Ok, I thought. Has High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said anything about Raif Badawi? So I looked.
Yes, he has.
The strongest criticism came Thursday from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, a former permanent representative of Jordan to the United Nations, who said: “Flogging is, in my view, at the very least, a form of cruel and inhuman punishment.
“Such punishment,” he said, “is prohibited under international human rights law, in particular the Convention against Torture, which Saudi Arabia has ratified.”
Ok then; back to Katie Hopkins.
In its statement the Commission argued that Ms Hopkins’s column, published in The Sun newspaper, used “language very similar to that employed by Rwanda’s Kangura newspaper and Radio Mille Collines during the run up to the 1994 genocide”.
Radio Mille Collines is one of the major reasons I’m not a free speech absolutist, or even the kind of near-absolutist who makes an exception for incitement to [immediate] violence. I make an exception for inspiration to likely violence. That’s not to say I think Katie Hopkins should be prosecuted, but I think she should fucking stop.
The Commissioner noted that both Rwandan media organizations were later convicted by an international tribunal of public incitement to commit genocide.
He noted that the media in Nazi Germany “described people their masters wanted to eliminate as rats and cockroaches” , adding: “The Sun’s editors took an editorial decision to publish this article, and – if it is found in breach of the law – should be held responsible along with the author.”
Do I think the Sun should be punished? By the state? No, probably not, but I think public opprobrium should come down on them so heavily that they gasp for breath.
The High Commissioner criticised “almost all” of the UK’s tabloid newspaper for fabricating stories about immigrants.
He called it demonization, which sounds right.
He added that migration was a valid topic for debate but that it should be discussed “on the basis of fact — not fiction, exaggeration or blatant xenophobia”.
“History has shown us time and again the dangers of demonizing foreigners and minorities, and it is extraordinary and deeply shameful to see these types of tactics being used in a variety of countries, simply because racism and xenophobia are so easy to arouse in order to win votes or sell newspapers.”
On Monday the Society of Black Lawyers reported The Sun newspaper to the Metropolitan Police over the column and called for it to be investigated under the 1986 Public Order Act’s incident [incitement?] of racial hatred provision.
