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Leveraging Regional Human Rights Mechanisms Against Universal Human Rights: The Oic Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission Study On Sexual Orientation, Robert C. Blitt
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This article critically assesses a recent study on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) prepared by the Organization for Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC). The first two parts review the establishment of the IPHRC and the norms governing regional human rights mechanisms (RHRMs). Following this, the article demonstrates that the methodology and conclusions evidenced in the IPHRC’s SOGI study diametrically oppose substantive international human rights law, and furthermore undermine the intended purpose of RHRMs within the human rights system. The article concludes by recommending that human rights advocates and others clearly and publicly call out these …
The Organization Of Islamic Cooperation's (Oic) Response To Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity Rights: A Challenge To Equality And Nondiscrimination Under International Law, Robert C. Blitt
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This article further explores the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (“OIC”) peculiar understanding of international nondiscrimination and equality norms by considering how it engages with sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”) rights. After reviewing the OIC’s historical approach to human rights and its ambivalent acceptance of universality, the article focuses on the organization’s contemporary effort to promote the “protection of the family” within the international human rights arena. This campaign — driven by the OIC’s belief that “Islamic family values” are under legal and intellectual assault — champions only those families premised on marriage between a man and a woman. Consequently, …
Equality And Nondiscrimination Through The Eyes Of An International Religious Organization: The Organization Of Islamic Cooperation's (Oic) Response To Women's Rights, Robert C. Blitt
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This article is the first of a two part series that draws on women’s rights and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) to explore how the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) represents, interprets and seeks to impact the right to equality and protection against discrimination as enshrined under international human rights law. The study is a novel one in as much as the OIC is neither a state nor a religious group per se. Rather, the OIC stands out as the only contemporary intergovernmental organization unifying its member states around the commonality of a single religion. In this capacity, the …