Ediblog.com
Debra Rae
Human
Rights Council: Foxes in the Henhouse
©2012 Debra Rae
Basic
to American creed are inalienable rights to “life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.” In his Second Treatise of Government, John Locke outlined the law of nature
and nature’s God—i.e., rights of “life, liberty and estate.”
Locke agreed with our founders that fundamental human rights are
God-given. Thomas Jefferson characterized the Locke Model as “the
People’s Law,” rightly balancing between tyranny, on one hand,
and anarchy on the other.[1]
The
United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
The
international community concedes that every person is entitled to
fundamental rights that preclude abuses of discrimination,
intolerance, injustice, and oppression. In 1948, following World War
II, the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, thus
establishing basis for world freedom, justice, and peace.
A
plain-language version of this Declaration unambiguously touts
rights to freedom of thought/speech, religion/conscience,
assembly/voting for one’s preferred candidate or party slate.
Fundamental human rights likewise include right to equality,
privacy, marriage and family, needful sustenance, private ownership,
safety, and more—all regardless of gender, race, ethnicity,
religion, and socio-economic standing. If accused, one has the right
to legal representation and a public trial; moreover, he is
considered innocent until proven guilty. Furthermore, the
Declaration expressly outlaws slavery, torture, unfair detainment/
false imprisonment, and killing.[2]
The
Human Rights Council
Charged
with strengthening and protecting human rights worldwide, an
inter-governmental body within the United Nations (the Human Rights
Council) consists of forty-seven Member States elected by the U.N.
General Assembly. One might reasonably expect those charged with
reviewing, advising, and addressing human rights violation
complaints themselves embrace the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as summarized
above.[3]
But
composition of officials at the Council’s twenty-first session in
Geneva (September 2012) suggests otherwise. Elected nation-states
include Bangladesh (third largest Muslim country after Indonesia and
Pakistan), Benin (13-15 percent Muslim), Burkina Faso (25 percent
Muslim), Cameroon (25 percent Muslim), China (5 percent Muslim),
Djibouti (94 percent Muslim), India (11 percent Muslim), Indonesia
(87 percent Muslim), Jordon (92 percent Muslim), Kuwait (90 percent
Muslim), Kyrgystan (52 percent Muslim), Libya (97 percent Muslim),
Maldives (100 percent Muslim), Mauritania (99 percent Muslim),
Mauritius (17 percent Muslim), Qatar (99.9 percent Muslim), Russian
Federation (12 percent Muslim), and Saudi Arabia (100 percent
Muslim).
Add
to these an Advisory Committee representing Azerbaijan (87 percent
Muslim), Nigeria (48-50% Muslim), Pakistan (95 percent Muslim),
Morocco (99 percent Muslim, including Western Sahara), and Egypt (90
percent Muslim).[4]
Note, too, that Israel was strangely missing though, unlike the
Muslim mindset, Israel’s biblical ethic uniquely features the
dignity of human life.[5]
Furthermore, she is known broadly as the only true democracy in the
region, allowing all Israeli
citizens (Muslims included)
the right to vote or run for office.[6]
So
… What’s the Problem?
Disturbingly,
Hamas’ founding document proclaims war to be open “until Israel
ceases to exist … and the last Jew in the world is eliminated.”
In 2006, the Hamas even launched a terror web site for children to
see cartoons and hear stories preaching the moral desirability of
becoming a suicide terrorist.[7]
Jamal Abdel Hamid Yussif has admitted: “Our people love death.” Furthermore, he added, “our goal is to die for the sake of God; and if we live, we want to humiliate Jews and trample on their necks.” Outspoken wives of terrorists express longing for Allah “to make Jewish women widows and their children orphans.”
·
Muslim Record on Freedom
from Force/Oppression
Islamic
cultural
imperialism imposes the religion and culture of seventh-century
Arabia wherever it sets foot. The
term “Islam” speaks to the “perfect peace resulting from total
submission to Allah.” The Qur’an expressly forbids taking Jews
and Christians as friends and protectors. Instead, it
urges Muslim believers to war, fight, seize, and kill.[8]
The fatwa pronounces death
to non-Muslims (i.e., infidels, likewise known as “cows”). If
not properly submitted, whether by consent or conquest, the Dar
al Hob (House of Infidels, including Jews and Christians) must
be seized and slain wherever Muslims find them.[9]
Muslim
Record on Women’s Rights
Both
Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have ratified an international treaty
promising women “the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.” While the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
sounds promising, reality flies in the face of its hollow precepts
and vague language. Be sure, in Saudi Arabia, women still may not
vote, drive a car, or travel alone; and some women in Afghanistan
continue to set themselves ablaze in order to escape forced
marriages. In fact, Muhammed referred to women as “toys” and
“property” to be bought with “dowries” by men. Before
marriage, women and girls undergo chastity tests, and an estimated
three million are brutalized by forced female genital mutilation
each year.[10]
Muslim husbands may beat wives for the flimsiest of reasons; and
more often than not, physical abuse toward women and children goes
unreported.[11]
Muslim Record on Human Dignity
Under
Shariah law, a man can sequester his wife at home as punishment for
disobedience; and maids
and underlings are treated poorly. Up to
17,000 victims every year yield their God-given human dignity to
“honor”-related kidnappings, sexual assaults, beatings, and murders.
