Human Rights Archives - Two Views Beyond the Hill

The comparison of President Obama to Hitler by Rep. Randy Weber (R) of Texas….Rupert Murdoch’s (unsurprising) comments on the responsibility of ‘all Muslims’….. and Steven Emerson’s ‘leading expert’ blooper on Birmingham being an only-Muslim town…. There’s been quite a bit of “wish I hadn’t said that” in the recent commentary on the Charlie Hebdo attack.

The quest for real insights, a healthy public debate and the spirit of ‘leaving no angle uncovered’ means we’ve seen some less-than-well-thought-out commentary. Regardless, its important to remember that freedom of expression and opinion is a human right- that particularly today – needs to be protected and promoted, but also considered alongside our responsibilities to protect the rights of minority and marginalized groups.

In the spirit of healthy debate, here are four of the most interesting commentaries in the mainstream media on the Charlie Hebdo attack that we believe are”off-the-mark”. We explain why:

1.“We need to talk about virgins in heaven” is the title of this opinion piece published in The Huffington Post, UK edition.
Can we please add name-calling to the list of things we need to talk about, Mr. Sturgis?

Continue reading Charlie Hebdo & our right to think and say what we want. Four off-the-mark commentaries →

This week, the United Nations held the 3rd annual Forum on Human Rights and Business in Geneva (Forum). The Forum is intended to provide a global platform for the implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, a set of principles endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011 that establish a framework of standards on the “responsibilities of States and businesses for preventing and addressing business-related human rights abuse.” The Guidelines include a set of thirty-one principles that are underpinned by three interrelated pillars:

the State duty to protect human rights,
the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and
the right of victims to access an effective remedy.

At the closing session of the Forum, panelists highlighted areas of achievements and also noted that implementation challenges of the Guiding Principles persist. The Forum reported on a growing number of states taking real steps to implement the Guiding Principles, including through the development of National Implementation Plans on business and human rights; identified how corporations and business actors are taking practical steps to respect human rights; and noted that the Guiding Principles have been adopted by the World Bank and OECD, among others.

Continue reading Do we need -and can we get- a binding agreement on human rights and business? Opinion Diverge during the UN Forum →