Tag Archives: Topic: United Nations

Yahoo [Reuters]: “The United States vowed on Friday to seek to restore to a U.N. General Assembly resolution against unjustified executions a reference to killings due to sexual orientation, cut out by Arab and African states.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “A report issued on December 10, 2010 titled Shadow Report on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe chronicles many of the acts of discrimination against Christians in Europe in the last five years. I’ve listed some of these below.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Last week, coinciding with an OSCE meeting in Vienna on Freedom of Religion, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe released a 39-page report (full text) covering a five year period and focusing on “instances in which Christians and Christianity are marginalized or discriminated against throughout Europe.” Here is an excerpt . . . ”

LifeSiteNews: “After decades of involvement in coercive population control measures, including abortion, contraception, and sterilization of women, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is admitting that policies it has championed are causing a serious imbalance in the ratio of male to female births in Vietnam.”

C-FAM: “A new campaign seeks to eliminate disclosure laws which require HIV positive individuals to inform their sex partners of their potentially deadly infection. The campaign is led by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and UNAIDS, an umbrella group of UN agencies. Notably absent from this campaign is any recognition of the danger posed for the possible victims of a willful refusal to disclose HIV status.”

David Kopel writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: “In brief: UNICEF has been at the forefront of pressuring national governments to set up so many hurdles as to make international adoption rare and extremely time-consuming. The result is that children languish in miserable, hellish orphanages for years. During the critical early months and years in which interaction with loving parents is essential to a child’s normal brain development, the children are neglected and left in squalor.”

Tom Strode writes at Baptist Press: “Religious freedom advocates welcomed the continued decline in international support for the concept of “defamation of religions” as evidenced in a recent vote in the United Nations.”

Reuters: “China’s engagement with the United Nations is on the rise as its economic power grows, but the West should be cautious with calls for it to act as a responsible world leader, as Beijing’s goals may not be the same as the West’s, said a new report on Friday.”

OneNewsNow: “A Senate Judiciary subcommittee recently held a hearing on the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The treaty was signed some 30 years ago by former President Jimmy Carter, but was never ratified by the Senate. According to Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) attorney Will Estrada, if CEDAW is ever ratified by the U.S., the government will have the ability to regulate education under the guise of eliminating gender bias.”

Bill Saunders writing at LifeNews: “The distortion of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is one example where the abortion lobby’s efforts have seen success . . . the UN committee charged with offering guidance on the obligations incumbent upon nations that have ratified CEDAW has repeatedly used the treaty to advance an abortion agenda.”

Ilya Somin writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: “The United Nations General Assembly Third Committee recently passed another resolution urging nations to ban defamation of religion [HT: Elizabeth Cassidy of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which criticized the resolution here] . . . As I have pointed out previously, this is an excellent example of the ways in which repressive governments seek to use international human rights law to suppress freedom rather than protect it, a problem I have written about in two articles coauthored with John McGinnis (see here and here). Most of the support for this resolution comes from authoritarian and repressive regimes, many of which have terrible records on religious freedom.”

Reuters: “An estimated 33.3 million people worldwide have the HIV virus that causes AIDS, but the global health community is starting to slow down and even turn the epidemic around, a United Nations report said on Tuesday.”

Selwyn Duke writing at The New American: “While Americans are thinking about turkey and the TSA (and turkeys in the TSA), as is often the case, the most destructive governmental shenanigans are occurring behind the scenes. On Thursday, November 18, the Senate held hearings on the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a treaty that could be used to justify sweeping social engineering across the nation.”

CitizenLink: “One of the most troubling hearings was called by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who resurrected the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The move is seen as attempt to move the treaty – for the first time – to the Senate floor for a vote.”

LifeNews: “The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (‘CEDAW’) released its concluding observations for its 47th session, which was held in Geneva from October 4th through the 22nd of October, 2010.”

