prostitution.
Those who claim cultural exceptionalism are accused, often correctly, of using it as a fragile disguise for dictatorial tendencies. For example, the Taliban in Afghanistan, by suppressing women and preventing education, are centralizing and perpetuating their power. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN expert on rights of women, maintains that practices such as stoning, female genital mutilation and the general repression of women, ‘are all inauthentic perversions of religious dogmas.’ 11 She concludes that they do not have roots in Islamic scholarship, but as Professor Nasr Abu-Zaid writes ‘it is the militants who are hijacking Islam’. 12 Interestingly, from a different angle, if given the chance, would Afghan women choose total equality and freedom over subordination and traditional values? Though the answer may seem obvious to us, we are unlikely ever to find out. In trying to understand what ‘western values’ would be; if you look closely, even Taliban practices begin to look western. Western civilization formally practised many of things we now regard as abhorrent. Socrates, one of the great western philosophers, was famously stoned for impiety 13 , as recommended in ‘Leviticus 24’ in the Old Testament 14 , making us (the West) sound somewhat hypocritical. This demonstrates there is nothing fixed about culture; cultures and societies are largely flexible and pragmatic, therefore constantly evolving. Is it right for societies to defend, in the name of their culture, routine practices if they are questioned by other cultures? Slavery was accepted in the West until only 150 years ago. The subsequent abolition 15 exemplifies the positive effect of cultural transparency and the imperative of self-reflection. The lack of specificity in the UDHR permits interpretation for each culture and thus allows for some autonomy whilst still protecting basic humanitarian values. However, this can also open the way for countries to interfere in the affairs of other nations, justifying their transcending of national borders in the name of international law. Nonetheless, the UDHR was written and codified by representatives all over the world including countries that would be deemed non-western such as; India, Egypt, Pakistan, China, Lebanon and Chile. Furthermore, over 60% of the ratifying votes of the UDHR came from non-western countries. From a practical point of view I believe that the UDHR cannot apply universally due to the divergence in the culture of nations, such as Iran and Afghanistan. However states must continue to stress the importance of minimum international humanitarian standards to prevent the re-occurrence of atrocities that we have seen in the last century across Europe and South America. Each culture can pursue its vision to achieve its utopian society as long as, in doing so, it does not encroach on the rights of others. What really matters is the purpose of the UDHR, not its origins – the ability to protect individuals – in all cultures. Shashi Tharoor states ‘the challenge of human rights is to identify the common denominators rather than to throw up one’s hands at the impossibility of universalism’. 16 From a personal perspective, I would argue that human rights are fully compatible with religion, faith and the diversity that exists between cultures. I believe the common universal values that can be applied to humanitarian beliefs include; justice, truth, peace, love and compassion. Societies must be open minded and able to look objectively at both familiar and unfamiliar values in an attempt to reconcile their perceptions of these denominators with those of others. 1 United Nations Human Rights Council (1948) ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)’ 2 JJ Rousseau (1789) ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen’ 4 T Jefferson (1776) ‘Declaration of Independence’ 5 J Madison (1791) ‘ Bill of Rights’ 6 S Tharoor (2001) ‘Are rights universal?’, ‘Third World Traveller’ 7 S.P Sinha (1978) ‘Human rights philosophically.’ ‘ Indian Journal of International Law 18’ 8 H Maass (2014) ‘ISIS declares Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria’ ‘The Week’ 9 TM Franck (2001) ‘Are Human Rights Universal’ www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/56666/thomas-m-franck/are-rights-universal 10 Exodus 21 ‘New Revised Standard Version’ References
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