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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24 July 2011

Norway Terrorist (Suspect) Killed 98 People, and Attack Multi-culturalism Norway!


http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/norway-terror-suspect-attacked-islam-multiculturalism-online-1.374845 (24 July 2011)

Published 17:21 23.07.11Latest update 17:21 23.07.11
Norway terror suspect attacked Islam, multiculturalism online



Anders Behring Breivik, 32, has been charged for the attacks in Norway in which at least 91 people were killed. [By Reuters].

The Norwegian charged with going on a killing spree in which at least 91 people died is a former member of a populist anti-immigration party who wrote blogs attacking multiculturalism and Islam.

The suspect, detained after 84 people were gunned down at a youth camp and another 7 killed in a bomb attack on Friday, has been identified by Norwegian media as Anders Behring Breivik. Website entries under Breivik's name criticized European policies of trying to accommodate the cultures of different ethnic groups, and claimed a significant minority of young British Moslems back radical Islamic militancy.

"When did multiculturalism cease to be an ideology designed to deconstruct European culture, traditions, identity and nation-states?" said one entry, posted on Feb. 2, 2010 on the right-wing website www.document.no.

"According to two studies (What studies? Sources?), 13 percent of young British Muslims aged between 15 and 25 support al-Qaeda ideology," said another entry dated Feb. 16 last year.

(Note: I wonder why 13 percent British Muslims support al-Qaeda ideology? Is it because of the 'racist' approach of the government, the unfair treatment the Muslim received, or the unbalanced job opportunities? Or ALL these).

Police searched an apartment in an Oslo suburb on Friday, but neighbors said the home belonged to Breivik's mother, whom they described as a nice lady. Deputy Police Chief Roger Andresen would not speculate on the motives for what was believed to be the deadliest attack by a lone gunman anywhere in modern times. But they said the man in custody had described himself on his Facebook page as leaning towards right-wing Christianity.

Breivik had also been a member of the Progress Party, the second largest in parliament, the party's head of cohmmunications Fredrik Farber said. Breivik was a member from 2004 to 2006 and in its youth party from 1997-2006/2007.

The Progress Party wants far tighter restrictions on immigration, whereas the center-left government backs multiculturalism. The party leads some polls of public opinion. Progress leader Siv Jensen stressed he had left the party.

"He is not a member any more," she told Reuters. "It makes me very sad that he was a member at an earlier point. He was never very active and we have a hard time finding anyone who knows much about him."

Farber said: "He was a member and had some participation in the local chapter in Oslo but stopped paying his membership dues and ceased being a member in 2006 or 2007."

Breivik was also a freemason, said a spokesman for the organization. Freemasons meet in secretive fraternal groups in many parts of the world.

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http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/9902294/norway-suspect-admits-responsibility/

NORWAY SUSPECT ADMITS RESPONSIBILITY
AAP
July 24, 2011, 8:50 am

The suspect in twin attacks in and near Oslo that killed at least 92 people, Anders Behring Breivik, has admitted responsibility, his lawyer has told Norway's NRK television channel.

Behring Breivik, 32, was detained for allegedly shooting at least 85 people dead at a youth Labour Party meeting on an island and killing seven more in a car bomb explosion which ripped through government buildings in Oslo. "He admitted responsibility," lawyer Geir Lippestad told the television station on Saturday. "He explained that it was cruel but that he had to go through with these acts," Lippestad said, adding that the attacks were "apparently planned over a long period of time".

Meanwhile police say they'll use a mini-submarine to help in the search for more bodies of victims from the shooting massacre on the island. Norway's Red Cross said on Saturday its scuba divers will also help in the search around the island.

"Tonight a mini-submarine will be sent and go through the whole night" looking for bodies around Utoeya island, police spokesman Dag Gjaerum told AFP.

On Friday a gunman posing as a policeman opened fire on the island where hundreds of mostly young people had gathered for a camp run by the ruling Labour Party, police and witnesses said.

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COMMENT: To say that this is a mad man (Anders Behring Breivik, 32) so as to ease the closure of this case/story/incident, is another way Western government choose to ignore the reality of:

1- Racism
2- Unfair treatment to Muslim and other races' rights
3- That there exists anti multi-culturalism group (Left Wing Group)
4- That there exists Christian extremism group (Radical Group)

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http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/9902234/norway-shooter-traumatizes-nation-up-to-98-dead/

NORWAY SHOOTER TRAUMATIZES NATION, UP TO 98 DEAD
Gwladys Fouche and Victoria Klesty, Reuters
July 24, 2011, 8:10 am

SUNDVOLLEN, Norway (Reuters) - Norwegian police searched for more victims and a possible second gunman on Saturday after a suspected right-wing zealot killed up to 98 people in a shooting spree and bomb attack.

