012602 U.N. Pressuring Nations to Undermine the Family
Chilean Cardinal Condemns "Cultural Colonialism"

SANTIAGO, Chile, JAN. 26, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Should countries let the United Nations dictate to them on matters of social policy? Definitely not, says the president of the Chilean bishops' conference, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz.

Chile's Senate is debating whether to ratify the U.N. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The newspaper El Mercurio reported Jan. 9 that the Catholic Church has asked the Senate not to ratify the protocol, because it could oblige Chile to legalize abortion.

In testimony before the Senate's Foreign Relations Commission, Cardinal Errázuriz explained that the protocol, approved by the Chamber of Deputies last August, opens up the possibility for individuals to denounce what they consider to be violations of the guarantees contained in CEDAW. This, warned the cardinal, will lead to a loss of Chile's sovereignty.

Chile ratified CEDAW in 1989, and already the committee in charge of reviewing the implementation of its provisions has been critical of the nation's laws.

CEDAW in a nutshell

CEDAW was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979 and entered into force in September 1981. It has been ratified by 168 nations. The most notable holdout has been the United States, where the Senate has refused to ratify CEDAW.

States make periodic reports to a 23-member committee, which reviews implementation of the convention's provisions. The committee comments on the reports and also recommends actions that governments should be taking under CEDAW.

On Oct. 6, 1999, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a 21-article Optional Protocol to the convention. By ratifying the Optional Protocol, a state recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to receive and consider complaints from individuals or groups within its jurisdiction.

Not only can individuals make claims before the committee, but the committee also has the power to initiate inquiries into what it considers situations where women's rights are being violated.

The Optional Protocol entered into force Dec. 22, 2000, after the 10th nation ratified the convention. As of Dec. 20, 2001, there were 73 signatories to the protocol, of which 28 had formally ratified the document.

CEDAW and the Church

In his intervention before the Senate commission, Cardinal Errázuriz started off by noting how the Church has been actively represented in U.N. conferences on women in recent years. He also emphasized the importance of the fight to eliminate unjust discrimination against women.

Quoting from the Second Vatican Council pastoral constitution "Gaudium et Spes," No. 29, the cardinal stated: "Forms of social or cultural discrimination in basic personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language or religion, must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design."

The cardinal further hailed the increased participation by women in public life and the work force as a positive step for Chile, while at the same time admitting there is still much to do in achieving full equality for women. He also had positive words for CEDAW, affirming that it is an important instrument in ensuring respect for women's rights.

But the convention contains serious flaws too, he noted. For a start, the document is based on a limited vision of women, not recognizing the value of motherhood and the relation of the mother with her family, the cardinal said. The document is also marred by a juridical ambiguity, introducing concepts not adequately defined, such as "gender" and "reproductive rights," he noted.

The way gender has been described by the United Nations leads to a subjectivization of sexual identity, whereby each person can freely choose his or her sex independently of their biological condition, Cardinal Errázuriz contended. In this way, sexual identity simply becomes the fruit of external conditions, he said. Moreover, it is all the same if a person is homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual or heterosexual, according to the U.N. view.

As for reproductive rights, Cardinal Errázuriz observed that the United Nations has a very reductive vision of this concept, limiting it to just a woman's right to complete autonomy over her body, without considering the rights of men or of children. Such an individualistic concept leads to discrimination against others, particularly the unborn.

The cardinal noted that the convention asks signatories to modify their laws that constitute any form of discrimination against women. The limitations and ambiguities of the document thus open the door for international organizations, such as the CEDAW committee, to put pressure on Chile. Such a situation constitutes "cultural colonialism" that does not respect the values and sovereignty of Chile, the cardinal said.

The protocol under consideration by the Senate would give additional powers to the CEDAW committee to interfere in Chile. How will these powers be used? Cardinal Errázuriz gave some examples of how the committee has acted in the past.

In a 1999 report, the committee recommended that Chile promote a change in attitudes concerning the position of men and women and their roles in the family, work and society. The committee also asked that the authorities "energetically support" laws that permit divorce -- currently not allowed in Chile.

The committee further contended that the failure of the state to provide services in the area of reproductive health constitutes discrimination. The committee also asked that the abortion laws be liberalized. Its report also called for the distribution "without limits" of contraceptives of all types. And it asked that women be allowed to undergo sterilization without consulting their husbands.

Cardinal Errázuriz is not alone in his concerns about CEDAW. Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for relations with states in the Vatican Secretariat of State, noted in a conference how the convention has led the United Nations to call for the end of all laws that restrict abortion.