C-FAM: “[O]ne American community has awakened to the International Baccalaureate, a study program quietly embraced by nearly 1,000 U.S. campuses and 139 countries worldwide. While found mostly in public high schools, the curriculum has touched middle and elementary schools, and even a number of Catholic schools . . . The IB comes from a non-profit educational foundation of the same name founded in Switzerland in 1968. Its early money came from the United Nations, as well as the 20th Century Fund and Ford Foundation.”

AFP: “The UN children’s agency on Thursday proposed a new approach for ending female genital mutilation, saying campaigns should work with communities instead of fighting local traditions. ‘One of the key factors that motivate parents’ decision to have their girls cut — “to do what is best for their daughters” — may also spur a decision to stop the practice,’ the report by an Italy-based UNICEF institute said.”

Jeremy J. Patrick, The Curious Persistence of Blasphemy (November 17, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1710446

“Despite expectations to the contrary, blasphemy laws and their modern-day counterparts persist in a surprising number of jurisdictions around the globe. This article discusses four examples: the ‘defamation of religion’ movement at the United Nations, the surprising resurrection of blasphemy law in Ireland, the Australian trend toward enacting “religious vilification” laws, and the problem of formal illegality and private violence for blasphemous speech in Pakistan. Next, blasphemy is considered from three conceptual angles: the religious, the legal, and the secular/cultural. Last, the curious persistence of blasphemy is examined through an inquiry into why people blaspheme to begin with, and what harms (real or perceived) are caused by blasphemy. The conclusion here is that as long as societies hold something sacred – religiously or culturally – blasphemy will remain an operative concept and legal or social pressure to suppress blasphemous statements will continue to persist.”

Pat Buckley / European Life Network: “The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) during its 45th session (1 – 19 November 2010), held a Day of General Discussion (DGD) on the right to sexual and reproductive health in accordance with articles 12 and 10 (2) of the Covenant. according to the website the day was arranged in order to provide an opportunity to exchange views and to garner insights from practitioners and academic experts. The day of discussion was arranged as a series of four panel debates with minimal general debate.”

Reuters: “Arab and African nations succeeded on Tuesday in getting a U.N. General Assembly panel to delete from a resolution condemning unjustified executions a specific reference to killings due to sexual orientation.”

LifeNews: “The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday on the CEDAW treaty that has been used to pressure nations to legalize abortions. While the treaty is meant to promote women’s rights, United Nation’s agencies have used it to promote abortion.”

ChristianNewsWire: “Many countries now supporting the resolution are the Islamic-majority countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The group says the bill focuses on promoting tolerance and protecting religious freedom. However, it does the exact opposite for Christians, other religious minorities and even Muslims who do not adhere to government-approved versions of Islam. In effect, the Defamation of Religions Resolution is an international blasphemy law. If the resolution passes again, it would give international legitimacy to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and restrictive legislation in other mostly Muslim countries.”

LifeNews: “A UN panel last week lambasted US human rights policy, as an enormous American delegation traveled here to endure the dressing down . . . The US delegation pledged that it remained ‘strongly committed’ to ratifying the CEDAW women’s treaty and a disabilities treaty. The delegation pointed out, though, that ratification required two-thirds approval of the US Senate.”

LifeSiteNews: “The U.S. administration’s emphasis on promoting homosexual ‘rights’ on the international level drew considerable attention during the review. Some European countries asked about homosexual ‘rights,’ prompting the U.S. delegation to stress its ‘important initiatives to ensure more robust protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.’ They include seeking the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ military policy.”

Washington Post: “The U.N. Security Council said Wednesday that it’s appalled by the latest terrorist attacks on Iraqi Christians, calling them a blow against religious diversity and democracy.”

ACLU Press Release: “The U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) today issued a [set of recommendations] for the United States to bring its human rights policies and practices in line with international standards.”

Catholic League Press Release: “It is not just that this U.N. resolution is poorly worded, it is the intent behind it: it is being promoted by member states that are known for disrespecting human rights, including, most spectacularly, religious liberties.”

