Tag Archives: Topic: United Nations

LifeNews.com: A recent United Nations inter-agency statement on imbalanced sex ratios calls for unrestricted access to abortion as a human right.

Religion Clause: Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders was acquitted by an Amsterdam court yesterday of charges of group defamation against Muslims, and incitement to hatred and discrimination against Muslims based on their religion and race . . . Now lawyers for those who filed complaints against Wilders are considering taking the case to the United Nations Human Rights Council or to the European Court.

AP: “The Vatican will submit a long-overdue report on its treatment of children to the United Nations this fall, the Holy See’s envoy in Geneva said Monday.”

I just wanted to underscore how thrilled we are and the entire U.S. team at the Human Rights Council as well as the international community here that this historic resolution has passed the Human Rights Council. It is the first internationally recognized form of protection for lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual people, and it is based on a very simple and elegant idea that all individuals deserve universal rights

LifeNews.com: Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America, writes in a new Washington Times opinion column that pro-abortion activists are continuing their efforts to push for abortion in documents ratified and supported by the United Nations.

The United States worked with the main sponsor, South Africa, and a number of other countries from many regions of the world to help pass this resolution, including Brazil, Colombia, members of the European Union, and others.

“The top U.N. human rights body declared Friday there should be no discrimination or violence against people based on their sexual orientation, a vote Western countries called historic but Islamic states firmly rejected.”

UN delegates are receiving copies of the research at a time when debates about “gender identity” are heating up: member states are engaged in a contentious vote on the issue at the Human Rights Council this week and they are preparing for a battle on sexual orientation and gender identity during this fall’s General Assembly.

Catholic League: For Religious and Civil Rights: The Irish government correctly notes that it cannot “rewrite its history or right the wrongs that were done.” It should have used stronger language: it is obscene for an international body to hold the women religious of one nation accountable for alleged abuses that took place nearly a century ago. If this is the new standard of justice, then no nation can claim innocence. What’s driving this initiative is more than revisionist history—it smacks of an agenda.

Thomas Friedman at the NYTimes: You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all — and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once?

Steve Mosher at LifeSiteNews.com: You will be glad to learn that we all have official permission from the UN people-counters to panic about about “overpopulation” — yet again.

Bloomberg: Commodity markets need international oversight, more transparency and intervention to deflate bubbles because increasing speculation means prices are no longer driven by supply and demand, the United Nations said.

Washington Times: The United Nations‘ population experts recently rocked the world by projecting the planet will be home to a larger-than-expected 10.1 billion people by 2100. To some, the august body used statistical “magic” to arrive at this number . . .

Leonard A. Leo, Felice D. Gaer and Elizabeth K. Cassidy, Protecting Religions from “Defamation”: A Threat to Universal Human Rights Standards, 34 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 769 (2011).

Reuters: China warned on Tuesday that a European draft resolution asking the U.N. Security Council to condemn Syria would not defuse tension in the region, suggesting Beijing could block it if it is submitted for a vote.

LifeSiteNews.com: Figures released by the United Nations Population Fund earlier this month projected Nigeria’s population to skyrocket from 160 million this year to 730 million by 2100 – behind only India and China.

Europe News: This year’s election for the U.N. Human Rights Council has, once again, produced a body that has fewer “free” countries – 21 of a total of 47 – and has more than one-third of the seats held by members of the Islamic bloc.

C-FAM: The UN bureaucracy is increasing its efforts to decriminalize homosexual behavior and normalize its acceptance among member states, without governmental consent or consensus.

Daily Monitor: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union High Representative have urged Uganda to engage in an informed debate and repeal all legislation that criminalises same sex and other “unnatural” sexual behaviour.

LifeSiteNews: The Argentinean government is in the process of distributing millions of copies of a United Nations “sexual education” publication that teaches that homosexual couples are a type of “family,” and states that gays have a “right” to “live [their] sexuality,” according to the pro-family Argentinean Center for Bioethics, the Person, and the Family.

Reuters on Yahoo: The United Nations’ top human rights official called on the United States Tuesday to give the U.N. details about Osama bin Laden’s killing and said that all counter-terrorism operations must respect international law.

Bloomberg: The world’s population is likely to grow to 10.1 billion by the end of this century, from the current total of about 7 billion, according to the first United Nations forecast for the year 2

Reuters: The world’s population is projected to pass 7 billion on October 31 as it heads toward 10 billion or more by the end of the century, a new U.N. report said on Tuesday.

