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Canadian Human Rights Commission Employees Admit to Misconduct

CHRC's attempt to hold incriminating hearing in secret fails

By John Jalsevac

OTTAWA, March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An important victory was won by critics of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) after it was decided on March 20 that a controversial hearing (held yesterday) into suspect activities on the part of CHRC employees would be open to the press and the public. The hearing, part of an ongoing human rights case against Marc Lemire, investigated allegations that a number of CHRC employees have routinely used the dubious tactic of anonymously posting on racist and "far-right" websites.

The CHRC had originally obtained permission to hold the hearing in camera (in private), citing concerns for the safety of the employees in question, and for national security.

A number of online posts about CHRC employees that the Commission said were "threatening in tone," were presented as the justification for the invocation of section 37 of the Canada Evidence Act, which allows a Minister of the Crown to decide that information may be withheld from the public. Section 37 is typically invoked for matters of national security.

However, leading critics of the Commission, including popular columnist Mark Steyn, and Canadian publisher Ezra Levant, mounted a campaign to have the hearing opened to the press and the public, arguing that the CHRC was doing nothing more than obstructing justice and seeking to protect itself and its employees by invoking faux security concerns. They also pointed out that the CHRC has a history of holding "secret" hearings that completely contradicts the Western tradition of judicial openness.

"Free societies do not hold secret trials except for the most serious reasons of national security: mid-level servants of the Crown who get their jollies by posing as racists on unread websites do not fall into that category," wrote Steyn on his website several weeks ago.

Macleans magazine, which has itself been the target of a human rights complaint by Muslim activists, for having printed an excerpt from Mark Steyn's latest book, also filed a formal legal challenge to the holding of the hearing in camera. Macleans' factum outlined numerous Supreme Court cases that have upheld the importance of the "openness principle" - the idea that in a modern democracy the judicial process should be accessible to the public, except for the most serious of reasons.

"The public can only tell how justice is being protected," wrote Macleans to the presiding tribunal official, Athanasio Hadjis, "if it can see and read of your reactions, the nature of the court, the attentiveness of the participants. After all, the keyhole to justice requires eyes." 

In the end Hadjis overturned his original decision, agreeing with Steyn and Levant that concerns about security were overinflated.

Hajdis wrote in the March 20 decision, "I am not persuaded that the witnesses are exposed to a real and substantial risk that undue hardship will be caused to the persons involved...nor that there is a serious possibility that the life, liberty or security of a person will be endangered."

Yesterday's hearing was attended by a contingent of reporters, including Macleans journalist Kady O'Malley, who blogged about the event throughout the day in real time. Mark Steyn was also present.

CHRC employee Dean Steacy testified yesterday that, indeed, he and a number of colleagues shared an online alias known as "Jadewarr", under which pseudonym they routinely posted on so-called "far-right" and white supremacist websites. This admission seriously bolstered the case of Marc Lemire and those seeking reform of the CHRC, who have pointed out that the tactic of posing as racists on racist websites effectively means that CHRC employees have contributed to the very "crimes" that they have later prosecuted.

CHRC critics have compiled a laundry list of grievances against the Commission, including numerous allegations of unprofessional conduct, and incompetent and biased judicial processes that would never hold up in Canada's courts of law. Only last month a Canadian federal court overturned a CHRC decision and blasted the Commission for incompetence. Justice Michael Kelen said the tribunal had "unreasonably ignored the factual reality" in deciding that there had been wage discrimination based on gender at Canada Post.

Judge Kelen also condemned the extreme length of the Commission's proceedings, saying, "This case offends the public conscience of what is reasonable and responsible".

Marc Lemire, a white supremacist who has nevertheless garnered widespread support for his quest to protect his right to freedom of speech against the CHRC, was brought before the Commission by former CHRC employee Richard Warman. Lemire was accused of running a white supremacist website on which participants posted racist comments. Steacy's admission yesterday, however, that some of the members of the website who posted offensive comments were in fact incognito government employees added significant weight to Lemire's argument that he cannot be held accountable for what others post on his site.

Lemire and his supporters were further incensed that the complainant in the increasingly convoluted case, Richard Warman, was himself not present at yesterday's hearing, making it the twentieth straight hearing in a row that he has not attended.

