamic States with the exception of
Saudi Arabia.
2. The International Covenants on Civil and
Political Rights [2] (ICCPR) andInternational
Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights [3] (ICESCR), which came into force
in 1976, are binding on all signatory States.
These include 46 of the 56 Member States
of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
[4] (OIC).
The Cairo Declaration of
Human Rights in Islam
3. On 5 August 1990, the then 45 member
states of the OIC adopted The Cairo Declaration
of Human Rights in Islam [5]. In this document
all rights are seen as derived from God (invisible
but revealing through an unidentified angel as of
today.Earlier angel Gabriel Farista if he speaks
on whose yeas? is the question.Is that legally
valid declaration?kb) The preamble states that
"no one as a matter of principle has the right
to suspend them in whole or in part or violate
or ignore them in as much as they are binding
divine commandments".
4. At the 1993 World Conference on Human
Rights in Vienna, (was it under the U.N.aspices?.kb)
Iran, supported by several other Islamic States,
pressed for the acceptance of the Cairo
Declaration as an alternative to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. This objective
was partly achieved in 1997 when the
Cairo Declaration was included by the Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights as
the last document in Human Rights:
A Compilation of International Instruments:
Volume II: Regional Instruments, (New York
and Geneva, 1997, OHCHR, Geneva).
Complementary or Alternative?
5. On Human Rights Day, 10 December 2007,
the Ambassador of Pakistan, addressing the
Human Rights Council on behalf of the OIC,
spoke glowingly of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, noting the contribution
made to its creation and to the two international
covenants by many Muslim countries. He
then went on to claim that the Cairo Declaration
of Human Rights in Islam: "is not an alternative, competing world view on human rights. It complements the Universal Declaration as it addresses religious and cultural specificity of the Muslim countries".
6. This last statement, however, is difficult to
understand. The Cairo Declaration cannot be in
any sense considered complementary to the
UDHR. It makes no reference to the UDHR, while
Articles 24 and 25 of the Cairo Declaration
explicitly state that:
"All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari'ah", and:"The Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification to any of the articles of this Declaration."
7. Many of the clauses in the Cairo Declaration limit
the rights contained therein by reference to the
Shari'ah: in particular, Articles 2, 7, 12, 16, 19, 22 and 23.
8. In this regard, we note the statement to the
Human Rights Council by Ambassador Gunter Nooke
of the Federal Republic of Germany, also speaking on
December 10, 2007, in which he sincerely regretted
"the tendency within some parts of the international
community to roll back the principle of universality
in order to make the enjoyment of fundamental
rights dependent on factors such as tradition,
culture, religion or the level of development".
How the Shari'ah limits Human Rights
9. Under Shari'ah law, Muslim women and
non-Muslims are not accorded equal treatment
with Muslim men. The Shari'ah, therefore, fails
to honour the right to equality guaranteed under
the UDHR and the international covenants,
and thus denies the full enjoyment of their human
rights to those living in States which follow
Shari'ah law.
10. By limiting rights to those permitted by the
Shari'ah the Cairo Declaration, rather than
complementing the UDHR and the international
covenants, undermines many of the rights
they are supposed to guarantee.
(See references [6][7][8] for additional
documentation on this issue.)
Limiting Religious Freedom
11. Religious freedom is limited under the
Cairo Declaration. Article 10 states:
"Islam is the religion of unspoiled nature.
It is prohibited to exercise any form of
compulsion on man or to exploit his poverty
or ignorance in order to convert him to
another religion or to atheism."
Since it is a generally accepted view in the
Islamic world that only compulsion or ignorance
would lead anyone to abandon Islam,
conversion from Islam is thus effectively
forbidden.
12. It is notable that under Shari'ah law
in many countries apostasy and any actions
or statements considered blasphemous are
harshly punished, in some States by death.
13. At the 6th session of the Human Rights
Council in December 2007, the European
Union tabled a resolution on the elimination
of discrimination based on religion or belief.
On December 14, the Pakistani delegate,
again speaking for the OIC, said that
differences remained in the wording of this
resolution on, inter alia, respect for all
religions and beliefs, and respect for national
laws and religious norms about the right
to change one's religion. "Hence, we dissociate
ourselves from operative paragraph 9 (a)
because of its phrase 'including the right
to change one's religion or belief'". Yet this
fundamental human right is clearly
guaranteed under Article 18 of the
UDHR and Article 18 of the ICCPR.