Anders Behring Breivik, 32, was arrested after Friday's massacre of young people on a tiny forested holiday island that was hosting the annual summer camp for the youth wing of Norway's ruling Labour party.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, sharing the shocked mood in this normally safe, quiet country of 4.8 million, said: "A paradise island has been transformed into a hell."

Breivik, a Norwegian, was also charged with the bombing of Oslo's government district that killed seven people hours earlier. If convicted on the terrorism charges, he would face a maximum of 21 years in jail, police said.

Breivik had belonged to an anti-immigration party and wrote blogs attacking multi-culturalism and Islam, but police said he had been unknown to them. A video on the YouTube website promoting a fight against Islam apparently shows pictures of Breivik, wearing a wetsuit and pointing an automatic weapon.

The district attacked in Oslo is the heart of power in Norway. But security is not tight in a country unused to such violence and better known for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in conflicts, including the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

Home-grown anti-government militants have struck elsewhere in the past, notably in the United States, where Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people with a truck bomb in Oklahoma City in 1995.

Witnesses said the gunman, wearing a police uniform, went on a prolonged shooting orgy on Utoeya island northwest of Oslo, picking off his prey unchallenged as youngsters scattered in panic or jumped in the lake to swim for the mainland.

A police SWAT team eventually arrived from Oslo, 30 km (19 miles) away, to seize Breivik after nearly 90 minutes of firing, acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim told a news conference.

"We don't know yet" if he acted alone, Sponheim said, adding that Breivik had surrendered immediately and had confessed. He defended the time it took to arrive, saying there were delays with getting a boat.

"THIS IS PURE EVIL"

Sponheim said 85 people were known to have died in the shooting and seven in the Oslo bomb blast. The overall death toll could reach 98 if some missing people proved to have died. Police gave no figure for the number wounded in Norway's worst violence since World War Two.

On Saturday night, the prime minister toured damaged buildings in central Oslo and said that he could not rule out that more bodies might be inside. "There are still people missing ... one cannot rule out anything. This is evil. This is pure evil," he said. A chunk of debris fell off a building as he stood in the street.

Labour Party youth member Erik Kursetgjerde described the panic on Utoeya when the gunman began shooting. "I heard screams. I heard people begging for their lives and I heard shots. He just blew them away. I was certain I was going to die," Kursetgjerde, 18, told Reuters outside a hotel in the nearby town of Sundvollen, where many survivors were taken.

"People ran everywhere. They panicked and climbed into trees. People got trampled."

The killer, dressed as a policeman, "would tell people to come over: 'It's OK, you're safe, we're coming to help you.' And then I saw about 20 people come toward him and he shot them at close range," he said.

Kursetgjerde said he ran and hid between cliffs, then swam into the lake and nearly drowned. "Someone (in a boat) rescued me. They saved my life."

Norwegian NRK television showed blurred pictures taken from a helicopter of a man, apparently in police uniform, standing with his arm outstretched amid numerous victims, some prone on the rocky shore, others floating in the water.

"This lasted for hours," Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news conference, describing the killings on the island northwest of Oslo where about 600 young people had gathered.

The bloodbath was believed to be the deadliest attack by a lone gunman anywhere in modern times.

Police combed the island and the lake, even using a mini-submarine to search the water, police inspector Bjoerne Erik Sem-Jacobsen told Reuters. "We don't know how many people were on the island, therefore we have to search further."

U.S. President Barack Obama called Stoltenberg on Saturday to offer U.S. condolences over the killings and pledged assistance if needed.

The suspect, tall and blond, owned an organic farming company called Breivik Geofarm, which a supply firm said he had used to buy fertilizer -- possibly to make the Oslo bomb. Forensic experts scoured the facility for evidence on Saturday.

"These are goods that were delivered on May 4," Oddny Estenstad, a spokeswoman at farm supply chain Felleskjoepet Agri, told Reuters. "It was 6 tonnes of fertilizer, which is a small, normal order for a standard agricultural producer."

It was not clear if Breivik, a gun club member according to local media, had more than one weapon or whether he had stocked ammunition on Utoeya, where police found explosives.

Initial speculation after the Oslo blast had focused on Islamist militant groups, but it appears that only Breivik -- and perhaps unidentified associates -- was involved.