Warman, a former CHRC employee, has a lengthy history of filing human rights complaints under subsection 13(1) of the human rights act. Over the years Warman has been awarded tens of thousands of dollars for having been "offended" by those he has hauled before the Commission. Subsection 13(1) makes it a "discriminatory practice" for individuals or groups to communicate messages that are "likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt". Critics of this section of the Act have long said that the clause creates the precise equivalent of a "thought crime". Furthermore, currently the CHRC has a 100 percent conviction rate for those who have been accused under section 13(1).

Mark Steyn wrote today on his website about yesterday's hearing, saying that the tribunal official Athanasio Hadjis seemed bent on continuing that 100 percent conviction rate in the current case. "Athanios Hajdis was brisk but impatient," he wrote. "He knows how he's going to rule, and he appears eager to add Marc Lemire to the mound of Section 13 losers. 'We're done,' he said at several points during the day. I don't get the impression he's planning on letting Mr Lemire buck the 100 per cent Section 13 conviction rate."

Steyn concluded his analysis of the hearing, saying, "It's important to keep the pressure on the CHRC - to make them understand that they can no longer take their routine expectations of 'secret trials' for granted, and that any such order will be met with legal motions emphasizing that, notwithstanding their assumptions, they can still be compelled to submit to the norms of the Canadian justice system. This battle to restore ancient liberties (like the presumption of innocence) will be won in the open air not in the fetid 'hearing rooms' of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal." 

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Prominent Canadian Publisher Denounces Human Rights Commissions at HRC Hearing
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08011401.html

Liberal MP Launches Motion to Stop Human Rights Commission Squelching of Free Speech
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08013104.html

Canada Catholic League Calls for Halt to Use of Human Rights' Commissions in Free Speech Cases
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010207.html

Alberta Human Rights Tribunal Rules Against Christian Pastor Boissoin
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07120306.html

Christian Political Party Before Human Rights Commission for Speaking Against Homosexuality
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07112706.html

Canada's Human Rights Commission Used to Target Conservative Website With "Hate Speech"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07071907.html

Christian Pastor Hauled Before Human Rights Tribunal For Letter on Homosexuality
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/sep/05090204.html

Pastor Facing Gay "Hate Speech" Tribunal Allowed to Publish Prof.'s Complaint
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06050807.html

Growing Support for Alberta Pastor Facing Human Rights Hearing Over Letters Against Homosexuality
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/sep/05091407.html

Gay Human Rights Complaint Against Calgary Bishop Dropped - Was All About Getting Media Attention
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/aug/05082601.html

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U.S. State Department Denies Passport to "Married" Homosexual Man

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

MASSACHUSETTS, March 26,2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The U.S. State Department will not issue a new passport to a homosexual man under his "married" name, which is a hyphenate combining his and his partner's surnames. The two homosexuals were "married" in Massachusetts, the only American state to have legalized same-sex marriage.

The U.S. Government does not recognize same-sex marriage and rejected the man's passport application citing the Defense of Marriage Act.

"We are unable to comply with your request for a name change based on the documentation you sent because of the Defense of Marriage Act," the letter of refusal to Jason Hair-Wynn stated.

The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, was passed by Congress by a vote of 85-14 in the Senate and a vote of 342-67 in the House of Representatives, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996.

The Act's two main objectives were to provide that no state would be required to give effect to a law of any other state with respect to a same-sex "marriage", and to define the words "marriage" and "spouse" for purposes of Federal law.

The Act reads: "No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship."

"In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."

The Sun Chronicle reports that Jason Hair-Wynn had intended to travel to Ghana, Africa, where homosexuality is illegal and considered a moral aberration.

In September last year, the Ghanaian government banned a homosexual rights conference that was meant to be held in the city of Koforidua.

The Information Minister, Kwamena Bartels, said the government, "shall not permit the proposed conference anywhere in Ghana - homosexuality, lesbianism and bestiality are offences under the laws of Ghana."

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Far Left UK Teachers' Union Calls for Abolition of Religious Schools

Accuses military of 'glamorising war' to students

By Hilary White

MANCHESTER, March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At their Manchester conference this week, the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the largest teachers' union in the UK, have called for the abolition of single-faith schools and for clergy of every religion to be brought into classrooms. At this weekend's NUT conference in Manchester, the union said that continuing to support schools of individual religions was "unjust and unsustainable" and would undermine race relations. The NUT, Britain's largest and most influential teachers' union, continues to lead the extreme left wing in Britain's teaching professions.

