ICLA Mission Statement

The International Civil Liberties Alliance (ICLA)

Mission statement

“ICLA is a human rights organisation that aims to uphold democracy, freedom and individual liberties.”

Picture: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizenapproved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789.

Main Focus

ICLA’s main focus is opposing the use of sharia when it undermines freedoms and human rights.

Hamoud bin Mohammed of Zanzibar. abolished slavery under British tutelage.

Sharia law allows slavery!

10 Key Issues

1. Freedom of Expression2. Democracy & the Rule of

Law3. Freedom of Worship4. Equal rights for women5. Equality Before the Law6. Individual Liberty

7. Countering politics disguised as religion

8. The Right to Oppose Sharia

9. Interfaith Dialogue10. International Cooperation

for Protection of Liberty

1) FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Calling for the protection of the citizens’ rights to free expression, the repeal of legislation that prevents its effective exercise, and adoption of legislation similar to the “First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America”, into national or international law:

[Law Making Body] shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

• Salman Rushdie• Danish Cartoons• “Hate Laws”• Loss of jobs and freedom• OIC

Passion for FreedomChris Knowles outside the Passion for Freedom art exhibition in London.

Artists from across the world gathered to exhibit their work. The aim of the event was to highlight the need for freedom of expression.

2) DEMOCRACY & RULE OF LAW

Promoting democracy and the Rule of Law by ensuring that all citizens are treated equally under the law, and opposing adoption of any legal system that compete with Constitutional law, with particular focus on any such system that violates fundamental human rights. This includes, but is not limited to, systems that discriminate against women, discriminate according to ethnicity or religion, and in particular any initiative that deprives the citizens of their rights to choose for themselves the laws that govern their lands.

• One law for all in a secular society• Engagement in Civil Society & Peaceful Protest

3) FREEDOM OF WORSHIP

Protecting the right of any person to reform or abandon his religion without hindrance, fear, or censure, as well as calling for national and international law to be amended to provide relevant protection for such persons. In particular, ICLA will campaign against the practices of intimidating or punishing reformers and apostates, and for the right of any person to challenge religious authorities on these subjects. Finally, ICLA will support and encourage liberal reformers seeking to bring traditional creeds up to modern standards for civil liberties.

• Pre-Multicultural Setting• Sati• The Aztecs• Freedom of religion Vs.

Freedom of worship

Sati – Immolation of Hindu widows

"This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs.“

General Sir Charles Napier

Multiculturalism taken to extremes

Aztec religion involved cutting out human hearts

How far would things go today if the we had modern Azteccommunities in our towns and cities?

Freedom of Religion is NOT:• The right to commit murder• An absolute right• An excuse for bad behaviour• A tool for cultural bullying

It should be distinguished from freedom worship.

4) EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN

Promoting equal rights for men and women alike through challenging discrimination against women based on religious dogma, or other discriminatory or damaging practices traditionally considered ‘religious’. It is the firm belief of ICLA that equal rights for women are a cornerstone of a modern society, and that ensuring these rights is vital for a balanced future development of our societies.

“Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High and Exalted, Great!”

The Koran, 4.34

A British suffragette, c. 1910

“A woman may not leave the city without her husband or a member of her unmarriageable kin” m10.3

“The husband may forbid his wife to leave the home” m10.4

“A woman has no right to custody (A: of her child from a previous marriage) when she remarries…” m13.4

“A free man has three pronouncements of divorce” n2.1

Reliance of the TravellerA woman wearing a Niqāb in Monterey, California – 21st century!

5) EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW

Demanding individual equality before the law, in theory as well as in practice. Countering violations of this principle in the theory of legal or religious texts, as well as in their practical execution.

• Women• Non-Muslims• Minority sects• Homosexuals

6) INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY

Supporting the rights of the individual and opposing measures that undermine the norms of individual liberty. It is a fundamental concept that liberty belongs to individuals, not groups, and consequently that granting special privileges to or revoking them from a group is at odds with this principle. In particular, no rights must be withheld from a citizen due to his religion, either in law or in the application thereof.

• Political Correctness• Group Rights• Equality Before the

Law• Freedom of

Expression

Statue of Freedom,US Capitol

7) Countering politics disguised as religion

Challenging the use of religious ideology or status to gain political power or to conduct subversive activities; for example by requesting that the status of any individuals or organisations doing so shall be reclassified from “religious” to “political”, and subsequently treated as such by the authorities.

• Respect for Religion• Individual Conscience• OIC Smokescreen• Political Religion

Picture: The Siege of Belgrade in 1456

8) THE RIGHT TO OPPOSE SHARIACountering any attempts by Islamic leaders or organisations to implement Sharia, covertly or openly. Campaigning for the protection of individuals and organisations working to prevent the implementation of Sharia in our societies. This includes ensuring that law enforcement and courts deal fairly and robustly with threats and intimidation against citizens doing so, for such citizens are working in line with the European Court of Human Rights verdict of February 13th 2003:

… the Court found that sharia was incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy as set forth in the Convention. It considered that Sharia, which faithfully reflects the dogmas and divine rules laid down by religion, is stable and invariable. Principles such as pluralism in the political sphere or the constant evolution of public freedoms have no place in it.

• Elisabeth Sabaditsh-Wolff• Tommy Robinson• Fjordman• Chris Knowles

13th century slave market in Yemen

Free Tommy RobinsonWeekly vigil in Berlin to free EDL leader Tommy Robinson frompolitical imprisonment in the UK

9) INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

Encouraging individuals and organisations to engage in useful and respectful interfaith dialogue, and exposing any fraud attempted in such dialogues. This includes requesting of relevant parties that they be clear and explicit in their communications, and that sincere efforts be undertaken to uphold any agreements reached. Promoting the abolition of detrimental religious dogma, for instance by having Islamic organisations sign on to A Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding by Sam Solomon.

• Dialogue not a power grab!

• Sam Solomon’s A Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding

• ICLA participation in Ethical Interfaith

Mosaic at the Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily, 12th

century.

10) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF LIBERTY

Supporting grassroots groups, individuals, and other organisations committed to protecting individual liberty locally, nationally and globally. Lobbying governments and international organisations to develop legislation and codes of conduct to prevent stealth or open undermining of these liberties, as well as the human rights violations that would inevitably follow from the destruction of our civil liberties.

• Networking activities• International

Conferences• OSCE• 2012 Brussels

Process

Agreement of the Atlantic Charter, Newfoundland, 14 August 1941

http://www.libertiesalliance.org/