When is a “fundamental right” not a right at all? When the secretary general of the United Nations gets done slicing and dicing it.
“Freedoms of expression should be and must be guaranteed and protected,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, according to Reuters, in what sounded like a good start in addressing the “Innocence of Muslims” furor. But he quickly revealed he didn’t mean it. It turns out that free speech should be protected only when it is “used for common justice, common purpose” — and of course you know who gets to define those terms.
“When some people use this freedom of expression to provoke or humiliate some others’ values and beliefs, then this cannot be protected in such a way,” Ban continued.
“My position is that freedom of expression, while it is a fundamental right and privilege, should not be abused by such people, by such a disgraceful and shameful act.”
Thanks, Ban. No one really expects any principled courage from a UN bureaucrat, but Ban’s mealy mouthed repudiation of free speech offers yet more evidence for why his organization is so nearly useless when it comes to actually protecting the fundamental rights of people around the world.
It is also yet another reminder to those in the United States, beginning at the top reaches of the administration, who seem reluctant to offer an unqualified defense of free expression, even when it is admittedly offensive. When they blame violence on free speech, they play into the hands of those who don’t believe in free speech in the first place.