Under the NUT proposal, schools should bring in imams, rabbis and priests to mollify parental demands for religious instruction in schools but specifically in order to prevent the establishment of new single-faith schools. Reflecting a government instruction that no religious or moral values should be taught to students as though they are objectively true, the NUT proposals would see all schools become "multi-faith" institutions in which no one religion is presented as true. Schools moreover should be stripped of their powers to control their own admissions and select pupils according to their faith.

A spokesman for the Church of England said, "Religious instruction belongs with the religious institutions, the churches, the mosques, the temples. It is for religions to teach their faith to people; it is for schools to teach about religion." There are 7,000 single-faith schools supported with public funds in England, most of which are run by the established Church of England and the Catholic Church.

Other high priority issues the various teaching organisations discussed at their Easter conferences were rising levels of disruptive behaviour from students, including violent drug-related knife and gun crimes, increasing "family hostility" to education, ungovernable "spoilt little princes and princesses" in classrooms, and a desperate shortage of teaching staff.

The National Association of Schoolmasters, Union Of Women Teachers (NASUWT) concluded that the problem is a materialistic "culture of immediacy" that supplies children and teens with whatever they want and that results in "spoilt little princes and princesses," whose parents are part of an anti-intellectual milieu, disillusioned with education as a means of escaping poverty.

Statistics show that many people train as teachers, only to leave the profession after a few years.

NUT members also put forward a list of proposals, asking for a return to the discredited educational experiments of the past 30 years. They asked the government for a return to the more "liberal" approach to teaching literacy that was adopted in the 1970s and 80s, saying that the more structured phonics method was too mechanistic and turned children off reading.

The NUT's request contradicts a government turn-around that abandoned the experimental methods - in which children were taught in some cases to guess at words and memorise them by their shape - as a dismal failure that must be replaced by phonics "first and fast".

The NUT also attacked what it called the "misleading propaganda" offered by military recruitment teams when they visit schools, accusing them of "luring" young people into military service and "glamorising war". In Britain, a military career is still seen by many from underprivileged backgrounds as a way out of the poverty trap and a door into well-trained trades and professions.

The NUT's attack on the military comes at the same time as some members of the Royal Air Force are being asked not to appear in their off duty hours wearing their uniforms due to "abuse" and attacks from the public.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Pre-Schoolers Must be Taught About Gay Lifestyle: Teachers Association http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jul/06072505.html

Read editorial from the Times:

The Army must go into schools
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/magnus_l... 

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Nebraska Bans Public Funding for Destructive Embryo Research

By Hilary White

LINCOLN, Nebraska, March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - 48 of the 49 Nebraskan senators voted Tuesday to pass Legislative Bill 606 banning some human cloning. The measure was quickly signed by Governor Dave Heineman. The measure allows research grants to be given to institutions doing stem cell research without using embryos. The new law also prohibits public funding of research that creates or destroys embryos for stem cell research.

The bill was passed on condition that neither side in the debate would introduce more legislation regarding cloning or stem cell research unless one of three conditions are met:  if private sector research is undertaken that destroys human embryos or creates cloned embryos; if scientific advances create new ethical considerations; or if the prohibitions in LB 606 were violated. 

The measure was conditionally supported by the spokesman for Nebraska Right to Life, Julie Schmit-Albin, who said, "Though it isn't everything we wanted in LB 700, this is one of those times where we can gain something or achieve nothing and we chose the former." Schmit-Albin was referring to what she called "the true cloning ban." Nebraska Right to Life has been fighting for a cloning ban since 2000.

Previously the bill had included a prohibition only on cloning for reproductive purposes, a common ploy of the pro-cloning lobby to create the appearance of ethical principles. But pro-life lobbyists were able to change the measure to afford a degree of restriction on "therapeutic cloning", or cloning for stem cell research.

Schmit-Albin said her group had opposed the original wording, calling it "clone and kill" legislation. "We vigorously opposed this 'clone and kill' language as it could have emboldened private-sector cloning labs to come into Nebraska, and we are thankful it was removed," she said.

Executive director of Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research, Chip Maxwell, said that while the bill was not a "comprehensive" ban on reproductive cloning, it does block such research "in the public sector".

