Thursday, 13-Nov-2003 9:51 PM

The UN Declaration of Human Rights: what does it say?

Yesterday, the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) presented its blueprint of its proposed Islamic laws for Malaysia. In his address, PAS’ President, Abdul Hadi Awang, said, “The document about to be launched this morning equally places importance to the rights of the non-Muslim community in the context of an Islamic Government and State.”

Hadi then added, “May I also stress that the rights of the non-Muslim community as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, in regard to the right to religious beliefs and cultural practices, right to secure business opportunity and private property, right to political association, right to education, and mother-tongue education, as also enshrined by the United Nation Declaration of Human Rights, are fully secured.”

What does the UN Declaration of Human Rights say? Maybe PAS should also include this as an addendum to its document so that not only those reading it will understand how their rights will be protected under Islamic law, but PAS too can be reminded how the implementation of Islamic law should be carried out, especially with regards to the non-Muslims. And maybe reproducing the Malaysian Constitution as the second addendum should be considered as well seeing that not many really know what it says.

Before that, however, let us note the part where Hadi said, “May I also stress that the rights of the non-Muslim community as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, in regard to the right to religious beliefs and cultural practices…are fully secured.”

Even Prophet Muhammad, in his time, respected the rights to religious beliefs and cultural practices of the non-Muslim community. For example, one community, the Majusis, allowed incest. A Majusi father is allowed to marry his own daughter and the mother her own son. Islam did not forbid this though the Muslims were forbidden from doing so. In short, what is forbidden and punishable for Muslims may not be forbidden for non-Muslims and neither can they be punished for committing that act, be it incest.

Now what does the UN Declaration of Human Rights have to say?

The UN document starts of by saying that it “Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.”

Article 1 of the UN declaration says, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” This first article itself makes many of Malaysia’s laws and policies a violation of human rights, the New Economic Policy (NEP) being one example.

According to Article 1 of the UN Declaration, all citizens must be given equal status and no one race can be above another. This makes Umno’s “ketuanan Melayu” (Malays the Lords of the land) outdated. PAS should therefore commit, in very clear and definite terms, an end to the NEP in its present form. The NEP should instead be an aspiration to end poverty and a means to close the gap between the haves and the have-nots, regardless of race. Malaysia must adopt a policy of meritocracy and eligibility, not quotas.

Article 2 says, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

“Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”

Article 2 further strengthens the argument for the creation of a Malaysian race.

Article 5 says, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” This is where the punishment for committing crimes under Hudud will have to be seriously considered to ensure that Article 5 is adhered.

Article 7 says, “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.” This is maybe where a two-tiered legal system may be inappropriate. If all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law, then different laws for different people will contravene this clause. As it is now, Malaysia practices one set of laws for the Muslims and another for the non-Muslims. PAS will have to reconcile this to ensure that Hudud does not discriminate between the different races or religions.

Article 9 says, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” This will make laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) in violation of the UN Declaration.

Article 12 says, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation.” This is already one of the laws under Hudud and anyone who slanders the reputation of another by alleging he or she has committed a sex crime without being able to prove it will be punished. If Hudud were to be applied in the Anwar Ibrahim case, his accusers would be the ones punished instead.

Article 17 says, “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.” Under Hudud, Muslims may not consume liquor and will be punished if they do. Non-Muslims, however, have the right to consume liquor and will not be punished for, nor prevented from, doing so. Liquor is considered the property of the non-Muslims and any Muslim who spills even one drop of that liquor will be punished for doing so and will have to pay compensation to the non-Muslim. This is very clear under Hudud.

Article 18 says, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” This issue will have to be addressed, as Hudud forbids Muslims from changing their religion.

Article 20, which the Reformasi activists will certainly agree to, says, “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.”

Article 21 says, “Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.” This means both Muslims and non-Muslims have equal rights in running the country.

Article 26 (3) says, “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.” This would mean mother-tongue education must be permitted, and Hadi has already said this would apply under Islamic law.

PAS has to spell out in greater detail what Islamic law or Hudud entails so that the non-Muslims will be assured they would not become victims for committing any act that is only an offence for Muslims. Non-Muslims must be assured that they will not be forbidden from dancing, drinking liquor, eating pork, gambling, or for that matter incest, and neither will they be punished for doing so.

For example, what is the punishment for corruption under Hudud? In China, the punishment is a bullet to the head, so is the punishment for highway robbery -- plus the cost of the bullet is charged to the family. How would the non-Muslims in Malaysia be punished for these acts?

As for the Muslims, they can either choose Islamic law or renounce Islam now while they still can so that they can be exempted from Hudud -- or maybe not commit any act such as adultery, corruption, robbery or rape like how a true Muslim should.

Full text of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights can be read here:

(http://www.freeanwar.com/us_reports/UNHCHR.htm)