Limiting Freedom of Expression
14. Under the ICCPR, Article 19, freedom
of expression may be subject to
restrictions but only such as are provided
by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations
of others;
(b) For the protection of national security
or of public order, or of public health or morals.
15. The Cairo Declaration goes further
however in making this freedom subject
to the Shari'ah. Under Article 22 of the
Cairo Declaration a person may only express
their opinion in a manner "as would not be
contrary to the principles of the Shari'ah",
and freedom of expression may not be used
to "weaken faith".
16. On 18 December 2007, the UN General
Assembly adopted a resolution "Combating
Defamation of Religions" by 108 votes to 51
with 25 abstentions. Similar resolutions had
been adopted since 1999 by the Commission
for Human Rights and by the new Council.
This was the first time however that such a
resolution had been passed by the General
Assembly. The resolution expresses once
again "deep concern about the negative
stereotyping of religions and manifestations
of intolerance and discrimination in matters
of religion or belief". But the only religion
mentioned by name is Islam. The resolution
emphasizes that whilst everyone has the right
to freedom of expression, this should be
exercised with responsibility – and may
therefore be subject to limitations, inter alia,
"for respect for religions and beliefs".
17. Many delegations, however, opposed
the resolution. The Portuguese delegate,
speaking for the European Union, explained
clearly why:
"The European Union does not see the
concept of 'defamation of religions' as a
valid one in a human rights discourse. From
a human rights perspective, members of
religious or belief communities should not
be viewed as parts of homogenous entities.
International human rights law protects
primarily individuals in the exercise of
their freedom of religion or belief, rather
than the religions as such."
18. Notwithstanding these objections,
those opposing the resolution found
themselves on the losing side of a
two-to-one majority in favour.
19. The implications of this resolution for
freedom to criticise religious laws and
practices are obvious. Armed with UN
approval for their actions, States may
now legislate against any show of disrespect
for religion however they may choose
to define "disrespect".
20. The Islamic states see human rights
exclusively in Islamic terms, and by sheer
weight of numbers this view is becoming
dominant within the UN system. The
implications for the universality of human
rights are ominous.
Conclusions
21. The vast majority of the Member States
of the OIC are signatories to the UDHR and
the International Covenants, the ICCPR and
ICESCR. By adopting the 1990 Cairo
Declaration those States are in effect reneging
on the obligations they freely entered into in
signing the UDHR and the two covenants.
22. The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in
Islam is clearly an attempt to limit the rights
enshrined in the UDHR and the International
Covenants. It can in no sense be seen as
complementary to the Universal Declaration.
23. The statement by the Ambassador of
Pakistan on December 10, 2007 can therefore
be seen as misrepresenting the implications
of the Cairo Declaration.
24. The OIC is attempting to limit religious
freedom by promoting the Cairo Declaration
and by rejecting wording in the Council
resolution on the elimination of discrimination
based on religion or belief that would permit
individuals to change their religion or belief.
25. The OIC is attempting to limit both
freedom of expression and freedom of religion,
and to extend human rights to religions, per se,
by its repeated promotion of the resolution
"Combating Defamation of Religion" in the
Commission on Human Rights, the Human
Rights Council and the General Assembly.
26. We urge all states to remain vigilant and
to actively resist any attempt to give equal
status to the Cairo Declaration, and to oppose
any resolution that seeks to limit the rights
enshrined in the UDHR and the International
Covenants.(end)
Declaration of Human Rights in Islam” is “not
an alternative” to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights but “complementary”( meaning
completing.look dictionary.kb.) to it. In a
written statement to the UN
Human Rights Council, IHEU opposed any
resolution that seeks to limit the rights enshrined
in the Universal Declaration.
On Human Rights Day, December 10, 2007, the
Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Human Rights
Council claimed that the Cairo Declaration of
Human Rights in Islam, adopted in 1990 by the
56 member states of the Organisation of the
Islamic Conference "is not an alternative" to
the Universal Declaration but "complementary".
