Hateful words a war crime

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-25-2003
Hateful words a war crime
33
Thu, 12-04-2003 - 10:34am
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20031203-113817-3449r.htm

With a trio of guilty verdicts yesterday, the U.N. tribunal for Rwanda has established that men armed only with words can commit genocide.


NPR had a good story on it yesterday, too.

rtsp://real.npr.na-central.speedera.net/real.npr.na-central/atc/20031203_atc_08.rm

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2003
Tue, 12-09-2003 - 1:10pm
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That is a tricky question. Canada has laws against hate speech. I realize the implications of this, both good and bad, but I thought I'd post some info about it in case anyone is interested.

An interesting side note, a number of times recently, Canadian politicians have put out a mudslinging ad including personal attacks against an opponent and all of them have plummeted down in the polls to the very bottom of the heap (some of the politicians had been leading by a hefty margin). They've figured out that that sort of thing doesn't work the way they had intended.

http://www.crr.ca/en/Publications/EducationalTools/RecognizingandReacting.htm

Here is a portion quoted from the Austin Review where it brings up the issue of Canada's laws:

http://www.austinreview.com/articles/81.html

"Our neighbor to the north, Canada, like most other nations, made no reservations when it ratified the Convention in 1970, and their law is instructive on the probable course of individual rights absent our Constitutional First Amendment guarantee. Canada adopted its Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982; it sets out the usual freedoms of thought, belief, conscience, religion, opinion, expression, press, association, and peaceful assembly. It states that the right of public discussion is subject to legal restrictions to preserve decency and public order, and that all rights can be restricted "as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society". The Charter states that individuals shall be free from discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability, and provides that the exercise of rights must preserve and enhance Canada's multi-cultural heritage. There is currently a strong movement, just as there is in the US, to include sexual orientation as a protected group.

The Canadian Criminal Code punishes hate propaganda, which includes the advocacy of genocide and the public incitement of hatred against persons of the various protected groups.

Statements, oral, written, or recorded, made in an area open to the public by right or by invitation, which promote hatred against any member of a protected group is subject to indictment and a possible two-year jail sentence. Their courts have held that hate speech is destructive of a democratic society, in that it undermines the self-esteem of members of the target group and delegitimizes their participation in the public political forum. As a consequence, the Canadian courts hold that it is justifiable to limit the hate promoter's right to expression in favor of promoting a public environment free of hate and vilification. Many in the US civil rights community see Canada as a model and would like the US to adopt similar hate speech or group defamation laws."

and another site that talks about this (though not the most objective of sources):

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_hat6.htm

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Tue, 12-09-2003 - 6:59pm
Yeah, and we're called anti-American traitors. The country is deeply divided.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 12-10-2003 - 11:40am

Sadly amazing, isn't it?


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