Associated Press: “The United States has dismissed international calls to abolish the death penalty.”

Canada Free Press: “As if the United Nations’ failure to address the persecution of Christians weren’t bad enough, that international body’s resolution called ‘Defamation of Religions’ will lay the legal ground work for a country to legalize persecution of their citizens if they believe in a different religion than the state. Such a resolution would be of great assistance to Muslim, communist and socialist nations who view the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible impediments to their political or theological goals.”

Reuters: “The United States defended its human rights record on Friday from criticism from foes including Cuba and Iran, who called for it to close Guantanamo prison and investigate alleged torture by its troops abroad.”

LifeSiteNews: “‘It is never too early to start talking to children about sexual matters,’ say guidelines issued by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Once highly respected for its independence and integrity, UNESCO now works in partnership with the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS), an educational arm of the controversial Kinsey Institute.”

Reuters: “With al-Qaeda declaring war on Christians in Iraq and no end to political instability in sight, Catholic experts on the Middle East fear the fate of the minority Christian community there will only worsen.”

AFP: “The UN’s rights chief criticised the Iraqi government on Thursday for failing to protect religious communities, following a recent wave of violence targeting Christian and Shiite populations.”

ACLU: “This Friday, and for the first time ever, the United States will submit to a peer review of its human rights record as part of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which is taking place this week in Geneva.”

CatholicCulture.org: “The Vatican’s representative at the UN denounced discrimination against Christians in an emotional address on November 1.”

ACLU Press Release: “The U.S. will undergo the first-ever Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of its human rights record before the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) on Friday, November 5 in Geneva, Switzerland. The American Civil Liberties Union, which is in Geneva to observe the proceedings and participate in side events, welcomed the U.S. participation in the UPR process as an important step toward protecting and promoting human rights at home, and said there are still many areas that need significant improvement in the U.S. The ACLU called on the Obama administration to address existing human rights violations and urged policy reform in order to fully comply with U.S. human rights obligations.”

Jewish Times: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision of a United Nations body to define the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb as Palestinian ‘absurd.’”

C-FAM: “Angry delegates took to the UN floor this week to denounce a report that promotes a new human right to explicit sexual education for young children . . . The report claims a new human right to sexual education citing non-binding recommendations and other UN reports including the controversial UNESCO guidelines on sexual education and the Yogyakarta Principles. The report’s author, Victor Muñoz, argues that States have an obligation to ensure this new right ‘from the early stages of life.’”

Guardian: “Site near Bethlehem included in a resolution by Unesco, which says it forms ‘an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories.’ The UN body in charge of culture, education and science also urged the Israeli authorities to remove the site from its national heritage list, on which it was placed in February this year. The resolution – which also refers to the site as Rachel’s Tomb – triggered an angry response from Israel.”

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has joined other groups in urging the United Nations to protect religious expression in a civil rights covenant . . . ‘One [provision] provides for freedom of expression. Another provision, however, would limit that,’ [ADF Attorney Piero Tozzi] explains. ‘It’s the following article that says: “Any advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence shall be prohibited by law.”‘”

The Epoch Times: “In his debut statement to the United Nations General Assembly’s Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee, the recently appointed Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, boldly demonstrated that he won’t ignore China, at once a permanent member of the Security Council and a chronic abuser of religious freedom.”

Hannah Cummings reports at Baptist Press: “Several countries in the Organization for Security and Co-operation have violated religious liberty commitments set forth by the organization, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.”

C-FAM: “A joint brief submitted this week criticizes a UN committee’s abuse of authority amid a back-door push for international abortion rights. C-FAM and the Alliance Defense Fund together outlined why they oppose the committee’s move to endorse a right to sexual and reproductive health. They acted in anticipation of a meeting called by the committee, one of many that oversee specific UN treaties, scheduled for next month in Geneva.”

