http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/humanrights/ en-us Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:12:40 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047690/posts The best, the most pointed and comprehensive opinion on the award of the Order of Canada pin to Henry Morgentaler, in the course of this long grim week, was by Ian Hunter in the National Post: “In old Canada, Morgentaler was prosecuted and sent to jail for performing illegal abortions. But that was in another era and, as far as I'm concerned, another country -- a country as dead as any of the recipients of Morgentaler’s attentions.” I shall say something about that award tomorrow. For today I want to focus on the New Canada -- the one that is... DavidWarrenOnline http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047690/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:12:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047340/posts Sudan's Bashir 'masterminded' genocide: Prosecutor UN to withdraw staff as backlash fears grow Steven Edwards, Canwest News Service Published: Monday, July 14, 2008 UNITED NATIONS - The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court formally accused the Sudanese president Monday of being the “mastermind” of what he called a genocidal campaign against three ethnic groups in Sudan’s western Darfur region.... They are expected to take about three months to review the evidence, which Moreno-Ocampo says shows al-Bashir used the Sudanese army and members of the Arab Janjaweed militias to escalate a conflict that has left 300,000 dead and driven 2.5... canada.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047340/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:34:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046737/posts A 2500 year old Persian treasure dubbed the world's 'first bill of human rights' has been branded a piece of shameless 'propaganda' by German historians. The Cyrus cylinder, which is held by the British Museum, is a legacy of Cyrus the Great - the Persian emperor famed for freeing the Jews of ancient Babylon after conquering the city in 539 BC. A copy of the cylinder, which is covered in cuneiform script supposed to detail the ancient charter of rights, also hangs next to the Security Council Chamber in the United Nations headquarters in New York, where it is held... The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046737/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:48:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045350/posts Mass. Legislature poised to export our "gay marriage" across the country by repealing "1913 Law". National gay groups pouring in money to lobby. Pressure needed NOW to stop Senate vote Tuesday - (see our new fax feature!) The national homosexual movement is funding a huge lobbying effort over the next few days to persuade the Massachusetts Legislature to repeal the "1913 Law" which would allow out-of-state "gay" couples to legally "marry" in Massachusetts -- and then cause havoc in their home states. Currently, out-of-state couples can not marry in Massachusetts if that marriage would be illegal in their home state.... email http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045350/posts#comment Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:59:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046309/posts By now, many conservatives have heard of the Canadian Human Rights Commissions thanks to the decision by three CHRCs to investigate hate crimes complaints against Maclean’s magazine for printing -- among other things -- excerpts from conservative writer Mark Steyn’s book, America Alone. While two of the complaints against Maclean’s have been dismissed, the CHRCs continue their jihad against their fellow citizens who dare to offend certain protected minorities. One of their ongoing cases is the investigation of a newspaper for publishing a cartoon of a Muslim woman dressed in a burqa even though the woman does, in fact, wear... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046309/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:40:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045325/posts On the surface, a Winnipeg mother who risks losing her two children to the state because of her neo-Nazi beliefs might not seem to have much in common with Omar Khadr, the Canadian who has spent nearly six years at Guantanamo Bay after being captured on an Afghanistan battlefield. But both cases essentially are about the indoctrination of young people into despicable, fascistic ideologies, and the question of how our society treats them. Let us start with the Winnipeg family, whose identity remains undisclosed in the media. The mother drew a swastika on her seven-year-old daughter's arm be-fore sending her... National Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045325/posts#comment Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:08:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045039/posts I had the pleasure of making a presentation as an expert witness to the U.S. Congress's bi-partisan human rights caucus today. I didn't count, but I'd estimate that there were over 100 people there. I met quite a few readers of my blog, and even a donor to my legal defence fund -- what a warm welcome in a far away city! There were a surprising number of journalists, including Luiza Savage, Maclean's magazine's Washington Bureau Chief. And there were a lot of religious liberty NGOs, including those from the Bahai, Hindu and Buddhist communities -- including several in bright... EzraLevant.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045039/posts#comment Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:47:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043967/posts Amnesty for Abortion by: Ben Giles, July 11, 2008 Amnesty International recently addressed the Supreme Court of Mexico, urging the high court to uphold an April 2007 decision legalizing abortion in Mexico City, according to reports by Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. “Fulfilling its duty to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to life does not require the Mexican state to restrict women’s access to safe abortion services,” AI wrote in a statement to the court. Mexico has traditionally outlawed abortion but for exceptional cases such as rape and illness. A majority of Mexican provinces still follow laws which... Campus Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043967/posts#comment Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:28:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043619/posts Maclean's magazine, Canada's Newsweek, was brought before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for running an excerpt from Mark Steyn's book America Alone. The California websites introduced as evidence were FreeRepublic and Catholic Answers. The claim was that their discussion boards proved that Maclean's inspire hate-speech toward Muslims. The Washington Times reports: "Numerous Canadians and Americans following the hearing denounced the case as absurd and that it is a threat to free speech that a provincial tribunal is asserting jurisdiction over the writings of a best-selling author residing in New Hampshire, based upon an out-of-province complainant offended by the response... mediabistro.