November 10, 2013

To Each His Own

Every nation has its own character, its own culture and its own traditions. They are what distinguish them from other nations. They also have their own instruments which express their ideals, aspirations, structures and institutions which determine how the nation will be governed and the rights and freedoms of citizens and their duties and obligations. This is called the Constitution. You could say that the heart and soul of a nation is contained in its Constitution.

This very heart and soul became subject to question last week when its highest public servant in the Department of Human Development, Ms. Judith Alpuche, appeared before the Universal Periodic Review, held in Geneva, Switzerland, to update the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights on the Belize question of decriminalizing same-sex intercourse.

Moral Authority

In Belize, as in most countries, public officials are sworn by oath to uphold their country’s constitution and laws. Therefore, should it not be a very serious issue to be considered both by the persons attending the conference and the government they represent that they could be accused of not acting in the best interests of Belize?

The very submission to pressure from the United States of America and the United Kingdom, acting under the aegis of the United Nations, raises serious questions concerning the moral authority of that organization to advise Belize on matters concerning human rights.

The United Nations itself was founded in 1945 after the end of World War II. The victorious allies under the leadership of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France and others persuaded other nations to support its formation. Most of the world rejoiced, perceived the moment as historic, destined to raise the quality of human consciousness to prevent war by enhancing respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of all manner of men.

The behavior of Nazi Germany in dealing with conquered peoples, and especially the extermination of Jews for no other reason but their race, was one of the main reasons why humanity embraced the United Nations as a great symbol of hope for a higher level of civilized consciousness for all of humanity.

During the past 20-30 years, however, thoughtful people throughout the world have begun to question whether the United Nations itself has not lost its way in navigating human thought to an acceptable universal understanding of what human rights truly are. Are they manmade by positive law, or are they manifested to us through reason expressed in natural law?

Was it not the arrogance of physical power expressed in military might that propelled the Nazi regime to pass racial laws which demonized the Jewish people? Was this not positive law (man’s law) instead of natural law? Has science not proved that race is a mere mental construct?

In Belize we talk of true human rights – those rights that common sense shows proceed from basic needs. We make a clear distinction between choice and right, the former being any and every human act (good or bad; legal or illegal), the latter being those choices that proceed from basic needs. These latter are the genuine, true human rights. The former are manmade and bogus.

The Crux of the Matter

The crucial question here is: Does the United Nations, or any other power on earth, have the legal and moral authority to tell Belize what we must say is a right and what is not a right? Belize is a sovereign nation with rights equal to even the mighty United States and Britain. Or, does might make right in the halls of power of the United Nations?

Before Ms. Alpuche, or any other Belizean, including Prime Minister Barrow, may speak with authority about human rights in Belize, the question of what these mean to Belizeans must be settled by putting the question to the people in a referendum. Until then, no one has the moral authority to speak to the world on our behalf on this topic.