| www.euronews.com Amnesty International has been around for over 50 years now. Who belongs to this organisation? How is it funded? And more importantly, are we listening? Joining us on I-talk today is Philippe Hensman, Director of Amnesty International Belgium. I-talk presenter Alex Taylor: "Philippe Hensman, hello and thank you for joining us. Earlier we filmed a few people in the streets of Brussels who wanted to ask you some questions. Here's the first." *"Hello, my name is Aude, I live in Brussels. I wanted to know, how do you manage to have human rights co-exist with cultural and ethnic specifics?"* Alex Taylor: "This is a general question. For example, the veil or gay rights in some countries are religious or cultural issues, how do you put things into perspective, how do you decide on a position?" Philippe Hensman: "First we base our decision on international law, which allows us to make a decision on certain issues." Alex Taylor: "What kind? The Universal Declaration?" Philippe Hensman: "The Universal Declaration is not a law, it's a statement. While international covenants for example, are much more accurate and are more obligatory. So this is the first thing. The second thing is that we consider first the rights that don't contradict cultural traditions or other rights. For example, female circumcision is not a right." Alex Taylor: "You have some very sensitive tasks, like Palestinian Hana Shalabi for example. Israelis say that she belongs to the Islamic Jihad ... |
