UN Commission on Human Rights

In his speech to the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on 7th April, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told us that the Commission's ability to perform its tasks "had been undermined by the politicisation of its sessions and the selectivity of its work", adding that "its declining credibility has cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system as a whole". He proposed nothing less than to replace the Commission on Human Rights by a smaller Human Rights Council: a "society of the committed". He received a standing ovation - from the NGO representatives present.

The world needs an international forum to promote - and above all to protect - the human rights of all, but the Commission, which includes some of the world's most notorious abusers of human rights, can no longer be said to fulfilling this role and it is not about to change. There are few NGOs who would not now welcome the disappearance of the Commission, conceived over 50 years ago to be the "conscience of the world", but which has so singularly failed in its mission. The five IHEU representatives at the Commission had a fight on their hands.

In three presentations this year to the plenary we argued for the rights of the Untouchables (the Dalits) in India and South Asia, and in another for recognition that Secularism, far from being a threat to religion, is the only system under which all religions can thrive in freedom. In joint statements with two other NGOs we spoke on the repatriation of slaves in the southern Sudan, the situation in Darfur; for an end to the genocide in the Sudan; and, summarising some points made by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, how moral relativism and undue sensitivity are leading some western governments to ignore the abuse of women in immigrant communities in Europe.

The power and influence of the Islamic states in the Commission was brought home to us several times: with the passage of a resolution "Combating Defamation of Religions" that which expressed "deep concern that Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism" and which stressed the need to combat defamation of Islam "especially in human rights forums"; with the passage of multiple resolutions condemning Israel (some no doubt entirely justified) while none were passed condemning any Islamic state however heinous their abuse of human rights. Once again, just as last year, the government of the Sudan escaped censure for its genocide against the black Africans of Darfur.

In a direct challenge to the Islamic states, IHEU cosponsored a parallel one-day conference at the Commission on "Victims of Jihad", with speeches from several anti-Islamic superstars including Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ibn Warraq and Taslima Nasreen. We issued invitations to 14 western delegations to attend a dinner after the conference but such was the atmosphere at the Commission that not a single one felt able to accept. Many European governments are keen to avoid controversy and to build bridges with the Islamic states. How long will it be before they discover to their cost that when it comes to concessions their bridges carry only oneway traffic?

See our reports in this issue on Human Rights 2005, Untouchability, and the conference: Victims of Jihad.

Bioethics

One subject where Humanism has much to contribute to the debate is bioethics, until now largely dominated by those who apparently believe that every human cell is imbued with the essence of the divine. The inaugural conference of the IHEUAppignani Humanist Center for Bioethics held in New York on 22nd and 23rd April was the first step on a long road to bring about a sea-change in the nature of the debate - from God-centred to human-centred.

New pope, same global tragedy

The new Pope Benedict XVIth, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was well known as the guardian of all that is conservative under the papacy of the late Carol Wojtyla, so little is likely to change under the new man. In the first official statement of the new papacy, his spokesman, Cardinal Trujillo criticised the new Spanish law permitting gay marriages, saying "we cannot impose the iniquitous on people". We were not aware that under the new law homosexual couples will be forced to marry, but in the twisted logic of Vatican moral teaching, there is no distinction between permission and compulsion.

The hope of many Humanists, and indeed Catholics, that the cardinals would elect a pope who would overturn the ban on contraception, or order his archbishops to stop lying about the efficacy of condoms in the fight against AIDS, has been dashed. This is black comedy, and displays a lack of concern for the consequences of their policies that is beyond tragedy for the millions of young women dying of AIDS in Africa.

An article in the Times on 23rd April opined that a renewed commitment to moral absolutism "in defence of human dignity, individual freedom..." (yes, that's what it said) is likely to mitigate the effects of fundamentalism! With such commitment to moral absolutism, "my God, right or wrong", one really begins to wonder on which planet these theocrats are living.

The new pope, who was known as John-Paul II's 'enforcer', will ensure that his bishops insist that all future European legislation conforms to his deeply conservative views. Unforgivably, our supine European leadership have given him the tools for the job.

Come and join us in Paris from July 5th to 7th for the 16th World Humanist Congress. Theme: Separation of Religion and State. The need to defend and promote this, possibly the most important idea of the Enlightenment, has never been greater.

Roy Brown
IHEU President