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OPINION

A Voice on Human Rights: Needed More Now than Ever

The loss of the United States representative on the United Nations Human Rights Commission means that the involvement of other defenders of religious freedom and human rights is needed more now than ever.

For the first time since the Human Rights Commission was formed in 1947, the US will not be represented on this vital UN Committee. In a secret ballot on May 3 the US lost out to Austria, France and Sweden for the three places up for election and available to western nations on the 53-member Commission.

One of the nations that was elected to this top Human Rights body is Sudan, identified in the latest US Commission on International Religious Freedom Report for its "egregious human rights abuses - including widespread bombing of civilian and humanitarian targets, abduction and enslavement by government-sponsored militias, manipulation of humanitarian assistance as a weapon of war, and severe restrictions on religious freedom."

That Sudan, along with other notorious human rights abusers, should be sitting in judgment over the activities of other states is a travesty. However it points to the even greater need for Adventists and other defenders of religious liberty and freedom of conscience to be even more active in forums such as the United Nations. The voice of the persecuted and oppressed must not be silenced by those who wish to control such watchdogs as the Human Rights Commission.

The United Nations Liaison Office of the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty department at the General Conference seeks to be just such a voice, especially on vital issues of religious freedom.

For more information visit the website at http://un.adventist.org or call 301-680-6683 to see how you can help. [Jonathan Gallagher]

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