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McCain and the Pope: McCain cannot win in November without the Catholic vote

How is he going to get it?

by Robert R. Reilly  
(re-published with permission from insidecatholic.com)
 
March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Sen. John McCain cannot win in November without the Catholic vote, which is around 25 percent of the electorate. How is he going to get it? The worst thing he could assume is that it is going to fall into his lap because Catholics will have nowhere else to go. Some people with nowhere to go simply stay home. Or they may go elsewhere, as it appears they have already been doing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that in "a recent survey of 19 states that have held presidential primaries this year, 63% of Catholics identified themselves as Democrats." That's up from 42 percent in 2005. Not a good augury for McCain.
 
Senator McCain not only needs Catholics who will vote for him, but who will each find ten other Catholics who will do the same. That is not going to happen unless he galvanizes the Catholic electorate. He has an opportunity to do this when Pope Benedict XVI visits the United States during April 15 to 20.
 
I was President Ronald Reagan's liaison to the Catholic community from 1983 to 1985. In the 1984 election, President Reagan won the Catholic vote and was the first Republican to do so. Senator McCain might want to take a look at how that happened.
 
I recall a definitive moment when the Democrats vociferously complained about the ads run by the Reagan campaign in Catholic newspapers. The ads featured a photo of Reagan and John Paul II smiling together. Was this not politicizing the Catholic Church? How dare the Republicans do such a thing?

At that time, Archbishop John Foley was the pope's minister of communications and principal spokesman at the Vatican. When asked, he responded to the complaints by saying that, since these two men shared so many fundamental moral principles in common, it was the most natural thing in the world that they should appear together in a photograph. Not wishing to hear that statement made again, the complaints from the Democrats immediately ceased.
 
The key here is that Archbishop Foley, who came from a Democratic family in Pennsylvania, did not have to make this up -- it was true. President Reagan had embraced moral positions on the family, on the sanctity of human life, on school prayer, and against pornography that were completely congruent with those of the Catholic Church. And, like John Paul II, he was fighting for them.
 
Can Senator McCain say the same? If not, a photograph with Benedict XVI is not going to solve his problem. He needs to campaign on these issues just as Reagan did. He cannot simply claim that point of view; he needs to promote it. He needs to articulate it.

In 1983, President Reagan wrote an article titled "Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation," which appeared in the Human Life Review. That was an extraordinary thing for a sitting president to have done. The fact that he did it convinced many Catholic pro-lifers that Reagan was sincere in his beliefs and was not simply acting for political advantage. They rallied around him.
 
Later, Reagan showed Bernard Nathanson's film The Silent Scream in the White House. What can Senator McCain do? He can invite his opponents on this issue -- whether it is Clinton or Obama -- to watch The Silent Scream, or its equivalent, with him. Ask them to join him in protecting innocent human life, including the partially born babies, whom both Obama and Clinton think have no right to life.

Senator McCain should draft his version of "Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation" and publish it in First Things or a comparable journal. Make it an issue. Proselytize. If Senator McCain does not think that is the role of a presidential candidate, then he does not think like Ronald Reagan.
 
Of course, this is a risky strategy, but risk conveys conviction, as Senator McCain demonstrated when he courageously risked his political future to promote the surge in Iraq. He needs to build upon that impression of courage by extending it to the social issues Catholics care about most. If he throws as much conviction and energy into these issues as he did into his backing of the surge, Catholics and others will flock to his banner -- and he can win. If he tries to coast on the moral issues, he will not.
 
So what should Senator McCain do when Benedict XVI visits in April? This is his opportunity to demonstrate that he understands the significance of the pope's thought as it relates to the institution of the family, the sanctity of human life, and the threat of radical Islam.

He needs to appear on EWTN with Raymond Arroyo and speak to that significance. He needs to do interviews in the National Catholic Register and other Catholic journals, and on Sirius radio's Catholic channel, which will cover the pope's visit by the hour. He needs to say that what the pope is expressing goes beyond a sectarian Catholic audience, as it addresses the core issues of Western civilization. He needs to say that Benedict was right at Regensburg in assessing moral relativism as the greatest threat to the West and to the integrity of reason, and that he was right also about the nature of the threat from an unreasoning version of Islam.
 
If this is the side you are on, Senator McCain -- as I believe it is -- you have this opportunity of letting others know, so they can rally to you.
 
Robert R. Reilly was a special assistant to President Reagan and served as his liaison to the Catholic Church. He is a frequent contributor to InsideCatholic.com and Crisis magazine. 

