Children also have the right to freedom of religion or belief, and that must be protected

So, in my last post, I focused my comments on the "perception" that Christian Examiner author, Gregory Tomlin, wants the reader to leave with concerning Heiner Bielefeldt's statement on freedom of religion and belief in regards to children. (Document E)

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70th

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Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief

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About the only thing the author got right, Bielefeldt's name and title.

My primary focus in looking at the original document surrounds this statement by the Examiner: 

Bielefeldt also claimed that the traditional family is the environment in which the child best develops his or her religious ideals and first learns to express them. As a result, he said, any attempt by the state to remove the child based on the pretext that the religious opinions of the parents may be harmful is "illegitimate."

Taken at face-value, it can be manipulated to justify any number of abhorrent practices as I noted previously. It was this thought that begged me to look at exactly what was stated.  Hint: the verbiage - traditional family - it ain't in there!  Nor is word "'illegitimate'".  Tomlin, in his zeal to advance his agenda, has ascribed words, thoughts, and conclusions to Bielefeldt that are not present in the original document.

What I did find under "role of parents", the importance of the family unit or structure as a whole in the "upbringing and development" of a child as a gestalt.:

While recognizing the status of the child as a rights holder, the Convention on the Rights of the Child also reflects the awareness that the child needs a supportive environment to realize his or her rights.  That supportive environment is usually provided by the family. According to the preamble of the Convention, the child “should grow up in a family environment”, since the family provides “the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children”[6]

Further along, in paragraph 22, we have recognition of the diversity of the family unit or family structure:

Given the child’s dependency on an enabling family environment, albeit with recognition of the variety of family forms, parents have the primary responsibility for supporting the child in the exercise of his or her human rights.[7]

No where in this document does the phrase "traditional family" - in essence one man, one woman marriage - appear.

In regards to government interventions that Tomlin seems concerned with.  Bielefeldt continuously highlights the importance of recognizing "the need of the child for an enabling environment" but balances that need with not "overrid[ing], ignor[ing] or marginaliz[ing] the rights of the child." [7]  

Bielefeldt recognizes the inherent controversies surrounding the relationship between the rights of the child and parental rights in regards to government interventions, but is "convinced that such anxieties cannot be sustained on the basis of an appropriate reading of the Convention, seen in conjunction with other relevant international standards."[8]  Noting that "some State agencies could be tempted to use the child’s right to freedom of religion or belief as a pretext for undue interference", Bielefeldt does not state, as Tomlin insinuates "any attempt by the state to remove the child based on the pretext that the religious opinions of the parents may be harmful is "illegitimate.""

What he does say,

However, based on an appropriate understanding of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the fear that article 14 of the Convention could legitimize the erosion of parental rights seems unsubstantiated.  Instead of being part of the problem, the Convention can and should be part of the solution. In conjunction with other human rights instruments, article 14 can help to tackle the problem of abusive State interventions. Rather than eroding parental rights in the sphere of freedom of religion or belief, article 14 corroborates, and at the same time further qualifies, those rights by acknowledging their significance from the specific perspective of the rights of the child.[9]
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Moreover, situations may emerge in which the best interests of the child may actually require State interventions to protect him or her, for example against neglect, domestic violence or harmful practices.  Intervening measures must always be carried out with empirical and normative diligence and furthermore they are connected to substantive and procedural safeguards.[10]

This overall theme of balance and restraint is carried throughout Bielefeldt's entire report,

The Convention on the Rights of the Child combines the recognition of the child as a genuine rights holder with respect for the rights and duties of parents or legal guardians in directing the child in the exercise of  his or her  human rights. However, situations can occur in which State interventions in the sphere of parental rights are necessary, for instance to protect the child from neglect, domestic violence or harmful  practices. According to article 19, paragraph 1, of the Convention, “States parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.”  In the context of the right to health,  article  24,  paragraph  3, of  the Convention obliges States to “take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children".[15-16]
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As the Committee on the Rights of the Child has pointed out in its general comment No. 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration: “Given the gravity of the impact on the child of separation from his or her parents, such separation should only occur as a last resort measure, as when  the child is in danger of experiencing imminent harm or when otherwise necessary; separation should not take place if less intrusive measures could protect the child.  ”Under article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention, “competent authorities subject to judicial review” have to “determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child”. Even in such a situation, the child should be able to “maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is  contrary to the child’s best interests” (article 9, paragraph 3).[16]

