topics
tools
Expatica countries
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2117.66 -0.08
DAX 6323.19 -0.26
IBEX 30 6401.2 -2.17
CAC 40 3042.97 -0.16
FTSE 100 5356.34 0.09
AEX 292.76 0.00
DJIA 12454.83 -0.60
Nasdaq 2837.53 -0.07
FTSE MIB 13057.26 -0.74
TSX Composite 11566.15 -0.09
ASX 4120.2 0.96
Hang seng 18800.99 0.47
Straits Times 2787.22 0.52
ISEQ 20 501.76 0.16
You are here: Home News Dutch News Islamic countries want to limit free speech at UN

Dutch News

archive
Enlarge font Decrease font Text size


01/04/2008Islamic countries want to limit free speech at UN

The US, Canada and some European countries said Tuesday that Islamic nations are trying to limit freedom of speech at the U.N.

1 April 2008

GENEVA - The United States, Canada and some European countries said Tuesday that Islamic nations are trying to limit freedom of speech at the U.N.

An amendment passed by the U.N. Human Rights Council in its rush to adjourn Friday directed the body's expert on freedom of expression to report on people who abuse their free speech rights by espousing racial and religious discrimination.

The measure, proposed by Egypt and Pakistan, passed 32-0 with the support of Islamic, Arab and African nations. European nations and some other countries abstained.

''The resolution adopted attempts to legitimise the criminalisation of expression,'' said Warren W. Tichenor, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva. The document seeks to impose ''restrictions on individuals rather than to emphasize the duty and responsibility of governments to guarantee, uphold, promote and protect human rights,'' he told the council.

The United States is not a member of the council but has rights to speak as an observer.

The measure says the expert should ''report instances in which the abuse of the right of freedom of expression constitutes an act of racial or religious discrimination.''

Ambeyi Ligabo, a legal expert from Kenya, currently holds the post.

Slovenia's ambassador Andrej Logar, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said ''the focus of the mandate is shifting from protection of freedom of expression to limitation thereto.''

Terry Cormier, a member of the Canadian delegation, said the resolution ''turns the special rapporteur's mandate on its head.''

''The job of a special rapporteur is not to police the action of individuals. It is to monitor and support the compliance of states with their international human rights obligations,'' he told the council.

The 47-nation council is dominated by Arab and other Muslim countries.

Pakistan's ambassador, Masood Khan, speaking on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, denied the resolution would limit free speech. It only tries to make freedom of expression responsible, he said.

Egypt's Ambassador Sameh Shoukry said there was a growing trend to erode human rights law, permitting ''some of the worst practices that incite racial and religious hatred.''

Islamic groups have been demanding limits on free speech ever since a Danish magazine published caricatures of Muhammad, provoking riots across the Islamic world in 2006.

Ligabo told the Associated Press in an interview last month that he was against any groups of individuals inciting hatred based on religious belief. But he said, ''We advocate the rights of individuals, not of a particular belief or ideology.''
Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders condemned the amendment.

''It turns someone who is supposed to defend freedom of opinion into a prosecutor whose job is to go after those who abuse this freedom,'' it said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the resolution turns the expert's mandate into a policing function over individual freedom of expression and questioned the very basis of media freedom and independence.

[Copyright AP 2008]


0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment

General rating: Not rated yet

Rate article:    Add my rating



0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment
Discussion Forums

Relocating to the Netherlands

Taxation on Rental Apartments!

Housing in the Netherlands

Taxation on Rental Appartments?

Discuss Dutch Culture

High-quality fake passports, driver's licenses, ID

English in the Netherlands

Moved to Hengelo

Travel & Transport in the Netherlands

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Setting up home in the Netherlands

Setting up home in the Netherlands

A guide to telephone, internet and television along with utility services water, electricity and gas in the Netherlands.

Dutch immigration and residency regulations

Dutch immigration and residency regulations

Lost in the Dutch immigration system? Look no further than this guide compiled for our Survival Guide 2012.

A brief introduction to the Netherlands

A brief introduction to the Netherlands

Expatica offers a whistle-stop tour of life in the modern Netherlands.

Giving birth in the Netherlands

Giving birth in the Netherlands

The challenges and benefits of the maternity system in the Netherlands and how it differs to other countries.