Event attended by Amani Amin founder of arabworldbooks.com in Geneva in 1998. The event launched our special events and debate corner. Unfortunately the online discussions were lost after the closure of the server we used at the time.
On 10 December 1948, the international community adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - a common standard of achievement, which recognized the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all people in all nations. The 50th Anniversary of this historic Declaration in 1998, will be a time to look back with pride on many accomplishments and to consider the lessons learned over the past 50 years in the promotion and protection of human rights.
The seminar of Islamic commentaries on the UDHR springs out from one of the many ideas to commemorate this anniversary. It is organized by the Office of the High Commissioner in cooperation with the OIC, and brings together some 20 experts.
The invited experts were selected in consultation with the OIC on the basis of the depth of their Islamic legal background and knowledge of human rights law, as well as their familiarity with other legal systems and cultures. The list of the experts who have been invited to participate in the seminar is as follows:
Prof. Idriss Alaoui Abdellaoui (Morocco),
Membre du Conseil Constitutionel
Dr. Ahmad Kamal Aboulmagd (Egypt),
Professor of Public Law, University of Cairo
Mr. Abdul-Rahman Abu Al Nasre (Palestine),
Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Gaza
Dr. Mohammad Abdallah Al Ansari (Kuwait),
Director of the Department of International Relations, Ministry of Justice
Dr. Mohammad Saïd Albouti (Syria),
Chief of the Department of Beliefs and Religions. University of Damascus
M. Yaya Bawa Abdoulaye (Togo),
Procureur général près la Cour d'Appel de Lomé
Mme. Wassila Ben Hamda (Tunisia),
Directeur du Département Culture islamique à l'Institut supérieur de civilisation islamique, Tunis
M. Sahib Ben Cheikh (Algeria),
Mufti de la Mosquée de Marseille
Dr. Mustafa Ceric (Bosnia),
Grand Mufti of Bosnia
M. Mamadou Bobo Diallo (Guinea),
Conseiller juridique au Ministère des Affaires Etrangères
Dr. Ridwan El Sayyed (Lebanon),
Editor-in-Chief, al-Lithad, Beirut
M. Hafiz Elsheikh El Zaki (Sudan),
Deputy Chief Justice
Dr. Kamel Al-Shareef (Jordan),
Secretary-General, International Islamic Council for Daw'a and Relief
Dr. Nurcholish Madjid (Indonesia),
Rector of the University of Paramadina Mulya, Jakarta
M. El. Hadji Ravane Mbaye (Senegal),
Directeur général de l'Institut islamique de Dakar
Mr. Hossein Mehrpour (Iran),
Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and Civil law, Beheshti University, Tehran
Dr. Azim Nanji (Kenya),
Director, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Ms. Norani Othman (Malaysia),
Associate Professor, Jabatan Antropologi & Sosiologi, University Kebangsaan Malaysia
Ms. Mashuda Khatun Shefali (Bangladesh),
Executive Director, Center for Women's Initiatives
Dr. Adnam Ben Mohammed Al-Wazan (Saudi Arabia),
Secretary General (Wakil) of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs
Participants in the Seminar
Mrs. Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Seminar Moderator
Dr. Azedine Laraki, Secretary-General, Organization of the Islamic Conference
Dr. Bacre W. Ndiaye, Director, New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Assistant Moderator of the Seminar.
.Special Guest of the High Commissioner
H. E. Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Lawyer, Chairman of the Al Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation
Themes for discussion
First day: 9 November (morning):
Theme One: Islam, the principle of non-discrimination and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
-Islam and the rights of non-Muslims
-Islam and women
9 November (afternoon):
Theme Two: Islam, civil and political rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
-Freedom of thought
-Freedom of speech
-Freedom of movement
-The criminal justice system
-Islam and the rights of citizens
Second day: 10 November (morning):
Theme Three: Islam, economic, social and cultural rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Zakat, the principle of solidarity and duties to the community - The right to development (including the right to self-determination, popular participation, environment, natural resources, rights to food, health and shelter, etc.) 10 November (afternoon): Exchange of views by experts: Islamic perspectives on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