See related LifeSiteNews.com stories:

Pro-Abortion Republicans Endorse McCain
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08020605.html

McCain's Rejection of Roe v. Wade Seems As Wobbly as His Rejection of Gay "Marriage"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07021908.html

McCain Forces Romney to Submit, but Faith & Family Leader Dobson Calls Vote for McCain Unconscionable
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08020713.html

Republican Candidates Romney, Giuliani, McCain Repudiate Government Effort to Save Terri Schiavo
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07052511.html

McCain Continues to Support Embryo Destroying Research Embarrassing Brownback
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08012517.html

US Presidential Hopeful John McCain Says Homosexuality Not a Defect or Sin
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06112307.html

McCain Would Defer to Kennedy on Judges, Coulter Says
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archi...

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Leading Political Party in Belgium Calls for Euthanasia for Teens and Children

By John-Henry Westen

BRUSSELS, March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) -  The Leader of the Belgium Liberals, the primary Party in the Belgian coalition Government, has called for legal euthanasia to be permitted for teens and children.  The 2002 law which permitted euthanasia on newborns and terminally ill patients suffering "constant and unbearable physical or psychological pain" currently restricts euthanasia to newborns and those over 18 years of age.

Bart Tommelein, Leader of Belgium Liberals, said his Party would seek approval for measures to extend euthanasia to teens and elderly disabled with dementia and thus unable to decide for themselves to be euthanized.  The development is no surprise to anti-euthanasia activists who have long warned that any allowance for so-called voluntary euthanasia would lead to involuntary euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition commented on the latest development in Belgium saying:

"Once a society has accepted the killing of one group of people for a set of circumstances then what will stop that society from accepting the killing of all groups of people for similar circumstances".

"The only factors that will hold the Belgium government back from making euthanasia more widely available is the ability of a person to consent to their death, and how far do they wish to extend the concept of suffering? But when did euthanasia or assisted suicide have anything to do with consent? It is about having the right to 'choose' to end your life, or giving someone else the right to kill you when you would have "rationally chosen" to do so".

"If people with a certain condition have the right to end 'suffering' through euthanasia, then why would it be wrong to end the suffering for someone in a similar condition who cannot consent? In fact consent only stands in the way of providing "release of suffering" that may someday be seen as a human right".

"The issue of suffering also relates to infant euthanasia. The problem is that it is difficult to access to what degree an infant is suffering. But why let current suffering be the criteria, when an infant with disabilities is bound to suffer in the future. Why not end a life to pre-empt the child from suffering.

"In the recent review of the Groningen Protocol by Lindemann and Verkerk in the Hastings Center Report - Jan/Feb 2008 the authors refer to the Groningen Protocol as allowing euthanasia based on the idea of future suffering. The authors state: 'The protocol thus leaves room for cases in which the suffering will take place in the future. This forward-thinking feature of the protocol is justified on the grounds that it is inhumane to keep a baby alive until it begins to experience intolerable suffering.'

"Remember, the issue of euthanasia is not about terminal illness, it is not about individual autonomy, it is not about suffering. It is about ending life based on individual autonomy or ending lives that are not worth living.

"In other words. You can't have a little bit of euthanasia because if it is deemed to be a "good action" then why wouldn't it be 'good' for everyone."

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Vienna Cathedral Museum Exhibits Lewd, Blasphemous Homosexual "Religious" Art

Artist said to be very pleased his works displayed in museum associated with the Church

By Hilary White

VIENNA, March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Dommuseum in Vienna, the art gallery attached to the historic Catholic cathedral of St. Stephen, is running an exhibition of works by a self-avowed Marxist atheist, titled "Religion, Flesh and Power", that includes depictions of explicit homosexual sex acts in "religious" themed art. Prominent among the works is a rendition of the Last Supper with Christ and His Apostles depicted as homosexuals engaged in an orgy. Another work depicts Christ on the cross without a face but with uncovered genitals. The Last Supper rendition is displayed in a prominent place near the entrance to the exhibition.

Vienna sculptor and painter Alfred Hrdlicka is said to be very pleased that his works are being displayed in a museum associated with the Church.

The director of the Dommuseum, Mr. Bernhard Böhler, said that visitors have asked "in a more or less emotional way," why the Apostles are depicted copulating. According to the director, the artist responded, "There were no women around".

Gloria Television made a short video of the works that shows Hrdlicka's depiction of the flagellation of Christ with a nude Roman soldier performing a lewd act on the Lord's body. The video relates that one visitor to the exhibition said, "Our country can do without scribblers and agitators like Hrdlicka."

