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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02 February 2011

Hosni Mubarak Last Term ?!


Comment:

Some rulers/leaders (and even organization directors), when they rule for quiet a long time, they sometimes get what we call a ‘disillusion affects’ of ‘I am the king’, ‘You all need me', 'You all cannot live without me’, .... and in the worst case scenario, ‘I am your saviour!' (and tend to relate themselves with 'God-like image'... This happens not only in the ancient world in China, India, Egypt, Sudan, UK, France, Germany, Thailand, and Vietnam, to name a few, but also in today's high tech world of the new millennium.

Time and again, HISTORY has vividly shown that ITS the people's power that bring down tyrant kings and queens, and corrupted dictators !

I wonder IF these leaders ever learn from HISTORY.


http://www.hmetro.com.my/articles/Hosnitidakmahutunduk/Article (3 Feb 2011)


Hosni tidak mahu tunduk

KAHERAH (CAIRO): PULUHAN ribu penunjuk perasaan anti kerajaan ('anti Hosni Mubarak') berarak di Iskandariah, semalam. Presiden Hosni Mubarak tidak mengendahkan desakan lebih suku juta penduduk Mesir supaya beliau meletak jawatan serta-merta. Beliau sebaliknya mengumumkan akan terus berkhidmat sehingga tempoh jawatannya berakhir September ini dan akan ‘mati di bumi Mesir.’ Hosni turut berjanji untuk tidak bertanding semula. Bagaimanapun, ikrarnya itu gagal meredakan kemarahan rakyat Mesir sementara pertempuran meletus antara penyokong dan penentangnya.

Penunjuk perasaan bertegas menyatakan mereka tidak akan mengakhiri bantahan mereka yang sudah berlarutan selama seminggu kecuali Hosni yang sudah memerintah sejak 30 tahun lalu, meletak jawatan.

Tawaran pemimpin Mesir itu untuk terus berkhidmat selama tujuh bulan lagi, mengancam meningkatkan kekecewaan dan kemarahan di kalangan penunjuk perasaan. Di Iskandariah, pertempuran meletus antara beratus-ratus penunjuk perasaan dengan penyokong kerajaan tidak lama selepas Hosni berucap.

Penunjuk perasaan melontar batu ke arah penyokong kerajaan yang bersenjatakan pisau dan kayu sehingga tentera melepaskan tembakan ke udara untuk menghentikan kekacauan itu, kata seorang wartawan tempatan, Hossam el-Wakil. Sementara itu, ucapan Hosni dicemuh oleh penunjuk perasaan di Medan Tahrir yang menonton siasaran secara langsung menerusi sebuah televisyen besar.

Dalam ucapan selama 10 minit itu, Hosni, 82, keliharan muram tetapi bercakap dengan nada tegas tanpa menunjukkan sebarang tanda-tanda akan tunduk. Beliau menegaskan, walaupun jika tunjuk perasaan itu tidak berlaku, beliau tidak akan bertanding untuk mempertahankan jawatan presiden bagi penggal keenam pada September ini. Hosni berkata, beliau akan terus berkhidmat sehingga penggal perkhidmatannya tamat bagi memenuhi langkah yang diperlukan untuk pemindahan kuasa secara aman.

Hosni, bekas panglima tentera udara, juga berikrar untuk tidak akan meninggalkan negara itu.
“Ini adalah tanah tumpah darah saya. Saya tinggal di sini, berjuang untuknya, mempertahankan bumi, kedaulatan dan kepentingannya. “Di bumi ini saya akan mati. Sejarah akan mengadili saya dan anda semua,” katanya. - AP


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12351831 (3 Feb 2011)

3 February 2011, Last updated at 07:32
Deaths in renewed Cairo shooting : Tahrir Sqaure focus

"The protesters are demanding that President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled for 30 years, step down immediately..."

On Wednesday, groups fought pitched battles in Cairo, in the worst violence in 10 days of protests. The unrest has left about 300 people dead across the country, according to UN estimates. Cairo's Tahrir Square has been the main focus of the protests.

A group of anti-Mubarak protesters remain hemmed in there by barricades. They either cannot leave or have decided not to, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo. Those attacking them appear to be either police who have taken off their uniforms or plain-clothes "thugs", our correspondent says.

There were petrol bombs being lobbed during the night and now this morning there's been gunfire.

The military leadership seems deeply uncomfortable with what is happening, adds our correspondent; they do not want to turn on protesters but they are not willing to defy the president either.


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(2 February 2011)

Ratusan ribu berarak

SESAK...penunjuk perasaan berkumpul di Medan Tahrir atau Medan Pembebasan di Kaherah, semalam. SEORANG lelaki membawa poster Presiden Hosni Mubarak yang digambarkan sebagai Adolf Hitler ketika menyertai tunjuk perasaan di Kaherah, semalam.

KAHERAH: Ratusan ribu penunjuk perasaan semalam membanjiri Kaherah (Cairo) dan bandar kedua terbesar Mesir, Iskandariah, dalam gerakan paling hebat untuk menyuarakan kemarahan mereka dalam usaha menggulingkan rejim Presiden Hosni Mubarak. Ketika kerajaan negara asing bergegas untuk memindahkan warga masing-masing dari Kaherah, pembangkang berkata, ia tidak akan berunding dengan Hosni.

Sementara itu, Mohamed ElBaradei, yang dianggap pemimpin penunjuk perasaan anti rejim Hosni, berkata, Jumaat sudah ditetapkan sebagai ‘hari pemergian Hosni.

Pemberontakan di Mesir yang dianggarkan sudah menyebabkan 300 orang terbunuh, menyebabkan rasa cemas merebak di seluruh rantau itu dengan Raja Jordan, Abdullah II memecat kerajaan Samir Rifal selepas pembangkang mengadakan tunjuk perasaan sejak beberapa minggu lalu bagi menuntut perubahan.

Di Kaherah, penunjuk perasaan, termasuk lelaki, wanita dan kanak-kanak membanjiri jalan raya bandar raya itu, menyertai ribuan orang yang bermalam dalam khemah atau di atas padang di sekitar Medan Tahrir.


Tentera yang berkata ia tidak akan melepaskan tembakan ke arah penunjuk perasaan, memeriksa kad pengenalan sebelum membenarkan penunjuk perasaan memasuki medan itu.

Orang awam juga mengadakan pemeriksaan kad pengenalan di kawasan itu, kerana bimbang ada polis berpakaian preman menyelinap masuk untuk menjadi pengacau. - Reuters.








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