In a discourse he gave before the VI General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life on Feb. 11, 2000, Archbishop Tauran also noted that the CEDAW committee has called for countries to provide "reproductive health services," even in cases where officials have a conscientious objection.

A detailed examination of the U.N. conventions on women's and children's rights is contained in the Heritage Foundation's Backgrounder, "How U.N. Conventions on Women's and Children's Rights Undermine Family, Religion and Sovereignty," by Patrick F. Fagan.

The study notes how the CEDAW committee is in favor of the legalization of prostitution; abortion-on-demand for teen-agers; and the criminalization of conscientious objections by doctors who do not wish to carry out abortions.

The committee has asked countries not to give support to mothers, even going so far as to decry the observance of Mother's Day. It has also criticized the Irish Constitution because of its support for the family and mothers.

Cardinal Errázuriz warned the Senate that the protocol is just one step toward the creation of an international tribunal, with juridical powers, that will force countries to adopt the United Nations' radical ideology. It remains to be seen whether Chile, and other countries, reject this new form of colonialism.
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Globalization: Neither a Curse Nor an Unqualified Success
Forum Will Try to Find Out Why Some Nations Haven´t Benefited

WASHINGTON, D.C., JAN. 26, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Once more the annual World Economic Forum has sparked a resurgence in the debate over globalization. The Forum, normally held in Davos, Switzerland, will take place this year in New York from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4.

The organizers decided to go to New York "as a signal of our members' determination to tackle head-on the extraordinary challenges faced by the world after the attacks of 11 Sept."

"The past 20 years have been an abject economic failure for most countries, with growth plummeting" -- this is how Mark Weisbrot viewed globalization in the Jan. 1-14 special issue of The American Prospect dedicated to this theme.

Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., stated that in Latin America and the Caribbean, gross domestic product grew by 75% person from 1960 to 1980, and by only 7% per person from 1980 to 2000. Yet GDP in sub-Saharan Africa has fallen by about 15% in the last two decades.

The causes of this decline are complex, Wiesbrot noted. Part of the problem is due to the opening of capital markets that led to rapid inflows of foreign funds and, in times of crisis, to rapid withdrawals. Other factors include the monopoly by rich countries over intellectual property rights, and the insistence that poorer nations adopt free-market strategies not always appropriate to their stage of economic development.

Writing in the same issue, Christian E. Weller and Adam Hersh, of the Economic Policy Institute, argued that the promotion of free trade and open capital markets not only has led to slower growth and more vulnerability for poor countries, but also to greater income disparity among individuals.

After the elimination of controls the flow of capital to developing countries increased rapidly, from $1.9 billion in 1980 to $120.3 billion in 1997. But this has not always been positive, according to Weller and Hersh. The greater mobility of funds "means an increase in speculative financing and, thus, greater financial instability."

As for trade liberalization, the article contends, "This trend fuels a race to the bottom in which governments vie for needed international investment by scrambling to offer employers the cheapest body of laborers."

Globalization defended

A very different view was taken by David Dollar and Aart Kraay, in the January-February issue of Foreign Affairs. The authors, both economists at the World Bank's Development Research Group, claimed "the current wave of globalization, which started around 1980, has actually promoted economic equality and reduced poverty."

Dollar and Kraay cited some facts to back up their claim. First, they noted that a global trend toward greater inequality peaked around 1975 and since then has stabilized and possibly even reversed. The cause of this change is due to the accelerated growth of two large and initially poor countries: China and India.

Second, the article claims there is a strong correlation between increased participation in international trade and investment on the one hand and faster growth on the other. The developing nations that have globalized their economies have had stronger economic growth.

Third, they argue that globalization has not resulted in higher inequality within economies. While they admit that inequality has increased in countries such as China, they maintain that these changes "are not systematically linked to globalization measures such as trade and investment flows, tariff rates and the presence of capital controls." For Dollar and Kraay the inequality problem is due to internal factors such as the education system, taxes and social policies.

A recent World Bank study, "Globalization, Growth and Poverty: Building an Inclusive World Economy," also argues in favor of the benefits of globalization. The study shows that developing countries that were "globalizers" showed an average 5% growth rate in the 1990s. These countries, home to some 3 billion people, during the last decade saw the number of their people who were poor decline by 120 million.