Activist-author Brigitte Gabriel of Lebanon
reported that, in her experience, Muslim Palestinian students in the Old City
of Jerusalem broke crosses, dug up bodies in Christian cemeteries, and threw
acid in faces of Christian girls.[12]
Muslim
Record on Equality
In
no uncertain terms, Muslims are called to “fight those who do not believe in
Allah … until they pay the tax in acknowledgement of superiority, and they
are in a state of subjection.”[13]
Men are rewarded for marrying (thus evangelizing) non-Muslim women, but women
who do the same face punishment by death. Fabulous
rewards in Paradise await men. On the other hand, Qur’anic teaching is
unclear as to a Muslim woman’s eternal state—perhaps because, in Islam,
“the male has the equal of the portion of two females.”[14]
The
wife receives half the amount of inheritance enjoyed by her male siblings.
Moreover, that inheritance is shared with additional wives, children, and
extended family members. Divorce and remarriage are easy for men, but not for
women. When a husband dies, the father’s uncle, not the mother, wins
custody. Practically no social structure of support exists for widows outside
their families; hence, their children are sent out into the streets begging
for bakshish (“tips”).
Muslim
Record on Freedom of Speech/Press; Thought/Religion
To
criticize Islam merits the death sentence—e.g., a human rights activist and
women’s advocate Farag Foda was falsely accused, then gunned down in front
of his Cairo office (1992). Forget about freedom of press. In Iran, Not Without My Daughter[15]
became one of the "most hated" books along with Satanic
Verses by Salman
Rushdie.[16]
Both were banned.
Freedom
of thought and religion? No way. A Shiite court ruled Kuwaiti
Muslim-turned-Christian Robert Hussein an apostate worthy of death. Harsh
religious court rulings violated even Kuwaiti civil law. Indeed, the court
ruled that his wife should be divorced from him, and all his possessions
distributed to heirs.[17]
Similarly, Mehdi Dibaj’s conversion from Islam to Christianity landed him in
prison for ten years before an official execution order was issued. The leader
of Evangelical Christians in Iran launched an international campaign to end
civil rights violations of Iranian Islamic courts. At the eleventh hour, the
government was forced to release Dibaj; but in exchange for his courage,
Bishop Haik himself suffered martyrdom.[18]
Inconceivably,
Egypt, Kuwait, and Iran were among U.N. foxes elected to oversee the henhouse
of human rights.
Global
Human Rights Applauded Disingenuously
Human rights are commonly understood to be “inalienable” and “fundamental.” However, given make up of the Human Rights Council and advisors, one wonders: Why would communist Cuba be among those reviewing, advising, and addressing complaints about the right to democracy? And what’s the wisdom in electing Saudi Arabia to address complaints about women’s rights?
Under China’s occupation, the Tibetan people are denied most rights guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—namely, rights to self-determination, freedom of speech, assembly, movement, expression, and travel—yet China is among those reviewing, advising, and addressing complaints about freedom from foreign occupation. Similarly, in Uganda, Asian/Indian residents are assigned inferior status, yet Uganda is among nation-states speaking to complaints about racism.
For
Iran, Pakistan, and Libya to be among those addressing freedoms from
terrorism, hostage taking, and war defies common sense. Then there’s India,
where gross human rights violations are commonly leveled against its
indigenous population; yet India’s tasked with reviewing, advising, and
addressing complaints about the very ones they marginalize.
Apparently,
seventeenth-century French writer Francois de La Rochefoucauld was correct:
“Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue.”[19]
1 Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. Plundered: How Progressive Ideology Is Destroying America (Bangor, Maine: Environmental Perspectives, Inc. 2012). 25 and 29.
[4] William Wagner. How Islam Plans to Change the World. (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications. 2004). 247-262.
[8] Al-Tauba 9:29; Al-Nisa 4:89; Al-Anfal 8:65, Qur’an
[9] Sura 4:89; 5:14, Qur’an
[11] Al-Nisa 4:34, Qur’an
[13] Al-Tauba 9:29, Qur’an
[14] Al-Nisa 4:129, Qur’an
[15] Betty Mahmoody. Not Without My Daughter. (New York: St. Martins Paperback. 1991).
[16] Salmon Rushdie. The Satanic Verses, A Novel. (New York: Viking Penguin, Inc. 1989).
Debra Rae is an author and educator who has traveled extensively
throughout the United States and abroad. Having authored two books—the
ABCs of Globalism and ABCs of Cultural-Isms (the latter highlighted at
the 55th Annual CBA International Convention, 2004)—Debra contributing
columnist for News With Views. Debra has been a speaker on numerous
radio shows aired across the nation, the Western Hemisphere, Russia, and
the Middle East. This past year, she co-launched and now co-hosts
WOMANTalk, a special edition of Changing Worldviews TALK Radio, for
which she writes weekly commentaries. www.debraraebooks.com,
www.womantalk.us, www.newswithviews.com/Rae/Debra.htm
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