Again no where in this document does Bielefeldt give parents the unfettered power Tomlin implies.  Had Tomlin actually read the report, and not just the press release, it would have been clear.  By glossing over, or ignoring, what was clearly stated in the release, “Religious community leaders should support the elimination of harmful practices inflicted on children, including by publicly challenging problematic religious justifications for such practices whenever they occur,” Tomlin lost a chance to prevent more instances of religious child maltreatment.


Children also have the right to freedom of religion or belief, and that must be protected

UN official: Children have a right to religious freedom, too | Christian Examiner Newspapers

A high-ranking United Nations official has expressed concern over the growing loss of religious freedom among children around the world, especially in places where young girls are treated as property or bounty from conquests.

Heiner Bielefeldt, a German diplomat and the UN's special rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief, said in a statement Oct. 23 that all governments represented in the UN General Assembly had an obligation to "respect religious practices by children and their families and support families in fulfilling their role in providing an enabling environment for the realization of the rights of the child."

On the surface, the statement might seem like an attempt to emancipate children from their parent's instruction, but that is not Bielefeldt's goal. He said parents play a key role in leading children into religious belief.
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Bielefeldt also claimed that the traditional family is the environment in which the child best develops his or her religious ideals and first learns to express them. As a result, he said, any attempt by the state to remove the child based on the pretext that the religious opinions of the parents may be harmful is "illegitimate."

"As a matter of fact, in some countries, far-reaching State interventions into families in the spheres of religious initiation, socialization and education of children actually do occur — at times also by invoking an alleged interest of the child. Such problematic State interventions disproportionately affect families belonging to religious minorities, new religious movements or small communities often stigmatized as 'sects.' Depending on the country, families not professing any religion may also be under increased threat of undue State interference. In extreme cases, children have been taken away from their families, for instance under the pretext of saving them from ill-defined 'superstitious' religions — a pretext often invoked against indigenous families in the past."

Please note that my comments are focused on the perception that the Christian Examiner wants the reader to leave with - that parents have unrestricted power to act, in regard to the (religious) upbringing of their child(ren), void of any governmental oversight.  In other words, laws be damned.  I have not yet read the actual document/statement and I have a hard time fathoming the following, according to the Examiner.

Does Tomlin even realize what he is implying here?   Don't want a gay child, send them off to get "conversion therapy".  Who cares if it doesn't work.  Want uneducated, illiterate children because the "rapture"?  Well you now have carte blanc.  Think religion doesn't kill?  Now you can pray till your hearts content to "cure" your child. 

Sounds like Tomlin attended the recent World Congress of Family gathering in Salt Lake City, Utah where the "traditional family" canard is highly touted.  The WCF featured speaker, Mark Regnarus, whose "research" on gay parenting has been debunked.  Or maybe he's been reading Donald Paul Sullins' flawed paper, Emotional Problems among Children with Same-Sex Parents: Difference by Definition, that incorrectly flaunts the benefits of "traditional" families.

UN official: Children have a right to religious freedom, too | Christian Examiner Newspapers

Congo's 'child witches' are exorcised to have the devil beaten out of them | Daily Mail Online

'We are Catholic missionaries so it is our duty to carry out exorcisms,,,.  We have a way to shoo away the sorcery, to chase away the demons.'

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Squeezing a toddler’s eyeballs and shoving his thumb into her tiny nose a Catholic priest purges a child of the devil, one of many exorcisms he carries out every day.

Flicked with holy water, her face smeared with olive oil and poked violently in the stomach, two-and-a-half-year old Angel bursts into tears as she is rid of the evil spirits that lurk within her.

The child wriggles to free herself but her mother holds on firmly, insistent that she endures the exorcism to protect her from the sorcery that many in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) believe controls their lives.