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043619/posts#comment Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:10:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042606/posts “Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don’t give it any value.” Investigator for the Canadian Human Rights Commission Scientology, the new age "religion" founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has a new opponent, scores of anonymous protesters across the web who have aptly named themselves, Anonymous. Anonymous, with its legions of cyber-warriors, has been busy exposing Scientology's murky past and the inner workings of the "Church", and its practice of "fair gaming". Damian DeWitt, a member of Anonymous, makes some great points about the "prosecution" of Free Speech by Canada's largest oxymoron, the Human... DBKP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042606/posts#comment Tue, 8 Jul 2008 21:53:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042389/posts Alberta Pastor Steve Boissoin has filed an appeal to the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal ruling that convicted him of hate speech. The pastor was found guilty last November of having written a letter to the editor in the Red Deer Advocate that was "likely" to expose homosexuals to hatred. The appeal was filed on June 26 with the Queen's Bench of Alberta. A hearing has preliminarily been set for September 9, although that date could change during negotiations between the involved parties. LifeSiteNews spoke with Boissoin's attorney, Gerald Chipeur, who said that he is confident that the court will grant... LifeSite News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042389/posts#comment Tue, 8 Jul 2008 14:42:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041998/posts Islamists' Catch-22 Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. Try a little thought experiment. What would have happened in this country during the Cold War if the Soviet Union successfully neutralized anti-communists opposed to the Kremlin’s plans for world domination? Of course, Moscow strove to discredit those in America and elsewhere who opposed its totalitarian agenda – especially after Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s excesses made it fashionable to vilify patriots by accusing them of believing communists were “under every bed.” But what if the USSR and its ideological soul-mates in places like China, North Korea, Cuba, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa had been... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041998/posts#comment Mon, 7 Jul 2008 19:48:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041847/posts Toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency. The National Children's Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations, has issued guidance to play leaders and nursery teachers advising them to be alert for racist incidents among youngsters in their care. This could include a child of as young as three who says "yuk" in response to being served unfamiliar foreign food. The guidance by the NCB is designed to draw attention to potentially-racist attitudes in youngsters from a young age. It alerts playgroup leaders... Telegraph UK http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041847/posts#comment Mon, 7 Jul 2008 15:11:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041081/posts TORONTO, July 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Canadian Human Rights Commission has dropped a complaint by a homosexual activist against Catholic Insight a Toronto-based national Catholic news magazine. A year and a half - and many thousands of dollars in legal fees - after a nine-point human rights complaint was filed by Edmonton-based homosexual activist Rob Wells, Catholic Insight has been informed that the case has been dropped. However, a judicial review before the Federal Court is still possible should the complainant pursue that avenue. In a letter the Commission noted that it decided "to dismiss the complaint because the... LifeSiteNews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041081/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 14:00:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039903/posts Welcome to Guantanamo Bay by: Emily Miller, July 02, 2008 Guantanamo Bay prison is coming to a city near you, courtesy of the Cell Tour, an offshoot project of Amnesty International. The Cell Tour is transporting a replica of a Guantanamo Bay prison cell across the USA, and set up shop in the Nation’s Capitol last week, demanding that the U.S. government shut down the controversial prison due to alleged human-rights violations. The bright orange cell was plopped down a mile or two from the Washington Monument and a block away from the Washington Folk Festival, attracting over 1,000 curious... Campus Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039903/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 20:56:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038803/posts TORONTO - The Canadian Human Rights Commission has dismissed a complaint filed by the Canadian Islamic Congress against Maclean's magazine. The Congress claimed an article written by Mark Steyn, entitled "The Future Belongs to Islam" and posted on the Maclean's website in October 2006, made a number of statements and assertions that were likely to expose Muslims to hatred or contempt. In its ruling, posted on Maclean's website, the commission acknowledges "the writing is polemical, colourful and emphatic, and was obviously calculated to excite discussion and even offend certain readers, Muslim and non-Muslim alike." But the commission also says that,... CBC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038803/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:42:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038736/posts <p>A Canadian stand-up comedian will face a human rights tribunal hearing after a woman complained she and her friends faced a "tirade of homophobic and sexist comments" while attending one of his shows.