Madam, – Some of the recent commentary on Amnesty International’s position on the Civil Partnership Bill has shown a fundamental lack of understanding of human rights.
Amnesty International derives its mandate from international human rights law. The right to marry is contained in Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in Article 23 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Human rights are universal. They belong to everyone, regardless of their race, citizenship, nationality, gender or sexuality.
Our global policy, adopted in 2007, is to end discrimination in civil marriage laws on the basis of sexual orientation. Our members in Ireland endorsed this position when they proposed and passed a motion at our 2008 annual conference mandating us to campaign on civil partnership for same-sex couples.
The proposed legislation denies equality in civil marriage law in this State to certain people on the basis of their sexual orientation. It is absolutely an act of discrimination.
Human rights violations do not just happen elsewhere, in faraway places.
They can, and sadly do, happen here in Ireland.
It is for this reason that while continuing to campaign for the closure of Guantánamo, the release of prisoners of conscience such as Aung San Suu Kyi and in support of human rights activists around the world, we will also continue to campaign and advocate in support of human rights here in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
NOELEEN HARTIGAN,
Programmes Director,
Amnesty International Ireland,
Ballast House,
Westmoreland Street,
Dublin 2.
Madam, – I refer to the article by John Waters (Opinion, July 31st). Mr Waters’s criticism of Amnesty for what he sees as going against its traditional focus of universal human rights and getting “mixed up” with everyday democratic politics is surely misdirected anger. The right to be with the one you love and have that love recognised and protected under the institution of marriage is one of the most basic human rights every law-abiding, tax-paying citizen should be entitled to.
Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights defends that very right. Under the proposed Civil Partnership Bill same-sex couples will not have their love recognised, celebrated and protected by the same laws as their straight citizens. This is a denial of our human rights.
Mr Waters’s assertion that marriage is “a contract between a man and woman”; an institution “maintained by society” which he claims has little to do with love, is a most curious one. Since when is marriage an immutable institution? The meaning of marriage has been evolving for centuries; throughout the ages the institution has been moulded and remoulded, reflective of cultural, religious and state definition.
If marriage were the same today as it has been for 2,000 years, it would be still be conceivable to own a wife as property and dispose of her at will, to marry a 12-year-old you have never met, or to imprison a person who married someone of another race. In the Ireland of today, a marriage based on love is one the most desired and celebrated.
Surely Mr Waters must see that our current society has just as much right to mould the institution of marriage according to the beliefs and needs of today? Amnesty should be congratulated for seeing this for what it is – a human rights issue – and aligning themselves accordingly. – Yours, etc,
NOELLE MORAN,
Smithfield,
Dublin 7.
Madam, – Belatedly I have read John Waters’s article on same-sex marriage. The sly satire of the piece eluded me until I read this sentence: “Heterosexuals, like homosexuals, are prohibited from marrying people of their own sex.”
Then it struck me that Mr Waters was mischievously paraphrasing the words of Anatole France: “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.” Mr Waters is too clever for his own good. If one were unaware of this reference, one would assume the piece was a poorly argued text opposing same-sex marriage, rather than the impish satire of intolerance it really is. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT RYAN,
Heuston Square,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8.