Complementary? Yet the Cairo Declaration
makes no mention of the Universal Declaration
and clearly states that: "All the rights and
freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are
subject to the Islamic Shari'ah", and "The
Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference
for the explanation or clarification to any of
the articles of this Declaration."
On February 24, in a strong response to this
challenge to the universality of human rights,
IHEU submitted the following written statement
to the Human Rights Council:
The Cairo Declaration and the
Universality of Human Rights
The International Human
Rights Instruments
1. On December 10, 1948 the General
Assembly of the United Nations adopted
and proclaimed the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights [1] (UDHR). The UDHR
was adopted by the vast majority of Member
States of the United Nations including all of
the Islamic States with the exception of
Saudi Arabia.
2. The International Covenants on Civil and
Political Rights [2] (ICCPR) andInternational
Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights [3] (ICESCR), which came into force
in 1976, are binding on all signatory States.
These include 46 of the 56 Member States
of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
[4] (OIC).
The Cairo Declaration of
Human Rights in Islam
3. On 5 August 1990, the then 45 member
states of the OIC adopted The Cairo Declaration
of Human Rights in Islam [5]. In this document
all rights are seen as derived from God (invisible
but revealing through an unidentified angel as of
today.Earlier angel Gabriel Farista if he speaks
on whose yeas? is the question.Is that legally
valid declaration?kb) The preamble states that
"no one as a matter of principle has the right
to suspend them in whole or in part or violate
or ignore them in as much as they are binding
divine commandments".
4. At the 1993 World Conference on Human
Rights in Vienna, (was it under the U.N.aspices?.kb)
Iran, supported by several other Islamic States,
pressed for the acceptance of the Cairo
Declaration as an alternative to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. This objective
was partly achieved in 1997 when the
Cairo Declaration was included by the Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights as
the last document in Human Rights:
A Compilation of International Instruments:
Volume II: Regional Instruments, (New York
and Geneva, 1997, OHCHR, Geneva).
Complementary or Alternative?
5. On Human Rights Day, 10 December 2007,
the Ambassador of Pakistan, addressing the
Human Rights Council on behalf of the OIC,
spoke glowingly of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, noting the contribution
made to its creation and to the two international
covenants by many Muslim countries. He
then went on to claim that the Cairo Declaration
of Human Rights in Islam: "is not an alternative, competing world view on human rights. It complements the Universal Declaration as it addresses religious and cultural specificity of the Muslim countries".
6. This last statement, however, is difficult to
understand. The Cairo Declaration cannot be in
any sense considered complementary to the
UDHR. It makes no reference to the UDHR, while
Articles 24 and 25 of the Cairo Declaration
explicitly state that:
"All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari'ah", and:"The Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification to any of the articles of this Declaration."
7. Many of the clauses in the Cairo Declaration limit
the rights contained therein by reference to the
Shari'ah: in particular, Articles 2, 7, 12, 16, 19, 22 and 23.
8. In this regard, we note the statement to the
Human Rights Council by Ambassador Gunter Nooke
of the Federal Republic of Germany, also speaking on
December 10, 2007, in which he sincerely regretted
"the tendency within some parts of the international
community to roll back the principle of universality
in order to make the enjoyment of fundamental
rights dependent on factors such as tradition,
culture, religion or the level of development".
How the Shari'ah limits Human Rights
9. Under Shari'ah law, Muslim women and
non-Muslims are not accorded equal treatment
with Muslim men. The Shari'ah, therefore, fails
to honour the right to equality guaranteed under
the UDHR and the international covenants,
and thus denies the full enjoyment of their human
rights to those living in States which follow
Shari'ah law.
10. By limiting rights to those permitted by the
Shari'ah the Cairo Declaration, rather than
complementing the UDHR and the international
covenants, undermines many of the rights
they are supposed to guarantee.
(See references [6][7][8] for additional
documentation on this issue.)
Limiting Religious Freedom
11. Religious freedom is limited under the
Cairo Declaration. Article 10 states:
"Islam is the religion of unspoiled nature.
It is prohibited to exercise any form of
compulsion on man or to exploit his poverty
or ignorance in order to convert him to
another religion or to atheism."
Since it is a generally accepted view in the
Islamic world that only compulsion or ignorance
would lead anyone to abandon Islam,
conversion from Islam is thus effectively
forbidden.