Angel and Grace, an 11-month-old baby exorcised the same day, have been ‘saved’ by the ceremony, the devil banished, and for now they remain safe in their homes.

But tens of thousands of other children in this troubled central African country have been branded ‘child’ witches and flung out onto the streets by their families into a life of destitution, violence and abuse.

MailOnline ventured into the frightening world of the occult in this African heartland, famously described as the ‘heart of darkness’, as part of series examining the challenges facing the United Nations trying to help these children. 

In the capital Kinshasa, at the Gallicane Catholic Church, Father Alexis Katziota Mungala talks almost matter of factly of his work releasing thousands of children from the devil.

Exorcism is a daily ritual he performs in his church.

‘These witches they eat human flesh, they drink human blood,’ Father Alexis told MailOnline.

‘It is the work of the devil. Witchcraft kills the love within the child. It fills them with hate, it makes them eat their father, fight with their brother.

‘Witchcraft is part of our tradition; it is part of Congolese culture.

‘Children can become infected with sorcery but we carry out exorcisms to help children find their families again.’

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‘Once accused of witchcraft, children are stigmatized and discriminated against for life. Children accused of witchcraft may be killed, although more often they are abandoned by their parents and live on the streets.’

Deeply suspicious and steeped in mysticism the existence of child-witchcraft is deep-rooted in Congolese culture.

‘Child witchcraft is part of our tradition,’ Etienne Maleke, who has worked with Kinshasa’s street children for over 20 years, told MailOnline.

‘All of the boys here at the shelter have been accused of being witches.’

But the collapse of the economy in the 1990s following mass lootings by the unpaid army and the following chaos of two devastating wars turned this phenomenon into an epidemic.

Witchcraft was often used to simply rid a household of an unwanted mouth to feed.

Congo's 'child witches' are exorcised to have the devil beaten out of them | Daily Mail Online

UPDATED::Saudi Arabia: Juvenile prisoner faces 'death by crucifixion' after appeal is dismissed - Yahoo News UK

UPDATE:: The Prime Minister suggests that he will try and personally intervene with Saudi Arabian authorities in the case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who has been sentenced to death, as he is tackled over the British response to human rights abuses.

UPDATE::  This is why Saudi should not be on the UN Human Rights Council!

Now, a group of UN human rights experts have penned a joint statement calling on Saudi Arabia to “immediately halt the scheduled execution” and give Mr al-Nimr “a fair retrial”.

The experts, including the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns and Benyam Mezmur, the chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, said imposing the death penalty on someone who was a child at the time of offending and after allegations of torture was “incompatible with Saudi Arabia’s international obligations”.

“International law, accepted as binding by Saudi Arabia, provides that capital punishment may only be imposed following trials that comply with the most stringent requirements of fair trial and due process, or could otherwise be considered an arbitrary execution,” they said.

“In light of reports that the trial against Mr al-Nimr fell short of such standards, we call upon the Saudi authorities to ensure a fair retrial of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, and to immediately halt the scheduled execution,” the experts added.

A prisoner in Saudi Arabia, who was sentenced to death as a child, faces "death by crucifixion" after a final appeal has been dismissed. Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested on 14 February 2012 when he was just 17, during a crackdown on anti-government protests in the Shiite province of Qatif. He was accused by the authorities of participation in illegal protests and of firearms offences, despite there being no evidence to justify the latter charge.

Ali was initially held at a juvenile offenders facility, where he was denied access to lawyers. Evidence indicates that he was tortured and forced to sign a document which was tantamount to a confession. The signed document formed the basis of the case against him and he was convicted of the alleged offences by the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC). However, the trials failed to meet international standards. Ali and his family have strongly denied the charges against him, but, after the final appeal - which was held in secret and without Ali's knowledge - was dismissed, there are few legal options remaining to oppose the sentence originally handed down on 27 May 2014. It is feared that Ali could be executed in a matter of days.

The case against Ali appears to be based on his familial connection to Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a 53-year old critic of the Saudi regime and a prominent religious leader in the Kingdom, who is his uncle. Mr Al Nimr was sentenced to death by crucifixion on charges including 'insulting the King' and delivering religious sermons that 'disrupt national unity'. This week, it emerged that the authorities plan to execute Ali's uncle on Thursday (17 September) sparking fears that his nephew will also be killed.

