At the Intersection of Islam and Human Rights: Gender, Identity, and Religious Freedom
Kristen Lundquist Monday, 13 June 2011
Since the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, a variety of international organizations have proposed supplementary—and in some cases, substitute—documents detailing human rights according to a specific region, culture, and/or belief system. In 1953, the Council of Europe ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, which was followed by the American Convention in 1969. Just over a decade later, the African Union ratified the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference ratified the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam in 1990. Clearly, as modern human rights discourse has gained momentum, it has faced the challenge of "universality." Widely differing cultural and religious traditions and beliefs have inhibited agreement on the definition of human rights and how they should be upheld.
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