Vienna's Cathedral and Diocesan Museum was founded in 1933, and describes itself as "one of the exquisite gems amongst the many museums in Vienna". It is located adjacent to the Archbishop's Palace of Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, O.P.

The church museum boasts on the website that it offers special tours for school children saying they "learned a lot" about the Cathedral patron St. Stephen and the Christian faith.

To contact the Archdiocese of Vienna:
Wollzeile 2, A-1010 Wien, Oesterreich
Telephone: (01)515.52.3229
Fax: 515.52.3760

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California Court Agrees to Reconsider Ruling That Made Most Homeschooling Illegal

LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The California Court of Appeal agreed Tuesday to a request by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund to reconsider a Feb. 28 decision making most homeschooling a crime in the state.

"Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children," said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. "Because this ruling impacts all Californians, we believe the case deserves a second look. We look forward to presenting this case for rehearing."

Ruling against a child enrolled at Sunland Christian School, a private homeschooling program, the California Court of Appeal found, in the case In re: Rachel L., that parents who educate their children at home could be criminally liable under California law.

"Another look at this case will help ensure that the fundamental rights of parents are fully protected," said ADF-allied attorney Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation.

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UN Weekly Briefing: March 17th -23rd

By CLC UN Representative

TORONTO, Canada, March 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com)

WORLD YOUTH REPORT 2007 

On March 17th, the website Caribbean360.com published an exposé on the UN World Youth Report 2007 titled Young People's Transition to Adulthood: Progress and Challenges. Issued by the department of Economic and Social Affairs, the 306 pages long document outlines the challenges of young people around the world. It presents a regional analysis of education, health, employment opportunities and other elements affecting the lives and realities of young people today.

According to Caribbean360.com, the situation of young people in the Caribbean is far from ideal. Amongst the many problems, the U.N. report notes that "teenage pregnancies not only poses health risks, but given the limited support for childcare, also reduce young women's life opportunities." It is important to emphasize the need to support young mothers through social programs and infrastructure. However, the undertone of the report constructs pregnancy as a problem calling for an abortion first agenda.

The report states the following about the situation in Asia:  "The challenges posed by unhealthy behavior are compounded by difficulties in accessing health care. There is limited access to sexual education and inadequate access to youth-friendly health services. Family planning programmes, messages and information, for example, are often targeted at married people. Unmarried young people thus often have limited knowledge of contraception." Later on, the report also mentions that "The size of the youth population in Asia gives the region a major advantage in terms of development potential." However, it fails to mention the devastating effects of social policies such as "the one-child policy" and "sex-selective abortions" on the region.

U.N. ACCUSED OF DENYING MEMBERS OF THE PRESS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

An article by Fred Lucas found on the website crosswalk.com is highly critical of the U.N.'s recent relationship with some members of the press. The article mentions the case of Matthew Russell Lee, a reporter from Inner City Press, who had his credentials pulled after having been critical of the U.N. Development Program (UNDP).

It appears some members of the press core, much like pro-life lobbyists, are having trouble getting access to the people and information they need to carry out their duties.

William Davis, director of the U.N. Information Center quoted article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which calls on countries to promote freedom of the press. He mentioned daily news briefings and the UN website as good sources of information for reporters. 

However, Beatrice Edwards, international program director for the Government accountability Project, noted in Mr. Lucas' article that the U.N. and other international organizations "have diplomatic immunity and are not subject to freedom of information laws." This gives such organizations the power to avoid being truly transparent and makes it all the more important for reporters and non-governmental organizations to act as watchdogs.

HOLY SEE ADDRESS TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

On March 17th, the delegation of the Holy See addressed the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The website Zenit.org, published the entire address. The Holy See has long been one of the rare voices defending life and the family at the U.N.

Reinforcing the importance of life as the first human right, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent observer of the Holy See to the Office of the United Nations and Specialized Institution, stated that "respect of the human person form conception to natural death is the only measure to judge any policy be it the fight against terrorism or the fight against hunger and underdevelopment."

Calling for the U.N. to fulfill its intended purpose, Archbishop Tomasi concluded his address by reiterating words of Pope John XXIII: "May the day be not long delayed when every human being can find in this organization an effective safeguard of his personal rights; those rights, that is, which derive directly from his dignity as a human person." This timely declaration is refreshing in the light of abuses of Human Rights courts around the globe while true universal rights, such as the right to life, are still under siege at the U.N.

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