Saudi Arabia: Juvenile prisoner faces 'death by crucifixion' after appeal is dismissed - Yahoo News UK

Anger after Saudi Arabia 'chosen to head key UN human rights panel' | World | News | The Independent

There are no words to describe the utter shock this news has generated:

The Saudi regime makes a mockery of every single American ideal. It bans freedom of speech, prohibits religious liberty, and executes accused adulterers and gays. By giving a pass to one of the cruelest dictatorships on Earth, we betray the very essence of the American experience.
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In its slavish, bi-partisan and seemingly bottomless appeasement of Saudi Arabia, the free world is exacerbating an already dangerous situation. The Saudi regime will fall, radicalism will rise, and terror will continue to spread. The West could improve the chances of stability and peace by supporting moderates, defending political prisoners and linking arms to improvements in human rights. The more open the society, the less it will threaten the world.

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The United Nations is coming under fire for handing Saudi Arabia a key human rights role even though the Kingdom has “arguably the worst record in the world” on freedoms for women, minorities and dissidents.

Critics, including the wife of imprisoned pro-democracy blogger Raif Badawi – sentenced to 1000 lashes for blogging about free speech – say that the appointment is “scandalous” and means that “oil trumps human rights”.

Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who is leading an international campaign to free her husband, said on Facebook that handing the role to Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was effectively “a green light to start flogging [him] again”.

UN Watch, an independent campaigning NGO, has discovered that Mr Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, has been elected as chair of a panel of independent experts on the UN Human Rights Council.

Anger after Saudi Arabia 'chosen to head key UN human rights panel' | World | News | The Independent

URGENT::Raif Badawi's wife outraged as UN appoints Saudi Arabia rep to lead human rights panel

As Ali Rizvi has stated, "This is why the Nobel Prize should step in and send a clear message from the civilized world:"

The United Nations has appointed Saudi Arabia representative Faisal bin Hassan Trad as head of a key human rights panel that is tasked with naming experts that determine global human rights standards. Among those criticising the UN for the appointment is non-governmental watchdog UN Watch and Ensaf Haidar, the wife of the imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi, who has been flogged in public in Saudi Arabia.

Haidar claimed that this will lead to Saudi being able to flog Badawi again. UN Watch has called upon US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power and EU foreign minister Federica Mogherini to condemn the appointment.

UN Watch director Hillel Neuer said that the choice is scandalous, saying that the country has beheaded more people in 2015 than the Islamic State has. "Petro-dollars and politics have trumped human rights," he said. "Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women's rights, and continues to imprison the innocent blogger Raif Badawi.

"This UN appointment is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief, and underscores the credibility deficit of a human rights council that already counts Russia, Cuba, China, Qatar and Venezuela among its elected members."

Raif Badawi's wife outraged as UN appoints Saudi Arabia rep to lead human rights panel

Bangladesh internet law has 'chilling effect': UN rapporteur - Yahoo News

An internet law in Bangladesh has had a "chilling effect" on society, the UN's Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion said Wednesday after a nine-day visit to the country, as he warned of rising religious extremism.

Under Bangladesh's Internet Act, any person who deliberately publishes material deemed to hurt religious beliefs, offend the state or damage law and order can be jailed for 14 years.

The law has been used to imprison several high-profile journalists and social media users in the Muslim-majority nation in recent months.

"This law has a chilling effect on civil society organisations, human rights activists and members of religious minority communities," rapporteur Heiner Bielefeldt told reporters in the capital Dhaka.

The UN rapporteur's visit came in the wake of four murders of atheist bloggers by suspected Islamic militants this year and mounting concern over shrinking press freedom and human rights abuses.

Bangladesh internet law has 'chilling effect': UN rapporteur - Yahoo News

ISIL Persecutes LGBT People, Experts Tell UN | Al Jazeera America

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility for executing at least 30 people accused of sodomy, the head of an international gay rights organization told the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

The executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Jessica Stern, said that courts established by ISIL claim to have punished sodomy with stoning, firing squads, beheadings and by pushing people from tall buildings.