CNSNews: “This December, for the sixth consecutive year, the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) will vote on a resolution presented by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) (Islamic bloc), calling on governments to act against ‘religious defamation.’”

LifeSiteNews: “Pro-life and pro-family advocates have scored two major political victories in the same month in two different international organizations. Following the defeat of the McCafferty Report – which attempted to abolish the rights of European doctors to refuse to commit abortions – at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, pro-life advocates are now declaring a victory over the International Planned Parenthood Federation at the UN.”

National Review Online Editorial: “In the case of Wilders, the judiciary has flirted with imposing political decisions that are quite outside its powers. This is the road to antidemocratic show trials arranged to gag or eliminate anyone whom authority condemns as an enemy of the people . . . The Wilders trial has also to be seen in the international context. The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) purports to represent, and speak for, all Muslim countries. This body is now campaigning in various forums, including the United Nations, to criminalize all criticism of Islam.”

Christian Post: Late last month, several Christian groups submitted a consultation paper to the U.N. Human Rights Council, urging it to protect religious expression, interpret “incitement” in a manner that protects religious minorities from “actual, imminent harm,” and reject the call for vague “hate speech” codes that penalize speech that merely makes the listener uncomfortable. The groups – which included Alliance Defense Fund, Christian Legal Fellowship, Jubilee Campaign, World Evangelical Alliance, and Advocates International . . . . Open Doors USA Advocacy Director Lindsay Vessey said it is “dangerous and alarming that a U.N. resolution provides legitimacy to national blasphemy laws that are used to persecute Christians and other minority faith groups . . . ”

“What we know now we knew then: that this trial presented a watershed moment. Wilders, leader of a growing democratic movement to save his Western nation from Islamization, risks one year in prison for speaking out about the facts and consequences of Islamization. Such speech is prohibited not by the Western tradition of free speech Wilders upholds, but rather by the Islamic laws against free speech that he rejects. Wilders’ plight demonstrates the extent to which the West has already been Islamized.”

Tom Strode writes at Baptist Press: “Southern Baptist public policy leader Richard Land has urged 11 Republican senators to oppose a United Nations treaty critics say would undermine parental rights and American sovereignty.”

Christian Newswire: “Open Doors USA is launching an advocacy campaign called “Free to Believe.” The campaign will focus on helping persecuted Christians who currently do not have religious freedom like Christians do in the United States. The campaign is a response to the United Nations Defamation of Religions Resolution . . . ”

LifeSiteNews: “The Cardinal Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, gave a speech Sunday in which he lashed out at the United Nations and other international organizations that he says are running a campaign to destroy the family.”

Christian Web News: “On Thursday, a consultation paper was sent by the Alliance Defense Fund along with several other Christian groups to a United Nations human rights body, asking it not to reinterpret language in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in a way that could make Christian speech into ‘hate speech.’”

The Alliance Defense Fund together with several other Christian groups submitted a consultation paper Thursday to a United Nations human rights body urging it not to reinterpret language in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in a way that could turn Christian speech into “hate speech.”

LifeNews: “The new maternal health report endorses a UN strategy that recommends ‘safe’ abortion services and family planning alongside antenatal care and skilled attendants at birth. That strategy was based on previous UN reports that said 536,000 women died yearly from pregnancy-related causes, 78,000 from illegal abortion. The new report slashes the total to 358,000 and did not offer any data regarding abortion.”

ACLU: “The U.N. Working Group on the Rights of People of African Descent reported that, while the U.S. government has taken some steps to promote the rights of people of African descent, much more needs to be done to bring the U.S. into compliance with international treaty obligations.”

Zenit: “The Holy See is stressing the necessary role of parents in the lives of their children, especially in the area of education on sexuality. This was one of the points underlined by the Holy See delegation to the 2010 U.N. World Youth Conference in Leon, which took place Aug. 23-26.”