12. It is notable that under Shari'ah law
in many countries apostasy and any actions
or statements considered blasphemous are
harshly punished, in some States by death.
13. At the 6th session of the Human Rights
Council in December 2007, the European
Union tabled a resolution on the elimination
of discrimination based on religion or belief.
On December 14, the Pakistani delegate,
again speaking for the OIC, said that
differences remained in the wording of this
resolution on, inter alia, respect for all
religions and beliefs, and respect for national
laws and religious norms about the right
to change one's religion. "Hence, we dissociate
ourselves from operative paragraph 9 (a)
because of its phrase 'including the right
to change one's religion or belief'". Yet this
fundamental human right is clearly
guaranteed under Article 18 of the
UDHR and Article 18 of the ICCPR.
Limiting Freedom of Expression
14. Under the ICCPR, Article 19, freedom
of expression may be subject to
restrictions but only such as are provided
by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations
of others;
(b) For the protection of national security
or of public order, or of public health or morals.
15. The Cairo Declaration goes further
however in making this freedom subject
to the Shari'ah. Under Article 22 of the
Cairo Declaration a person may only express
their opinion in a manner "as would not be
contrary to the principles of the Shari'ah",
and freedom of expression may not be used
to "weaken faith".
16. On 18 December 2007, the UN General
Assembly adopted a resolution "Combating
Defamation of Religions" by 108 votes to 51
with 25 abstentions. Similar resolutions had
been adopted since 1999 by the Commission
for Human Rights and by the new Council.
This was the first time however that such a
resolution had been passed by the General
Assembly. The resolution expresses once
again "deep concern about the negative
stereotyping of religions and manifestations
of intolerance and discrimination in matters
of religion or belief". But the only religion
mentioned by name is Islam. The resolution
emphasizes that whilst everyone has the right
to freedom of expression, this should be
exercised with responsibility – and may
therefore be subject to limitations, inter alia,
"for respect for religions and beliefs".
17. Many delegations, however, opposed
the resolution. The Portuguese delegate,
speaking for the European Union, explained
clearly why:
"The European Union does not see the
concept of 'defamation of religions' as a
valid one in a human rights discourse. From
a human rights perspective, members of
religious or belief communities should not
be viewed as parts of homogenous entities.
International human rights law protects
primarily individuals in the exercise of
their freedom of religion or belief, rather
than the religions as such."
18. Notwithstanding these objections,
those opposing the resolution found
themselves on the losing side of a
two-to-one majority in favour.
19. The implications of this resolution for
freedom to criticise religious laws and
practices are obvious. Armed with UN
approval for their actions, States may
now legislate against any show of disrespect
for religion however they may choose
to define "disrespect".
20. The Islamic states see human rights
exclusively in Islamic terms, and by sheer
weight of numbers this view is becoming
dominant within the UN system. The
implications for the universality of human
rights are ominous.
Conclusions
21. The vast majority of the Member States
of the OIC are signatories to the UDHR and
the International Covenants, the ICCPR and
ICESCR. By adopting the 1990 Cairo
Declaration those States are in effect reneging
on the obligations they freely entered into in
signing the UDHR and the two covenants.
22. The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in
Islam is clearly an attempt to limit the rights
enshrined in the UDHR and the International
Covenants. It can in no sense be seen as
complementary to the Universal Declaration.
23. The statement by the Ambassador of
Pakistan on December 10, 2007 can therefore
be seen as misrepresenting the implications
of the Cairo Declaration.
24. The OIC is attempting to limit religious
freedom by promoting the Cairo Declaration
and by rejecting wording in the Council
resolution on the elimination of discrimination
based on religion or belief that would permit
individuals to change their religion or belief.
25. The OIC is attempting to limit both
freedom of expression and freedom of religion,
and to extend human rights to religions, per se,
by its repeated promotion of the resolution
"Combating Defamation of Religion" in the
Commission on Human Rights, the Human
Rights Council and the General Assembly.
26. We urge all states to remain vigilant and
to actively resist any attempt to give equal
status to the Cairo Declaration, and to oppose
any resolution that seeks to limit the rights
enshrined in the UDHR and the International
Covenants.(end)
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