For the ICERD to work non-Muslims must also come under Sharia laws

By MT Webmaster Last updated Nov 28, 2018

In other Muslim countries, non-Muslims also get punished under Sharia laws and they are beheaded for certain crimes, just like the Muslims are. So, either abolish the Sharia or make non-Muslims subjected to the Sharia and Hudud as well. Then the ICERD can be ratified because only then will all Malaysians be equal before the law.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There are many who support or oppose the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination or the ICERD but do not really know what the whole issue is about. It is like those non-Muslims who oppose RUU355, but if you were to ask them what RUU355 is, all they can tell you is it means chopping off the hands of thieves.

But then that is Malaysia for you. They oppose former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak because, they say, he cannot prove he did not steal 1MDB’s money. Anwar Ibrahim also cannot prove he did not sodomise so many young men and boys but then they say it is not Anwar’s job to prove his innocence but the government’s job to prove his guilt.

Malaysians have a talent for turning halal into haram and haram into halal whenever it suits them. Lim Kit Siang is foaming at the mouth calling Najib a thief but forgets that his own son was also arrested and charged for corruption but they conveniently dropped the case without going to trial.

In the eyes of the public, Lim Guan Eng is also a thief and then they go and put this thief in charge of Malaysia’s finances. In any other country Guan Eng would not have even been allowed to contest a seat in the general election let alone be made the Finance Minister.

Lim Kit Siang is proud that Algeria ratified the ICERD even though Christians there are treated worse than in Malaysia

Stop any Malaysian who has an opinion on the ICERD — whether he or she supports or opposes the ICERD never mind — and ask him or her what is the ICERD. I will be surprised if even one in 100 can explain what the ICERD means and the implications it will have on Malaysia.

As what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, first of all the Federal Constitution of Malaysia will need to me amended before the Articles of the ICERD can be implemented in Malaysia. There are those who do not agree, of course, but let us discuss this in a while.

Then there are those who say Malaysia can always ratify the ICERD but that does not mean the Articles must be implemented. In that case why sign? It is like signing a Bill to abolish the death sentence but not implementing it and still hanging people till they die.

In Manchester, UK, the ICERD means you cannot preach or read the Bible in public

“They were clearly told that reading the Bible and preaching can be offensive and that they could be arrested,” said the lawyer

In December 1960, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning all manifestations and practices of racial, religious and national hatred as violations of the United Nations Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and calling on the governments of all states to take all necessary measures to prevent all manifestations of racial, religious and national hatred.

Okay, so the basis of the ICERD is the UDHR. Hence what does the UDHR say?

The UDHR, which comprises 30 articles, was signed on 10th December 1948. Now, what is the position of the Muslim countries with regards to the UDHR (the ‘mother’ of the ICERD)?

Turkey, a secular state, signed the Declaration in 1948. Saudi Arabia, however, abstained from ratifying the Declaration on grounds that it violated Sharia laws. Pakistan, on the other hand, disagreed with Saudi Arabia and argued in favour of including freedom of religion in the UDHR. That means Muslims will have the freedom to leave Islam and commit many other ‘crimes against God’.

In 1982, the Iranian representative to the United Nations, Said Rajaie-Khorassani, said the UDHR was a secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition, which could not be implemented by Muslim countries without conflicting with the Sharia. In other words, the UDHR contradicts the Sharia and by extension the ICERD as well, since the ICERD must be read alongside the UDHR.

There are TWO sets of Declarations of Human Rights, one Christian and one Islamic, and the ICERD follows the Christian version

On 30 June 2000, members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) officially resolved to support the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, an alternative document that says people have freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Sharia, without any discrimination on grounds of race, colour, language, sex, religious belief, political affiliation, social status or other considerations.

In other words, Muslims have all the freedoms and equality that Allah allows but not beyond what is allowed in Islam according to the Sharia. That is like saying you have absolute freedom of speech but not necessarily freedom AFTER speech.

So, in 2000, it was agreed that Muslim countries will adopt the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam as the alternative to the UDHR because the UDHR contradicts the Sharia. And the UDHR gave birth to the ICERD. And, as they say in the legal profession, the fruit of a poisonous tree is poisonous.

Of course, if Malaysia wants to ratify the ICERD then I have no problems with that. Ratify or do not ratify does not matter to me. But if we do ratify the ICERD then the Sharia has to go. We cannot have one country two systems. Everyone is equal.

Currently, Muslims face discrimination and are not equal to non-Muslims because Muslims face separate laws in a Sharia court and are punished for crimes that non-Muslims are not punished for. Under the UHDR and its offspring, the ICERD, Malaysians cannot face discrimination due to his or her race, religion and gender. The Sharia, however, discriminates Muslims.

In other Muslim countries, non-Muslims also get punished under Sharia laws and they are beheaded for certain crimes, just like the Muslims are. So, either abolish the Sharia or make non-Muslims subjected to the Sharia and Hudud as well. Then the ICERD can be ratified because only then will all Malaysians be equal before the law.