On the question of whether economic integration will lead to cultural or institutional homogenization, the World Bank argued that many of the countries now integrated into the global economy differ enormously. The study also noted that countries such as China, India, Malaysia and Mexico "have taken diverse routes toward integration and remain quite distinctive in terms of culture and institutions."

The study did admit that many poor countries, home to about 2 billion people, have been left out of the globalization process. These nations suffer from declining incomes and rising poverty. "Clearly, for this massive group of people, globalization is not working," said the World Bank.

Reforms needed

The report proposed a number of reforms that, according to the World Bank, will reduce poverty. In the area of trade, the study called for a "dramatic reduction of agricultural subsidies in rich countries." The subsidies now amount to $350 billion a year, roughly seven times what rich countries spend on development aid. Reducing them, and opening up markets to exports by poorer countries, would particularly benefit African producers, noted the report.

The World Bank also called for greater efforts in the area of education and health. If poor people have little or no access to health and education services, the report notes, it will be very hard for them to benefit from the growth spurred by integration into the regional or global economy.

The study, meanwhile, observed that foreign aid has fallen to 0.22% of the First World countries' GDP, its smallest proportion since it was first institutionalized with the Marshall Plan in 1947. The report also called for greater debt relief, adding that this must come in addition to foreign aid, and not by taking money from aid programs.

Thus, even the World Bank admits that globalization has not been a success everywhere and that serious reforms are needed. This ambivalent nature of globalization was pointed out by Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in an essay published Dec. 7 by the Spanish paper El Mundo.

Calling globalization a "multifaceted phenomenon," Cardoso noted that Brazil has benefited from greater capital inflows in recent years. At the same time, vulnerability to world markets created problems for Brazil during the 1994 Mexico crisis and the problems in Asia in 1997.

Globalization should not be seen just as a threat, continued Brazil's president, and countries should be open to take advantage of the opportunities that it offers. But we should avoid the mistake of only relying on market forces, Cardoso recommended. Without suffocating markets, action needs to be taken to orient them to ensure greater stability and greater justice.

A similar judgment was expressed by the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize winner in economic sciences, Amartya Sen, in the American Prospect collection of essays. Globalization is neither a "Western curse" nor an unqualified success, judged Sen.

Rejecting globalization as Western imperialism would cut off the poorer nations from many benefits. "There is extensive evidence that the global economy has brought prosperity to many different areas of the globe," observed Sen. "We cannot reverse the economic predicament of the poor across the world by withholding from them the great advantages of contemporary technology, the well-established efficiency of international trade and exchange, and the social as well as economic merits of living in an open society," he continued.

For Sen the central question is not whether to use the market economy, "but the inequity in the overall balance of institutional arrangements -- which produces very unequal sharing of the benefits of globalization."

"Globalization deserves a reasoned defense, but it also needs reform," concluded Sen. The leaders gathered in New York would do well to heed this appeal.
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Animals vs. People -- Who Is More Important?
Resort Hotels for Pets Are a Sign of the Times

LONDON, JAN. 26, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Animals are now as important as people, it seems, and to some even more valuable. A number of recent examples point out the disproportionate importance given to animals.

In England, the chocolate maker Mars has opened a luxury resort hotel for animals. Pet owners can leave their animals at the Triple A Pet Resort in Newcastle upon Tyne while they go on holiday, or just take them there for a treat. The facilities include a hydrotherapy pool, indoor gym, jacuzzi, beds with a duvet and pillow, sofas where the pets can recline while watching videos of their owners on their personal television sets, the Telegraph reported Jan. 6.

Cats have their own sun balcony and listen to a classical music station, while the macaws and African parrots are provided with video screens showing a stimulating jungle scene, with tropical birds squawking. The hotel even has its own pet cemetery, together with a funeral planning and bereavement counseling service.

The hotel has more than 50 staff members, and a two-week stay for an animal will cost owners almost as much as their own holiday, the Telegraph pointed out.

Lots of money has been spent too on the killer whale Keiko, star of the film "Free Willy." Three years ago he was returned to his native Iceland, where he was captured 22 years ago. But as the New York Times reported Nov. 6, efforts to encourage him to return to the wild have failed.

Costs for looking after Keiko amount to $300,000 a month, and some estimate that killer whales can live 50 years or longer. Until now, the project involving Keiko has cost $20 million. The article noted many Icelanders are offended that so much has been spent on a single member of a species that is not even listed as endangered.

In Australia, meanwhile, the welfare of a handful of fish is considered more important than guaranteeing safe drinking water to 4 million people. The Sydney Catchment Authority maintains an aquarium with eight fish that swim in what is destined to be the drinking water for the city, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Dec. 12.