"In addition to men perceived as gay, trans-identified people and lesbians are among those who have been raped and killed," Stern said.

Stern, who addressed the issue at the council’s first-ever meeting on LGBT rights, says fear of the group, which controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria, has fueled violence by other armed groups and "private actors" against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals.

"It's about time, 70 years after the creation of the U.N., that the fate of LGBT persons who fear for their lives around the world is taking center stage," said U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, who organized the meeting on violence and discrimination against LGBT people with Chile’s U.N. envoy, Cristian Barros Melet.

Stern called for specific strategies to combat LGBT attacks, including U.N. action to relocate those most in need and bringing the gay community into broader human rights and humanitarian initiatives.

ISIL Persecutes LGBT People, Experts Tell UN | Al Jazeera America

UN slams Vatican for 'efforts to cover up' pedophile priests in sex abuse scandal - World News

The Vatican faced blistering criticism from a United Nations committee Thursday over allegations it protected pedophile priests at the expense of victims in what constituted a worldwide sex abuse scandal.

It was the first time representatives of the Holy See were questioned in public on cases of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy around the world.

The U.N. committee's main human rights investigator, Sara Oviedo, led the most intense grilling the Holy See has received on the issue, according to a report by The Associated Press.

Given the "zero tolerance" policy of the Vatican, she asked, why were there "efforts to cover up and obscure these types of cases?"

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The Vatican insists it is not responsible for the actions of priests, who it says are not its employees but citizens of their own countries.

UN slams Vatican for 'efforts to cover up' pedophile priests in sex abuse scandal - World News

BBC News - Malala Yousafzai speech in full

This video is a little over 17 minutes, and well worth the time to watch. If you are not inspired by this young lady's words, you may want to check your pulse. She is and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with and the wearing of Benazair Bhuttos shawl is no small mark on what she can and will accomplish,,,

The terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions,but nothing changed in my life, except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.

Let us pick up our books and pens, they are our most powerful weapons.

One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.

BBC News - Malala Yousafzai speech in full

GOP Senator Sponsors Measure Calling For U.S. Withdrawal From The U.N. | ThinkProgress

This is not the first time that I have heard this suggestion.  The concern, this mindset is indicative of those that espouse a NWO or conspiracy theory rhetoric.  So my question, is Paul a closet con-nutter or is this just a means to push his/their political agenda,,,

An amendment was filed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for just such a purpose, purporting to delete all spending related to the United Nations from the FY14 budget. Specifically, the amendment calls for a reduction of $7,691,822,000 in spending 2014 and 2023. That slash goes beyond even the most draconian of cuts proposed by House Republicans since they reclaimed a majority in 2010.

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Paul appears to be following in the footsteps of his father — former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) — in advancing the call to have the U.S. completely pull out of the United Nations. The elder Paul was the primary sponsor of the “American Sovereignty Restoration Act,” a bill introduced periodically from 1999 to 2009 that would ban the U.S. from membership in the U.N. Despite this antipathy towards the United Nations, Ron Paul recently turned to the U.N. system to help him gain control of a website bearing his name.

But the Republican senator from Kentucky is no stranger to using U.N. paranoia to burnish his right-wing credentials. In 2011, he sent a conspiratorial email to his supporters, warning of a supposed U.N. plot to confiscate and destroy U.S. citizens’ guns via a “Small Arms Treaty.” In reality, the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty is only just now being developed and in no way will effect civilian ownership of firearms.

GOP Senator Sponsors Measure Calling For U.S. Withdrawal From The U.N. | ThinkProgress

The U.N. declares ‘Malala Day.’ Next, a Nobel Peace Prize? — MSNBC

In the U.N.’s video message, Ban Ki-Moon asks for citizens worldwide to support Malala’s fight for every girl’s right to an education. On Friday, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is also the U.N. chief’s Special Envoy for Global Education, presented a petition with over a million signatures pledging their support of Malala’s mission to the Pakistan government.

The U.N. declares ‘Malala Day.’ Next, a Nobel Peace Prize? — MSNBC