WUNRN
OIC - Organization of Islamic
Cooperation
"One
of the main issues related to the gender equality debate is the very definition
of the term gender."
"The OIC Human Rights Commission
established four working groups to address these issues in an
effective and sustained fashion: on Palestine, on the Rights of Women and of
the Child, on Islamophobia and Muslim minorities, and on Right to Development."
OIC
Seeks Rights Debates on Muslim Values
Zia
Shah - February 7, 2014
One of the major
challenges of the OIC - Organization of Islamic Cooperation is finding
ways to enrich global human rights debates with Islamic values and
principles, said Iyad Madani, the newly appointed OIC secretary-general.
In a statement issued at the fourth session of the OIC’s Independent Permanent
Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), on Sunday here, Madani said that current
international human rights laws are based on Western values.
He said the OIC was
looking particularly at limitations on freedom of expression, gender equality,
applying human rights in accordance with the OIC member states’ constitutional
and legal systems, and stopping the spread of extremism.
With reference to the
United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights and major UN human rights
instruments, he said most OIC countries have “willingly adopted and implemented
international human rights norms. However, there are a number of issues that go
beyond the normal scope of human rights and clash with Islamic teachings,”
Madani said in the statement.
Freedom of expression is
considered a fundamental right, but despite “repeated incidents of hatred
and violence resulting from discrimination based on stereotyping and
stigmatization of individuals, communities and religions, some countries
continue to refuse any limitations or responsible use of this right,” Madani
said.
“Muslim countries wanting
to ensure respect for the sanctity and reputation of religious values,
scriptures and personalities for the promotion of peace in society are
criticized for limiting this freedom through blasphemy laws.”
“One of the main issues
related to the gender equality debate is the very definition of the term
gender. While OIC countries prefer to use the notion of equality between
men and women, Western countries push for the term ‘gender,’ which goes beyond
the normal definition of man and woman into the direction of how one
perceives him or herself rather than his or her actual physical appearance.”
“Another challenge facing
the commission is that all references to human rights in the OIC documents
stipulate that these principles should be applied in accordance with the
member states’ constitutional and legal systems.”
He said there needs to
be a way found to define these stipulations, and create “a yardstick that
each individual member state can look at to measure the distance between
the Islamic human rights model and its own laws and practices,” he said.
Another important
challenge was how to “deprive the extreme voices” in member states from
claiming they represent Islam.
“The road ahead is full of challenges, but the OIC now has the framework and
mechanism to move ahead, and the commission is the spearhead of this effort,”
Madani said.
He said that the OIC
takes pride in the fact that Islam was the first religion that laid down
universal fundamental rights for humanity. The OIC had since its inception
taken care to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms, safeguard the
rights of women and their participation in all spheres of life, and
assist Muslim minorities and communities outside the member states to
preserve their dignity, and cultural and religious identities.
The OIC charter
stipulated the formation of the IPCHR, as one of its organs to promote
civil, political, social and economic rights in conformity with Islamic
values.
In its 10-year strategic
plan, approved in Makkah in 2005, the OIC asserted that it was important for
member states to revive the Muslim Ummah’s pioneering role on rights issues.
They should expand the scope of political participation, ensure equality, civil
liberties and social justice, promote transparency and accountability, and
eliminate corruption.
The Cairo Declaration on
Human Rights in Islam embodies the OIC’s most complete statement on human
rights in Islam. Other documents followed suit including the covenant on the
Rights of the Child in Islam and the OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of
Women.
“The commission has done
commendable work on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied
Arab territories; on the issue of discrimination and intolerance against
Muslims and on the issue of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar,” Madani said.
The commission also
established four working groups to address these issues in an
effective and sustained fashion: on Palestine, on the Rights of Women and of
the Child, on Islamophobia and Muslim minorities, and on Right to Development.
It also created an ad hoc working group to establish a proper framework
for interaction between the IPHRC and member states’ human rights institutions
and civil society organizations.