LifeSiteNews: One of the reasons stillbirth remains “in the shadows,” is because of pro-abortion sentiments, the report says. The World Health Organization (WHO) does not count unborn children who die before 28 weeks as stillborn, even though stillbirth of viable 22-week babies is common in the developed world. Shoring the data gap could lead to a 40% increase in the number of recorded stillbirths.

One News Now: According to one conservative advocate, abortion is a prominent issue on the agenda for the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD).

AP (Google): Several members of the U.N.’s top human rights body are pressing for an emergency meeting to examine the government crackdowns against popular protests that have swept the Middle East and North Africa, Western diplomats said Wednesday.

LifeNews: Thus, whatever else may be said about abortion proponents’ claim that treaties create a right to abortion, the basic human rights documents are, if anything, against abortion; they certainly do not create a right for abortion.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes freedom of religion as a basic human right . . . “It would be impossible today at the United Nations to have such an article accepted by the majority.” Why? The “freedom to change his religion” would not be allowed. “You would have, at once, 55 to 60 countries say, ‘No! We cannot accept that,’” Graz said.

One News Now: “Once again, Chinese police enforcing the government’s official one-child policy have used violence to force a pregnant woman to abort a second child.”

C-FAM: Both voices spoke out during a UN panel hosted last week by the Holy See, Honduras, and Malta called “Secure Human Development: Marriage, Family, Community.” Laurie Shestack-Phipps, a US representative to the UN, castigated the Holy See and other organizers for not being “comprehensive” in their approach to the panel, specifically mentioning family planning and abortion. She complained further about high fertility rates in the poor countries of Africa.

Canada.com: The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to “dominate and exploit” — to the point that the “well-being and existence of many beings” is now threatened. The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia’s Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January.

CWA: “The transcendent wonder of femininity, marriage and sexuality is difficult to describe when crafting policy documents. However, we can point out the benefits of marriage and the rightful place of sexuality.”

Daily Mail: Ten United Nations staff were murdered – two by beheading – after extremists stormed their compound in northern Afghanistan today. Protesters broke into UN offices in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif after a demonstration against Koran burnings in the U.S. turned violent.

Ken Blackwell writes at Townhall: Do elections matter? You bet they do! Until last November, there was a real threat that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) would be ratified by a liberal U.S. Senate majority. And we’re still not out of the woods on this one. But thanks to timely action by Sen. Jim DeMint, effective action is being taken to blunt this threat. Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.) has introduced S. Res 99 to prevent the Senate from ratifying the CRC . . .

U.S. Dept. of State: The United States led a group of 85 countries to sign a statement entitled “Ending Acts of Violence and Related Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.” It represents a landmark moment in UN efforts to highlight human rights abuses faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people around the world.”

Worthy News: The ADF said Eduard Wiens is one of several Christian parents being prosecuted by German authorities over the controversial sex-classes, adding that it asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to quickly review appeals filed last year on their behalf. Eduard and Rita Wiens, along wih Arthur and Anna Wiens, chose to keep their four children–a 9- and 10-year-old from each family–from attending obligatory “sexual education” in the town of Salzkotten that they believed taught students “an unbiblical view of sexuality,” ADF said in a statement.

One News Now: Five sets of parents in a German town have been punished for refusing to allow their elementary school-aged children to participate in school sex-education programs (see earlier article). “[The children are] being put through an interactive sex-education play which teaches them that if something feels good, then you should do it,” explains Roger Kiska with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF).

BosNewsLife.com: “Parents, not the government, are ultimately responsible for making educational choices for their children, and jailing them for exercising this universal right is ridiculous,” argued ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska. The imprisoned Eduard Wiens “was well within his rights under the European Convention of Human Rights to opt to teach his children a view of sexuality that is in accord with his own religious beliefs, instead of sending them to classes and an interactive play that they found to be objectionable,” Kiska added.

U.S. Dept. of State: The United States welcomes today’s action by the UN Human Rights Council to further the international community’s efforts to combat religious intolerance. The consensus resolution adopted by the Council today represents a significant step forward in the global dialogue on countering intolerance, discrimination, and violence against persons based upon religion or belief. We appreciate the leadership shown by the Organization of the Islamic Conference and member states on today’s landmark achievement. The United States strongly supports today’s resolution, which rejects the broad prohibitions on speech called for in the former “defamation of religions” resolution . . .

