Register for E-mail alerts. Comment on articles. Sign up today, it's easy.
Close
The Washington Times Online Edition

Overhaul of U.N. rights body hits snag

A drive by a bloc of Islamic nations for a global ban on “defamation of religions and prophets” has thrown a major kink into U.S. hopes for an overhaul of the leading U.N. human rights body.

The proposal by the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), floated last week amid violent protests over the publication in Europe of cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad, came as U.N. delegates were trying to negotiate the charter for a new Human Rights Council.

“It’s a giant monkey wrench in the process, and that is what it was designed to be,” said Hillel C. Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based United Nations Watch, a watchdog group that has closely followed the talks.

“To include this in the charter, just as an appeasement to violence, would taint the body before it even began,” he said.

The Bush administration has made reform of the discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission a top priority, demanding tighter membership rules and new powers to target individual governments.

A number of leading human rights organizations say the current U.N. body has become a captive of the worst violators, who secure a seat on the commission just to block action against them.

Swedish diplomat Jan Eliasson, president of the U.N. General Assembly, has been huddling with the major players since a draft charter text was circulated Feb. 1. Backers had hoped to have a deal before the next meeting of the current commission, set for mid-March in Geneva.

The OIC-proposed amendment states that “defamation of religions and prophets is inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression” and that governments and the press have a “responsibility in promoting tolerance and respect for religious and cultural values.”

Private human rights groups say the most problematic part of the amendment is a call for the new U.N. council to “prevent instances of intolerance, discrimination, incitement of hatred and violence arising from any actions against religions, prophets and beliefs which threaten the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Jennifer L. Windsor, executive director of the human rights group Freedom Watch, said the OIC effort was one of a number of attempts by nations and blocs at the United Nations to “dumb down the human rights standards.”

Freedom Watch has opposed anti-blasphemy laws both in Europe and the Islamic world as an infringement on free speech, she said. “It is never a good idea to protect one human right by repressing another.”

Mr. Neuer said the OIC proposal, as worded, would apply equally to anti-Semitic and anti-Christian articles and images that are carried by many Arab and Middle East news organizations, including many in state-controlled outlets.

“That just underscores the lack of good faith in what’s going on,” he said.

With talks at a critical juncture, U.S. officials have taken a guarded approach to the OIC idea.

“We’ve seen the language, and we are considering what to do,” U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton told reporters last week.

Story Continues →

View Entire Story
Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
You Might Also Like
  • Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum waves after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, DC, Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik / The Washington Times)

    Santorum courts CPAC conservatives

    By Seth McLaughlin - The Washington Times

  • President Obama, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, announces Feb. 10, 2012, at the White House the revamp of his contraception policy requiring religious institutions to fully pay for birth control. (Associated Press)

    Obama backtracks in face of contraception furor

    By Susan Crabtree - The Washington Times

  • Presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Republican, shakes hands with Army Cpl. Jesse Thorsen during his January caucus night rally, in Ankeny, Iowa. Mr. Paul has been getting extensive campaign-contribution support from enlisted people and civilians in the military, far exceeding his GOP rivals for the nomination. (Associated Press)

    Paul, Obama collect most military donations to run

    By Luke Rosiak - The Washington Times

  • In Case You Missed It
    Talk of the Web
    Happening Now

          Independent voices from the TWT Communities

          Medicine and Politics in America

          Health care reform, organized medicine, physician practice management, and patient care--a real time look at the challenges facing doctors and patients in America today.

          Payne-Full Living

          Join Matt on weekly adventures in all forms as he pushes past his comfort levels in an attempt to stimulate the body, mind and soul.