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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28 August 2011

Gaddafi Flee Libya !


http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=0828&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Terkini&pg=bt_03.htm (28 Aug 2011)

Britain sumbang 3 juta Euro kepada Libya

28/08/2011 2:16am

LONDON 28 Ogos - Negara Britain menyumbang 3 juta Euro (RM 12.9 juta) kepada Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah Antarabangsa untuk bantuan kemanusiaan segera di Libya, semalam.

Menurut Menteri dalam Jabatan Pembangunan Antarabangsa (DFID), Andrew Mitchell berkata pakej bantuan tersebut akan menolong menyediakan perkhidmatan-perkhidmatan asas seperti memberi makanan untuk hampir 700,000 orang dan bantuan perubatan kepada 5000 mangsa yang tercedera akibat pertempuran itu.

"Kami telah melihat kejadian yang dashyat itu dari hospital Tripoli dan kami sedang bergerak pantas untuk menghulurkan bantuan kepada Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah Antarabangsa dalam menangani isu itu,” katanya kepada saluran televisyen BBC. – AFP

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http://www.straitstimes.com/The-Big-Story/The-Big-Story-3/Story/STIStory_705788.html
(25th Aug 2011)

Rebels hunt Gaddafi relatives, supporters in Tripoli
Published on Aug 25, 2011

TRIPOLI (REUTERS) - Rebels fought gun battles in Tripoli with loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi on Wednesday as they hunted for his relatives and supporters, Reuters witnesses and an Arab television station said.

A Reuters correspondent said bursts of gunfire rang out near the Corinthia Hotel in central Tripoli late on Wednesday and a column of smoke rose from the area. The shooting came after a group of heavily armed rebels arrived at the hotel demanding to search room after they had heard that one of Gaddafi's sons, Saadi, was inside.

A Reuters reporter saw about half a dozen rebels arrive in the hotel forecourt in a truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun. The men ran into the hotel and blocked off access to the elevators as they prepared to search the building room by room.

Foreign journalists who had been trapped for days in the Rixos hotel in the capital had been taken to the Corinthia after their release on Wednesday.

In a separate incident, a rebel spokesman told Al Arabiya Television that gunmen fought a fierce battle with Gaddafi's top military commander, General Abdul Rahman Al Syd, at his farm in Tripoli on Wednesday, but it was not clear whether he had been captured.

'He (Syd) is leading the battle with the rebels and he is still inside the farm,' the spokesman, Abdel Salam Abu Zaakouk, told the Dubai-based channel without giving further details.

Abu Zaakouk also said that rebels had found Gaddafi's office director, Bashir Saleh, and his four children at a family farm in Tripoli. The spokesman said Mr Saleh had tried to conceal his identity by wearing Sudanese garb.

A Reuters television crew filmed heavy clashes on Wednesday afternoon on the edge of Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound, which was ransacked by rebels on Tuesday.

The crew said rebels were seen stepping over the bodies of pro-Gaddafi soldiers as they moved from one building to another trying to clear the area.

The rebels pulled back at sundown, saying they did not want to hurt civilians they believed were caught in the cross fire inside some of the buildings. The rebels vowed to return to fight again in the morning.

Rebels stormed Gaddafi's headquarters on Tuesday, a day after they first entered the Libyan capital following a six-month insurgency.

Gaddafi has fled and Libyan rebels are offering a US$1.3 million (S$1.6 million) bounty for his capture alive or dead.