Associated Press: “Malaysia’s prime minister called Monday for creation of a ‘global movement of moderates’ from all faiths to marginalize extremists from all religions.”

CNN: “The United Nations is partnering with faith based organizations and their vast network of donors, development groups, and grass roots organizers to bring aid to developing countries around the world. You could say they are putting their money where their mouth is. Except both groups have been putting money up for a long time . . . According to United Nations Foundation executive director Elizabeth Gore, this partnership is a natural step in the fight against global poverty and disease.”

AFP: “UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday announced a 40-billion-dollar drive to improve the health of women and children, which he said would save millions of lives around the world . . . Of the eight key development targets set a decade ago, cutting deaths of women during pregnancy and childbirth and those of children younger than five have seen the least progress.”

“In a flurry of speeches and meetings — and one meeting that did not happen — the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, defended his country’s close ties to Iran, proclaimed Turkey’s intention to become a leader in the Muslim world . . . ”

AP: “The U.N. chief is warning of growing political polarization and social inequalities in the world and urging greater tolerance and mutual respect.”

Reuters: “A resolution submitted by Pakistan for the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) asks the council to speak out against what it dubbed ‘the recent call by an extremist group to organise a “Burn a Koran Day.”‘”

U.S. Department of State: “The United States joined Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, East Timor, Finland, France, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania and Slovenia in sponsoring a high-level panel discussion ‘Ending Violence and Criminal Sanctions on the Basis of Sexual Orientation’ on September 17 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.”

This morning the Drudge Report carried this headline:  HILLARY TO GIVE UN $50 MILLION FROM US TAXPAYERS — FOR COOKING STOVES. Throughout the day, the Secretary of state has issued the following: -09/21/10  Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves: The United States …

Reuters AlertNet: “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce on Tuesday a U.S. contribution of more than $50 million toward providing clean cooking stoves in developing countries to reduce deaths from smoke inhalation and fight climate change.” | Secretary of State press release

“U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has called on countries to abolish laws that discriminate against gays and lesbians.”

International Humanist and Ethical Union: “Famous human rights activist, Board member of the Muslim Canadian Congress and International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) Representative Raheel Raza confronts Tariq Ramadan and the Pakistani Ambassador representing the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e69vAW0wBg

C-FAM: “The appointment of former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet as Under Secretary General of UN Women has garnered praise from several abortion advocacy groups. ”

LifeNews: “UN agencies and pro-abortion groups have told women and governmental bodies across the world that the only way to reduce maternal mortality is by legalizing abortions. Even though abortion has not been made legal in a slew of new nations, the UN today reports maternal mortality has declined by one-third.”

Dawn.com: “Italy will present a resolution on the protection of religious minorities at the next United Nations’ general assembly, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Monday.”

Associated Press: “Chile’s former president Michelle Bachelet is the front-runner to head the new U.N. agency to promote women’s equality, several U.N. officials said.”

OneNewsNow: “The U.S.-based Home School Legal Defense group fears a U.N. treaty is causing increasing problems for home schoolers in various countries. The latest example involves four families in Botswana who have been ordered to send their children to public school.”

LifeSiteNews: “This week the fate of four homeschooling families will be decided in Botswana, reports the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). The families, adherents to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, have been ordered by a judge to send their children to public school. Despite the judge’s ruling indicating that the children were cared for and that the parents took steps to provide for the education of their children, the court found that they still need to go to public school because Botswana has acceded to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).”

AP: “Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe – the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council – told reporters Wednesday the U.S. will propose the new post at a three-week meeting of the Geneva-based body starting Monday.”

Politico: “Arizona GOP Gov. Jan Brewer is calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to remove a reference to her state’s immigration law from a report on human rights. In a required report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the State Department said the federal government’s challenge to the Arizona law that requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop or detain was an example of how the United States is protecting human rights.”

Associated Press: “The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination says minorities in the Islamic republic don’t enjoy the same rights to free expression, health and housing as other ethnic groups.”