Please read and promote this open letter! Its a worldwide cause for promoting a new human right - the right to refuse to kill. Thank you... Open letter to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, The Secretary-General of the United Nations, And to Dr. John William Ashe, The President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session Urging to include ‘The Right to Refuse to Kill’ In ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ Your Excellencies, The work and efforts of the United Nations for peacekeeping are crucial for the future of mankind. Increasing the role and the importance of the UN means to give more chances for non-violent ways of solving international armed conflicts and civil wars. For instance, the UN blue helmets are doing an extraordinary work for peacekeeping in the front line of conflicts on four continents. Unfortunately more and more violent military clashes recently started in many countries. Even this year so many lives were lost in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Israel, Palestinian territories, Nigeria, Somalia or Libya and other countries. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children are being separated from their loved ones by the endless horrors of wars. We all agree that the war is an absurd absolute evil, yet it is still around causing us so much concern and suffering. As a human being, every individual is a wonderful and invaluable person. Yet, at the same time, an unfortunate historical twist could lead to a situation in which a person is given a ‘reason’ and a gun, and then is asked to fight against other human beings who may have the same feelings, aspirations, desires, fears and hopes. So many good people are determined by others to do terrible acts in a war. The history gives us many examples of horrors and crimes that have been justified as orders from superiors. However, there have also been notable exceptions, individuals guided by their own conscience to refuse to execute orders that lead to inhuman acts even risking their own lives. Those who did so just embraced ‘the right to refuse to kill’ saving the most important values of humanity during hard times. At this moment such a right is not included in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However more and more people think that it should be. Seán MacBride, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 1974, said in his Nobel Lecture that “To the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights one more might, with relevance, be added. It is “The Right to Refuse to Kill.””. Organizations as Amnesty International, War Resisters’ International, National Secular Society, Pax Christi or Unitarian Peace Fellowship among others have advocated for such a new right. On July 30, 1993, the UN explicit clarification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 18 was made in the United Nations Human Rights Committee general comment 22, Paragraph 11: “The Covenant does not explicitly refer to a right to conscientious objection, but the Committee believes that such a right can be derived from article 18, inasmuch as the obligation to use lethal force may seriously conflict with the freedom of conscience and the right to manifest one’s religion or belief.” It’s a good step forward for conscientious objection but “the right to refuse to kill” is more than that. Off course, the inclusion of such a right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will not be sufficient to prevent all of the abuses. And just claiming a right is not a guarantee that it will be respected. However, in time, it will create a legal platform and a moral support for many individuals willing to fight to prevent the war and the violence, and to search for peaceful resolutions for any conflicts. Having in mind that there are so many wars in the world and that there are big risks for new horrors and mass murders, this new right may give a hope for preventing them. This right would apply not only to individuals recruited by the military forces of states, but also to those who became part of some paramilitary forces or civil militias. I think also that this right may cover not only killing people but also the mass killing of a various animal species, including those which are endangered. So please let me urge you to do what is necessary for having an extended debate in the UN Committees and Plenary in order to recognize ‘The Right to Refuse to Kill’. Respectfully yours, Remus Cernea Independent Member of the Romanian Parliament remuscernea.ro@gmail https://facebook/remus.cernea voxpublica.realitatea.net/politica-societate/open-letter-to-ban-ki-moon-the-secretary-general-of-the-un-and-john-ashe-the-president-of-the-un-general-assembly-107162.html
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:55:45 +0000
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