C-FAM: The cohesion of the American family is about the worst in the world, according to a new UN report. Rather than recommending policies reinforcing traditional family roles, the study recommends social policies reflecting the new reality . . . he report promotes the concept of “social fatherhood,” which “encompasses the care and support of males for children who are not necessarily their biological offspring.”

AP: The U.N.’s top human rights body has replaced its traditional condemnation of religious ‘defamation’ with a resolution underlining the right of individuals to freedom of belief.

ADF attorney Roger Kiska appeared on the radio to discuss this: ADF moves to have mother released from jail for keeping children from permissive German ‘sex education’ programs. | Al Kresta on Ave Maria Radio; MP3 audio 12:03 mins | Point of View Radio; MP3 Audio 18:18 mins

Catholic Culture: “At a UN session in Geneva, the Vatican’s delegate has argued that respect for fundamental human rights should not be used as a pretext for forcing public acceptance of homosexual activity.”

ParentalRights.org: On March 10, the Obama administration told the UN Human Rights Council that it supports the UNHRC’s recommendations that the United States should “ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child [CRC].” Moreover, the administration promised that it “intend[s] to review how we could move toward its ratification.”

U.S. Dept. of State: At the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva 85 countries joined a Joint Statement entitled “Ending Acts of Violence and Related Human Rights Violations Based On Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.” This follows previous statements on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons issued at the United Nations, including a 2006 statement by 54 countries at the Human Rights Council, and a 2008 statement that has garnered 67 countries’ support at the General Assembly. The United States is amongst the signatory states to both previous efforts. The United States co-chaired the core group of countries that have worked to submit this statement, along with Colombia and Slovenia . . .

The Obama administration will introduce its first statement calling for the United Nations’ top human rights body to combat discrimination against gays and lesbians around the world, completing a U.S. reversal from years of ambiguity on the subject during the presidency of George W. Bush.

LifeSiteNews: The annual UN women’s commission ended a week late with opposite sides forming over how to treat gender. While the theme of the meeting was the non-controversial issue of women in science and technology, negotiations were unexpectedly fraught with ideological disagreements over the concept of gender, and the usual debate over issues related to sexuality.

C-FAM: The EU plans on introducing a joint statement here similar to a 2008 EU-led declaration calling for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected non-discrimination categories that was submitted to the UN General Assembly and signed by 66 countries.

CBN (includes video): Every innocent life deserves to be protected, and every pregnant mother should receive the help she needs to care for that life,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Piero Tozzi said at the 2011 Meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York City. “We couldn’t be more pleased to present this honor to the people of Chile for their painstaking and diligent efforts to help pregnant women and protect their preborn children,” he continued. [more quotes by Piero Tozzi]

LifeNews: Every innocent life deserves to be protected, and every pregnant mother should receive the help she needs to care for that life,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Piero Tozzi.  “We couldn’t be more pleased to present this honor to the people of Chile for their painstaking and diligent efforts to help pregnant women and protect their preborn children. Those efforts are based on constitutional protections that serve as a model to the rest of the world.”

Chile boasts lowest maternal mortality rate in Latin America due to vigorous efforts to help mothers, protect preborn children

Christian Post: “Barnabas Fund is appealing to the United Nations to intervene after India refused to grant refuge to six Afghan converts. The converts were named only as Rahimullah and Rita, who have three children, another couple Mohammad and Aisha, who have two children, and two sisters Shazia and Sunita.”

IPSNews.net: “Formally known as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, U.N. Women combines four pre-existing U.N. agencies into one task force that embodies the highest ambitions and aspirations of the drivers of gender equality. ”

Foreign Policy: The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body “does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity,” a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.

LifeSiteNews: “The government of Rwanda is planning to launch a sterilization campaign with the goal of rendering 700,000 men, or about one seventh of the male population, infertile within three years.”

Politico: “Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will argue in a major address Friday evening that the nation should “strengthen” — not “starve” — the world body.”

Boston Globe (AP): “The House on Wednesday rejected a Republican-led effort to force the United Nations to give back $179 million in overpayments, falling short in the face of Obama administration arguments that much of the money already had been designated to boost security around an international headquarters susceptible to terrorist attack.”

