Sir, – Colm O'Gorman of Amnesty (June 13th) appears to be saying "Trust us, only we know what's right where human rights are concerned". His entirely novel description of "evolving" human rights coupled with states interpreting those rights "domestically" can only be a recipe for chaos.
I’m sure many of the repressive regimes that Amnesty International would be better focussing on would broadly welcome such an approach as endorsement of their unique domestic interpretations of those human rights. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN KELLEHER,
Douglas, Co Cork.
Sir, – The emphatic insistence by Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty International that Ireland “must” change its laws to accommodate abortion at the behest of the UN Human Rights Committee is a bundle of contradictions.
Articles 3, 5 and 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right state that the right to life of everyone is protected and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as “any human being under the age of 18, unless the age of majority is attained earlier under a state’s own domestic legislation”.
His claim that Ireland’s abortion laws “indisputably violate numerous human rights, including the rights to life” is unrestrained fantasy.
In any genuine republic, supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives. The idea that Ireland has “consequent obligations” to implement something, whose “precise content and meaning” can be unilaterally altered by an external committee set up to “interpret them in light of emerging norms and realities”, is to deny the very existence of this Republic and to place it at the whim of a committee.
Article 2.7 of the United Nations charter states that “Nothing contained in the present charter shall authorise the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state”.
So let’s forget Mr O’Gorman’s and the committee’s “musts”.– Yours, etc,
SEAMUS O’CALLAGHAN,
Carlow.