These fish are monitored for any signs of ill health to alert authorities to any possible impurities. The use of the fish requires quarterly reports on their care and an annual inspection. Now, animal rights activists say the use of the fish is too cruel. They are asking that the monitoring be delegated to a lesser creature, water fleas.

And in the United States, the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) criticized rescue and cleanup crews at the site of the September terrorist attacks. According to the December issue of Environment and Climate News, PETA was unhappy that authorities focused primarily on humans and turned away "animal guardians" seeking out orphaned animals in the World Trade Center complex.

Back in England, beset in recent months by scandals over the inadequacy of its hospitals, it was announced that a scanner worth millions of pounds is being used to treat pets. According to the Observer newspaper on Dec. 23, Bedford Hospital is letting out the scanner to raise funds. The hospital is short on nurses and also may have to close one of its operating rooms.

One recent patient for the scanner was a 13-year-old poodle, belonging to a London divorce lawyer. The dog was given a brain scan, paid for by its health insurance plan. The Observer noted that Bedford Hospital is ranked in the bottom 20 in the country for how quickly it responds to inpatient requests.

Ecoterrorism

But it's not just a question of wasting money on animals. Increasingly, animal rights activists are resorting to violence in their campaigns. In the United States, the Animal Liberation Front just released a list of its activities in 2001. Among these was arson, tree spikings, laboratory attacks and other illegal acts, the Seattle Times reported Jan. 16.

The report cites 137 acts in 2001 and claims the $5.3 million arson at the University of Washington on May 21 as the year's most destructive. It says a $1.5 million Snohomish County egg-farm fire April 5 was also tied to the movement.

David Barbarash, a Canadian militant who released the report and is the spokesman for the group, boasts that new U.S. and Canadian anti-terrorism laws will not shut the movement down. The FBI has had few successes in tracking down and prosecuting the militant activists it classifies as domestic terrorists.

Extremism is present in England too. Last year, animal rights activist Barry Horne died as a result of a hunger strike. Horne was serving an 18-year prison sentence for a campaign of firebombings, the Guardian reported Nov. 6.

The 49-year-old refused food and drink and had signed a directive stipulating he did not wish to be medically treated. Prison-service officials stressed that, because of Horne's sound mental state, they were powerless to oppose his wishes.

Horne was given the longest prison sentence for an animal rights activist in November 1997, after being convicted of a two-year firebombing campaign that caused £3 million ($4.2 million) damage.

The extreme nature of the tactics used by animal rights campaigners was outlined in a testimony published by the Times newspaper of London last Thursday. Sally Staples described how she has been persecuted for sitting on a residents committee which included an employee of the American bank that helped to finance (and recently withdrew its support from) Huntingdon Life Sciences. Animal rights activists are involved in a long-running and violent struggle against Huntingdon, a company that uses animals for drug testing.

The article described how during the past two months Staples has been "bombarded with obscene phone calls, threatening and abusive mail and rape threats. Pornography, fetish magazines and even a Haitian voodoo curse have come rattling through my letterbox."

In order to counter the animal rights movement, scientists have recently started a campaign in the United Kingdom to defend medical research using animals. A pamphlet distributed by the Research Defence Society features a 16-year-old girl, Laura Cowell, who suffers from cystic fibrosis and diabetes, reported the Times on Jan. 16.

She has to take up to 70 drugs a day, all of them developed and tested on animals, to control her conditions and keep her alive. The Research Defence Society explains that without these drugs, doctors consider she would have died before her first birthday.

The campaign explains to the public that fatal diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, diphtheria, smallpox and whooping cough have been nearly eradicated in Britain thanks to drugs and vaccines that could not have been developed without animal testing. Research into other diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and cancer, also relies on animal experiments.

This isn't acceptable to animal rights believers, however. Tom Regan, one of the ideological fathers of animal rights, proposes a type of "bill of rights" for animals, including the abandonment of pet ownership, elimination of a meat-based diet, and new standards for biomedical research on animals, reported the Christian Science Monitor in an Oct. 9 feature.

But, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, "Man is the summit of the Creator's work." While God loves all creatures, he considers humans to be much more valuable than animals (see Nos. 342-3). God has given humans the dignity of personhood, something which sets them apart from the rest of creation (see Nos. 356-7).

We should certainly take good care of animals, as the Catechism later explains, but in no way are they to be considered as our equals.