Geneva, Switzerland is home to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

The UN prides itself on upholding the human rights of the poor, oppressed, and marginalised of the world. In the Charter of the UN, they lay out their purpose as that of promoting world peace, freedom of religion, freedom from all forms of discrimination, the promotion of democracy and harmony across nations.

If only it were that simple! Often the “rights” of one group can be in opposition to the “rights” of another. Take abortion as an example. In 1981 the UN passed the “Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief” They have also passed similar declarations on woman’s rights. Now, Anand Grover, UN Special Rapporteur for Health, has said that it is the right of all women to be able to legally access abortion facilities within their country: “Criminal laws penalising and restricting induced abortion are the paradigmatic examples of impermissible barriers to the realisation of women’s right to health and must be eliminated. These laws infringe upon women’s dignity and autonomy by severely restricting decision-making by women in respect of their sexual and reproductive health.”

The reality of this is that poor nations where abortion is illegal will find themselves bullied into changing the law, regardless of the religious convictions of the general population. Governments of these poor nations will fear the loss of the aid packages the UN has to offer, for refusing to comply to their dictates.

Abortion is not the only area the UN have passed articles on. Recently the UN Human Rights Committee passed, “UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity”  How will this be used to change the laws of nation states?

Also in the pipeline for the UN Human Rights Committee is a declaration to see the death penalty outlawed internationally.  They are already using their power to pressurise states with death penalty laws to have a formal moratorium on the death penalty. Whatever ones personal views on these matters, do you want a group of bureaucrats sitting in Geneva, Switzerland deciding how your nation is ran?

Prophet.tv has been highlighting the importance of Switzerland in the global scheme of things. Be aware that this seemingly insignificant region of Europe has a lot of influence over what is happening globally in these days.