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 April 2011

Pastor Terry Jones: 'Burning the Quran' !


Comment:


One way to be really famous in a very short time, is to do or say something very controversy, and Pastor Terry Jones (the so called brain-intelligent-civilized Christian) did just that, ‘by burning the Quran in public.’ Good way to promote Christianity to the world too… ALL religion teach peace and to ‘respect’ other religion, I Guess Pastor Terry Jones has his way of showing ‘respect’ to other religion and respect other races.


Source:



[…Christian preacher Terry Jones, who after international condemnation last year cancelled a plan to burn copies of the Koran, supervised the burning of the book in front of a crowd of about 50 people at a church in Florida on March 20, according to his website].


[…He told the British Broadcasting Corporation that he did NOT feel guilty over the deaths in MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, "We are not responsible for their actions," Jones said, when asked about the attack].



















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Worst attack on U.N. in Afghanistan kills at least 7 staff

Mohammad Bashir, Reuters April 2, 2011, 10:09 am


MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghans protesting against the burning of a Koran by an obscure U.S. pastor over-ran a United Nations compound on Friday and killed at least seven international staff in the deadliest ever attack on the UN in Afghanistan. Thousands of demonstrators flooded into the streets after Friday prayers and headed for the UN mission in usually peaceful Mazar-i-Sharif, a city slated as safe enough to be in the vanguard of a crucial security transition. The governor of Balkh province said insurgents had used the march as cover to attack the compound, in a battle that raged for several hours and raises serious questions about plans to make the city a pilot for security transfer to national forces. The UN Security Council called an emergency meeting for later on Friday to discuss the attack. The attackers overwhelmed security guards, burned parts of the compound and climbed up blast walls to topple a guard tower. Five protesters were also killed and around 20 wounded, some after trying to take weapons off the UN security guards. "The insurgents have taken advantage of the situation to attack the UN compound," said Governor Ata Mohammad Noor. He told a news conference that many in the crowd of protesters had been carrying guns. Some 27 people have already been detained over the attack, he added.


DEADLIEST ATTACK... The attack is the deadliest ever on the United Nations in Afghanistan, and one of the worst on the organization for years. "It is the worst incident ever for UN staff in Afghanistan. Mazar mobs were active in the 1990s, repeatedly ransacking UN offices...but so far as I remember they never actually killed anyone," a former UN staff member in Afghanistan told Reuters.


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Also see the information below to enlighten you on Terry Jones:


Source:



2010 Qur'an-Burning Controversy


The 2010 Book-burning controversy arose when pastor Terry Jones of the small, non-denominational Christian Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, United States, announced plans to conduct book burnings of the Qur'an on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, which he dubbed International Burn a Koran Day. The planned Qur'an desecration event was widely condemned by politicians and religious groups. At one point, Jones declared the book-burning cancelled and announced his intention to fly to New York to meet with the imam of Park51, Feisal Abdul Rauf, but later stated that the burning was suspended, not cancelled. The proposal to burn Qur'ans began with a series of Twitter messages on July 12, and/or a related discussion on the now-removed Facebook group "Islam is of the Devil", named after Terry Jones' book. Jones invited Christians to burn the Muslim holy book to remember all 9/11 victims. It was to be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m CNN News. The idea initially had little support and considerable opposition, but Religion News Service ran a story describing Jones' claim that he had received Qur'ans to burn. CAIR refused to respond, but other religious organizations did.


On July 25 Jones posted a YouTube video in which he held up a Qur'an and said "This is the book that is responsible for 9/11. No, to me it looks like the religion of the devil CNN News" which garnered substantial media attention. On August 3, Gainsville mayor Craig Lowe asked the world's media to ignore Jones' church as a "tiny fringe group and an embarrassment to our community", but coverage continued to increase. In early August, Sunni scholars at al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a statement warning of "dangerous consequences" if Qur'ans were burned. U.S. President Obama condemned the plan saying it would endanger the lives of U.S. troops abroad. American Muslims responded by saying they would celebrate September 11, 2010 as 'love Jesus day' emphasizing the fact that Jesus is believed to be a messenger of God in Islam. Other groups asked people to celebrate Read the Koran day as a means to international understanding.


Comment:


'Freedom of Religion' does not necessitate an individual to assault, despise or hate other religion... Isn't there a law in US or Britain that prohibits that? And why wasn't Terry Jones arrested and prosecuted??



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