Norway, Islam and the West !


http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/2011723135619293955.html
(23 July 2011)

Norway, Islam and the threat of the West

Dismissing this murderous act as the work of "a lone madman" ignores a more detailed study of the killer's motivation - Ibrahim Hewitt, Last Modified: 23 July 2011 14:52

After Oslo was rocked by a deadly explosion and a shooting massacre killed dozens on Utoya Island, initial speculation blamed 'Islamic terror groups' - revealing fears and prejudices inherent to many in the West [REUTERS]

A few years ago, the respected Cambridge scholar T J Winter, also known by his Muslim name of Abdal Hakim Murad, gave a fascinating lecture to Humanities staff and students at the University of Leicester. The title was "Islam and the threat of the West", turning on its head the more usual - then and now - "Islam and the threat to the West".

It was a novel approach which, in a nutshell, illustrated that, historically, aggression has been directed more from Europe to the Muslim world than the other way round. His evidence for such a view was impeccably sourced.

I thought about Abdal Hakim's talk this morning as I read the reports coming in of the dreadful bombing and shooting in Norway wherein, of course, there was speculation that these two events were "Islamic-terror related". No doubt we will learn more over the coming days, but the early signs are, in fact, that the perpetrator was a "blond, blue-eyed Norwegian" with "political traits towards the right, and anti-Muslim views". Not surprisingly, the man's intentions were neither linked to these "traits", nor to his postings on "websites with Christian fundamentalist tendencies". Any influence "remains to be seen"; echoes of Oklahoma 1995.

Interestingly, this criminal is described by one unnamed Norwegian official as a "madman". He may well be, but this is one way that the motivations for heinous crimes can be airbrushed out of the story before they have the chance to take hold in the popular imagination.

Closing the book

In 1969, for example, an Australian Jew who set fire to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem was dismissed as a "madman" and sent for psychiatric treatment; end of story. The right-wing Jewish fundamentalists plotting to destroy the mosque, and the nearby Dome of the Rock, lived to fight another day. I suspect that that is what will happen with the Norwegian bomber/shooter; his right-wing links and Christian fundamentalist contacts will be dismissed as irrelevant. This, we will be told, was the work of a "deranged" person "acting independently". Ergo, the only organised "terror threats" to civilisation are still "Islamic-related" and the focus of anti-terror legislation and efforts must remain in the Muslim world and on Muslim communities in Europe and the USA.

If we allow this to happen, we will be doing the world a great disservice, not least because the new right is on the rise across the West - and Oklahoma was proof that its followers are capable of immense destruction.

Neo-Nazi immigrants from Eastern Europe have even been active in Israel where the government, while deploring such far-right activity in its midst is actually edging ever more to the far-right on a daily basis. Ministers advocate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in order to purify Israel as a "Jewish state"; precious human rights for which the world has struggled are overridden in the name of "state security"; criminals in uniform are allowed to get away, quite literally, with murder.

All of this takes place with the collusion of Western governments which are themselves showing right-wing tendencies towards double-speak on matters of respect and tolerance for minorities. If you are even remotely "different" in Europe today, especially if you are a Muslim, you are eyed with suspicion and must go out of your way to "prove" your loyalty to a state which, if the truth was made known, would get rid of you if only it had the guts to pass the necessary legislation to do so. In some cases, such legislation is virtually in place in the guise of "anti-terror" measures.

All of this is backed by a vociferous and influential right-wing media which supports Israel right or wrong - and a pro-Israel lobby which acts as if it is untouchable. Given the political context across the West, it probably is.

Attacks against the left

It is significant that the target of the Norwegian 'madman' appears to have been the left-leaning Labour Party, both in Oslo and on the island where the shootings took place. Across Europe, the left has been forming alliances with Muslim groups to fight fascism and racism of all kinds, and it cannot be a coincidence that The politics of multiculturalism in the new Europe, a collection of essays from across the continent, published in 1997, concluded almost without exception that "the challenge" facing Europe was the presence of large Muslim communities in "our" midst. Anyone who claims therefore, that the perpetrator's "right-wing traits" and "anti-Muslim views", or even links with "Christian fundamentalist" websites are irrelevant is trying to draw a veil over the unacceptable truths of such "traits" and expecting us to believe that right-wing ideology is incapable of prompting someone towards such criminality.

Of course, that idea is nonsensical. Right-wing ideology was behind the Holocaust; it has been behind most anti-Semitism and other racism around the world; the notion of Europe's and Europeans' racial superiority - giving cultural credibility to the far-right - gave rise to the slave trade and the scramble for Africa leading to untold atrocities against "the Other"; ditto in the Middle and Far East. Ironically, it is also far-right Zionism - far from the socialist myths of Zionist pioneers in the 1930s and before - which has been behind the ethnic cleansing of Palestine throughout the 20th century, right up to today, as a specific policy to be pursued - by military means if necessary.

