FREEDOM OF SPEECH / FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION


FREEDOM OF SPEECH / FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used [United Nations, 1966, 1976]. The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR recognizes the right to freedom of speech as "the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression". Furthermore freedom of speech is recognized in European, inter-American and African regional human rights law [United Nations, 1966, 1967]. Freedom of speech, or the freedom of expression, is recognized in international and regional human rights law. The right is enshrined in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights [Andrew Puddephatt & Hodder Arnold, 2005; Kumar, Ambika, 2006].

In Islamic ethics freedom of speech was first declared in the Rashidun period by the caliph Umar in the 7th century. In the Abbasid Caliphate period, freedom of speech was also declared by al-Hashimi (a cousin of Caliph al-Ma'mun) in a letter to one of the religious opponents he was attempting to convert through reason.

According to George Makdisi and Hugh Goddard, "the idea of academic freedom" in universities was "modelled on Islamic custom" as practiced in the medieval Madrasah system from the 9th century. Islamic influence was "certainly discernible in the foundation of the first deliberately-planned university" in Europe [Boisard, Marcel A., 1980].

* Selected REFERENCES / Sources:

Amnesty International: Annual Reports: URLhttp://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/index.html Andrew Puddephatt & Hodder Arnold. (2005). Freedom of Expression: The Essentials of Human Rights. United Publishers. Boisard, Marcel A. (July 1980), "On the Probable Influence of Islam on Western Public and International Law", International Journal of Middle East Studies 11 (4): 429–50. Goddard, Hugh. (2000). A History of Christian-Muslim Relations. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Kumar, Ambika. (2006). ‘Using Courts to Enforce the Free Speech Provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.’ Published by Chicago Journal of International Law. Summer 2006. URLhttp://www.allbusiness.com/corporate-governance/4082846-1.html United Nations: ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.’ Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16th December 1966: Entry into force 23 March 1976, in accordance with Article 49. URLhttp://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm (United Nations) Wikipedia. (2010). ‘Freedom of Speech.’ Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. URLhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_expression

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21 January 2011

Kidnapped US Baby

AAP January 21, 2011, 5:35 am

A woman who was kidnapped as a infant 23 years ago says finding her real mother "felt like a dream". "I'm so happy. At the same time, it's a funny feeling because everything's brand new. It's like being born again," said the woman, who was named Carlina White by her parents but was raised in Connecticut under the name, Nejdra Nance.

The 19-day-old baby Carlina was kidnapped in 1987 after her worried parents took her to Harlem Hospital with a fever. A woman who was dressed as a nurse abducted the baby. No suspect was ever arrested.

Carlina's distraught parents, Joy White and Carl Tyson, feared they would never see their daughter again. Carlina, or Nejdra, was raised by an abusive drug addict, she told the New York Post. She said she had long suspected she wasn't the woman's real daughter.

When she got pregnant herself at 16, she asked her mother for a birth certificate so she could get prenatal care. Her mother could not provide one. She gave birth to a daughter who is now six, and when she recently moved on her own to Atlanta, Georgia, she decided to seek out her birth parents.

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children helped her connect the dots. Then the centre contacted Joy White. "We may have found your daughter," Joy White said the caller told her. DNA tests confirmed Nejdra was Carlina. Mother and daughter were reunited on Saturday; they were in a Manhattan hotel on Thursday. The Post interviewed them at the hotel on Wednesday. "I'm sitting here and I'm in a daze, thinking, 'Is this for real?'

"I missed the last 23 years of her life. I have to take it all in, for now just take it day by day," Joy White told the newspaper.Carlina White said: "I just never gave up on finding my real mother. I just kept on pushing."

Also see:
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Charles B. Wang International Children's Building
699 Prince Street Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3175
The United States of America
24-hour Hotline: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)
Phone: 703-224-2150 Fax: 703-224-2122
Source:

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