scaramouche

...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

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Irreverent, contrarian, delighted to be out of synch with the zeitgeist, I depend on my sense of humour (such as it is) to keep me sane in this wacky world.

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Sunday, 12 July 2009

Worst. Justification. Ever!: The federal “human rights” racket ‘splains to Canadians that Section 13, that part of the “human rights” code dealing with (and prohibiting) offensive speech, is completely consistent with “international” thinking on the subject:
Is section 13 consistent with international human rights law?
Yes. International human rights treaties provide that careful restrictions of some forms of speech are both desirable and necessary.
Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantee freedom of expression.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration states:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 19 of the ICCPR amplifies on the Universal Declaration by specifying:
Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
However section 19 also allows that certain restrictions may be imposed on freedom of expression by specifying that:
The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.
Article 20 of the ICCPR requires states to prohibit speech that incites war or promotes hatred:
Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law…
Bear in mind that this is the same UN that, in keeping with sharia law, recently banned blasphemous speech about Islam (though, of course, there’s no mention of such picayune details on the CHRC site).

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:31 | link | comments

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