</p> <p>In a decision released this week, the B. C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled there is enough evidence to hear the case of Vancouver woman Lorna Pardy against Toronto comedian Guy Earle. Zesty's Restaurant in Vancouver, where the May 22, 2007, show took place, has also been named in the complaint.</p> National Post (Canada) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038736/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:39:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038163/posts Free speech obviously does not rank very high on the list of human rights for this group. From Israel Matzav: The UN 'Human Rights Council' decided this week that it is forbidden to criticize Islam because "religious issues can be "very complex, very sensitive and very intense...This council is not prepared to discuss religious matters in depth, consequently we should not do it." From now on, only religious scholars would be permitted to broach 'religious matters' before the Council. American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038163/posts#comment Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:06:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037707/posts News reports from the past few months has turned the phrase "human rights" into something of a joke. On the one hand, a group of Muslim activists has gone before four separate human rights commissions in a high-profile bid to censor critics of militant Islam -- realizing the worst fears of critics who, years ago, predicted that "human rights" would become an instrument of thought control. On the other hand, the places in Canada where real human rights are most at risk -- dysfunctional native reserves controlled by self-serving clans -- have long been explicitly exempted from the provisions of... National Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037707/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:45:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037407/posts The Canadian Human Rights Commission has dismissed a hate speech complaint against Maclean's magazine. Brought by Mohamed Elmasry, national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, the complaint was the centrepiece of a three-pronged offense against what he sees as Islamophobia in the national newsweekly, with columnists Mark Steyn and Barbara Amiel the main offenders. An identical complaint, brought with the help of three Muslim law students who became the public faces of the complaint, was rejected in Ontario on jurisdictional grounds. The third was heard this month by a British Columbia tribunal, which is now deliberating. Announcing the decision (the... National Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037407/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:41:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037369/posts Guy Earle, a Toronto comedian, must now stand trial before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal on the charge of telling unfunny jokes. That sounds like a joke itself, but it's not. In May, 2007, Earle was hosting a comedy night at Zesty's restaurant in Vancouver. He says a couple of lesbians came in, got drunk and starting making out right in front of the stage. He said they also heckled him and other comedians. In other words, like anyone else -- gay, straight or otherwise -- they set themselves up for some wise-cracks. And crack wise Earle did. But... ezralevant.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037369/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:24:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037324/posts Almost 60 House liberals, along with prominent lawyers, journalists, and retired officials and military officers, are lobbing an inflammatory charge--"war crimes"--toward a large number of the Bush administration's most senior current and former officials and lawyers. These critics accuse them of approving torture and other illegal interrogation methods. We are likely to hear a growing clamor for appointment of a special prosecutor, presumably by the next administration. And human-rights activists are already suggesting that their friends abroad should snatch and prosecute any former members of what they call the Bush "torture team" who dare visit Europe. These critics are right... National Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037324/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:59:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037302/posts  Human rights complaint over comic's lesbian remarksUpdated Thu. Jun. 26 2008 11:13 PM ETCTV.ca News StaffA Toronto comedian facing a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal hearing says offensive comments he made to two Vancouver lesbians were simply an attempt to stop them from heckling him on stage."I don't hate anybody based on their sexual orientation, or whatever, but I do hate hecklers and sometimes I get a little vehement," Guy Earle says in a radio interview posted on YouTube.Earle said he was hosting a weekly open-mic night in a restaurant on March 22, 2007 when the two women moved up... CTV News (Canada) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037302/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:00:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037255/posts The Canadian Human Rights Commission, like any petty tyranny, has a strong instinct for survival. As I predicted last week on the Michael Coren Show, that instinct would cause them to drop the complaint against Mark Steyn and Maclean's. And so they did. With an RCMP investigation, a Privacy Commission investigation and a pending Parliamentary investigation, they're already fighting a multi-front P.R. war, and losing badly. Not a day goes by when the CHRC isn't pummelled in the media. Holding a show trial of Maclean's and Steyn, like the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal did earlier this month, would be writing... Ezra Levant.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037255/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:19:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037202/posts There's been plenty of discussion lately about the harmful consequences of censorship -- the extra publicity that hate speech gets when prosecuted, the chilling of legitimate debate and the dangers of slippery slopes. However, I think a case can be made that allowing the publication of repugnant remarks about minority groups might actually have positive benefits for society. When the Supreme Court of Canada pronounced Canada's censorship laws constitutional in 1990, they argued that hate speech "contributes little to the aspirations of Canadians or Canada in the quest for truth, the promotion of individual self-development or the protection and fostering... National Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037202/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:30:58 GMT