According to MediaWatchWatch, a eport leaked early from the UN Human Rights Committee reveals the the UN “special reporter” on the cartoon controversy, Doudou Diéne, blames Denmark for the unrest:

Judicially, the Danish government ought therefore, especially considering its international obligations, to have, respecting Freedom of Speech, taken a position not only on the consequences of the caricatures for its community of 200.000 Moslems but also for the protection of peace and order.

Ophelia at Butterflies and Wheels rips this particular piece of wooly thinking apart:

So it’s the Danish government’s fault. It should have met with the ambassadors from ‘the Moslem countries’ and - what? Agreed to arrest, prosecute and punish the cartoonists and editors? Pass new laws banning prophet-mocking? Sworn a great oath that no Dane would ever make a joke about anything to do with Islam from now until the ending of the world?

She goes on to point out that:

The freedom of religion does not require the ‘freedom’ never to hear anything one might find irritating or disconcerting. That is not the meaning of freedom. That has never been the meaning of freedom. Translating it to that is a shortcut to theocratic tyranny.

Elsewhere, and on a slightly different but related subject, Sunny Hundal points out that:

Freedom of speech is the best tool that minority groups have when fighting for their rights. Thus anti-racism campaigners are setting themselves up for a pyrrhic victory when asking for his removal because it sets a dangerous precedent if we were to apply those standards equally.

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post