Eric Rassbach, Ashley Samelson Mcguire write at the Wall Street Journal (full access via Google): “But the United Nations is implicated too. How? It has repeatedly endorsed blasphemy laws like Pakistan’s, in the name of defending religion . . . ”

Malaysia Sun: “Gays and lesbians need more support to protect their rights, even if homosexuality raises cultural issues in some parts of the world, the UN chief said Tuesday.” | Full text of the Secretary-General’s remarks.

The Hill: “A key House Republican is quickly pressing forward with her goals to scale back U.S. funding for the United Nations.”

C-FAM: “Will a new $40 billion maternal and child health fund include abortion? A just-announced UN commission will decide. The new commission is supposed to ‘make transparent’ funds slated for the UN Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, announced last September at a UN summit.”

UN News Centre: “The United Nations refugee agency today voiced concern over reports that Sweden planned to send about 25 Iraqis back to Baghdad tomorrow, saying that a number of those scheduled to be deported belong to religious and ethnic groups that have been targeted in recent attacks.”

R. Ablert Mohler, Jr. writes at the Christian Post: “In recent weeks, a coalition of Muslim nations has demanded (again) that the United Nations criminalize blasphemy. A considerable number of Christians might, at least at first hearing, think this as a reasonable demand. After all, we do not disagree that slander against the honor of God is a very, very dangerous sin. But anti-blasphemy laws place the power of theological coercion into the hands of the state, and this is deadly dangerous.”

Reuters: “The U.N. refugee agency voiced concern on Friday that Greece’s proposed 12.5 km-long fence at its border with Turkey will shut out asylum-seekers fleeing violence and abuse in their troubled homelands.”

LifeNews: “Last week the UN announced the members of a new commission to enforce its guidelines on women’s and children’s health . . . If the make up of the commission and the website launching it are any indication, it will [include abortion promotion]. ”

Inner City Press: “Little noticed were the ten countries which did not vote at all of the LGBT amendment, but were present and voting minutes later on the overall resolution on extrajudicial executions, on which 185 votes were cast.”

Reuters: “The United States succeeded on Tuesday in getting the United Nations to restore a reference to killings due to sexual orientation that had been deleted from a resolution condemning unjustified executions.” | Statement by the [White House] Press Secretary on Adoption of U.S. Sponsored Amendment to Ensure Gays and Lesbians Are Covered By UN Resolution on Extrajudicial Execution

“Gay rights advocates scored a hard-fought victory at the U.N. on Tuesday when member states restored a reference to sexual orientation, dropped last month from a resolution opposing the unjustified killing of minority groups.”

Guardian: “A culture war has broken out at the UN over whether gay people should be offered the same protections as other minorities whose lives are threatened. The issue will come to a head today when the general assembly votes on renewing its routine condemnation of the unjustified killing of various categories of vulnerable people.”

C-FAM: “Homosexual activists just launched a new ‘toolkit’ which outlines methods to promote a controversial document which asserts that states have a legal obligation to fulfill ‘rights’ to gay adoption, reproductive technologies and state-funded sex changes . . . [Piero Tozzi], Senior Legal Counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund’s global practice group, stresses that multiple citations of the Yogyakarta Principles do not mean there is a new international norm.”

“A culture war has broken out at the United Nations over whether gays should be singled out for the same protections as other minorities whose lives are threatened. The battle will come to a head on Tuesday when the General Assembly votes to renew its routine condemnation of the unjustified killing of various categories of vulnerable people.”

Associated Press: “The U.N. criticized Sweden on Friday for deporting five Iraqi Christians back to their homeland as Iraq’s Christian community comes under severe threat of militant attacks.”

itnews: “The United Nations is considering whether to set up an inter-governmental working group to harmonise global efforts by policy makers to regulate the internet.”

In Democracy, Yehudah Mirsky reviews The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History By Samuel Moyn: “Two large questions dog the theory and practice of human rights in our time. Although many claim that these rights have a long ancestry in the history of human thought, why do they seem to have emerged in force only in recent decades? And why does the language of human rights lend itself so easily to abuse, malevolence, and near meaninglessness, to the point where we’ve nearly come to expect that UN human-rights bodies will be chaired by dictatorships?” [Via Instapundit]

Investor’s Business Daily: “The global warming prophets and propagandists, who enjoy living in style on other people’s money, gathered last month in the plush resort of Cancun, Mexico, where January temperatures usually hover around 80 degrees. God must have a sense of humor because Cancun was hit by its coldest temperature in a hundred years.”