This is well-documented and yet ignored by our political masters. In the context of the latest apparently far-right atrocities in Norway, it is equally ironic that the word in English for a traitor who collaborates with an enemy power stems from Major Vidkun Quisling who ruled Norway on behalf of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

We dismiss this "madman" as a one-off "not linked to any international terrorist organisations" at our peril. If nothing else, history has shown us that such ideologies are trans-national across and beyond the West, with catastrophic effects on the rest of the world. We have been warned.

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Education and media consultant Ibrahim Hewitt is the chair of trustees of the Palestinian Relief and Development fund and is Senior Editor of the Middle East Monitor. He is also a trustee of Creative Arts Schools Trust. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

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23 July 2011

World Most Expensive Yacht !


Source:
http://www.luxurylaunches.com/transport/history_supreme_is_the_worlds_most_expensive_yacht_for_48_billion.php
(21 July 2011)


A 100 feet luxury yacht called History Supreme with 100,000 kilograms of solid gold and platinum.

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Source:
http://lifeisreallybeautiful.com/amazing-wacky-things/history-supreme-the-worlds-most-expensive-yacht/ (22 July 2011)



History Supreme – The World’s Most Expensive Yacht

If the story about this yacht built for a mystery Malaysian businessman for a stunning £3 billion ($4.8 billion) is true, it will truly be the epitome of Malaysia Boleh!! Tongues have been wagging as to the identity of this mysterious Malaysian. Is he Robert Kuok, the richest man in Malaysia? Or Ananda Krishnan, the second richest Malaysian? However it is highly unlikely to be either of them as they are both shrewd businessmen who won’t splash such a substantial portion of their wealth on a single toy.

Hmmm…that would mean this mystery man could be a politician. Who can it be? I really don’t know. Try asking the Sarawakians. The yacht, named History Supreme or Baia 100 Supreme, is the creation of renowned luxury goods designer Stuart Hughes. Stuart is the creator of the famous £5million diamond-wrapped iPhone.

The cost of the 100 feet long History Supreme even eclipses that of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s swanky 533 feet yacht Eclipse (cost £750million) which is the world’s biggest private yacht.

History Supreme is made of 100,000 kilograms of solid gold and platinum and took over three years to be completed. It has a deck, dining area, rails, anchor, all crafted from precious metals. The base of the vessel is wrapped with solid gold, while the main sleeping quarter sports platinum accents with walls set in meteoric stone, that boasts of a genuine Tyrannosaurus Rex bone shaved in from the raptor T – REX.

Stuart Hughes said: “I was commissioned for the “History Supreme” project by an anonymous Malaysian business man who wanted something really special.” “It was probably the most mammoth task I have undertaken so far, there was three years of planning and it was very difficult to get right.” “The project uses 100,000 kilograms of solid gold and platinum and all features including the deck,” he said. “It was probably the most mammoth task ever. I’ve covered all sorts of things in gold but this has got to be my most ambitious project yet. This will never be topped.

“The businessman just approached us and asked us whether we could do it. He wanted a plane doing as well, but the thing would never take off if we did. “So he said, ‘Can you do the yacht?’ and I said, ‘We’ll give it a crack.’ Then it was pretty much a case of can you make this gold, can you make that gold? “We just did what we were told and are delighted with the result.”

The yacht was built in Italy and completed in Malaysia two weeks ago.

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Source:
http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5075228

By MSN News, 7/22/2011
Malaysian businessman buys £3billion yacht

Would you fork out £3 billion (RM14.5 billion) for a yacht? That's what one unnamed Malaysian businessman did. The Sun, a U.K. newspaper, reported that the 100-feet yacht, rather aptly named History Supreme, had 100 tons of gold incorporated into its design. And it does not stop there. The yacht is a dazzling, unrestrained display of bling - deck, dining area, rails and anchor were all fashioned from precious metals - platinum being one.

Platinum also embellishes its sleeping quarters. As an added bonus, the package also includes a statue crafted from a bone of no less than 'The King of the Dinosaurs' - the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Started in Italy and finished in Malaysia (about two weeks ago), construction of the yacht took three years. The project was overseen by Liverpool jeweller Stuart Hughes, who was given the task by a yet unidentified Malaysian businessman. "I've covered all sorts of things in gold but this has got to be my most ambitious project yet. This will never be topped," Hughes was attributed saying in The Sun report.

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