Law & Paneir

IN any part of the world, if there is a terrorist attack, suspicion always falls on Muslims first. And if the terrorists are from another country, the media would label the countries from where the terrorists originate as pro-terrorist regimes. Two atrocities -- one in Oklahoma City, the United States, in 1995 and the other in Oslo, Norway, last week -- should change these perceptions. These incidents show that one should not rush to label all Muslims as terrorists. The definition of terrorist is different, depending on which point of view one holds. For the Palestinian people, terrorists mean freedom fighters. But Timothy McVeigh, the man who carried out the Oaklahoma bombing, and Anders Behring Breivik, the man who killed at least 76 people in Norway, are regarded as mass murderers. They should be treated as terrorists. Some analysts have been quoted by the foreign media as saying that these two could not be categorised as terrorists because they were locals who killed their own...

Yesterday I took almost three hours to reach my office. While driving, I am thinking about the demonstration held by public servants throughout UK recently. Then, my thoughts on our rights and the constitution. After that, I am confused. Then I saw the faces of other motorists on the road with me. Probably they have the same thought as well. I love my country.

"Aristotle said more than two thousand years ago, "The rule of law is better than that of any individual." The notion of the “rule of law” stems from many traditions and continents and is intertwined with the evolution of the history of law itself. The Code of Hammourabi, promulgated by the King of Babylon around 1760 BC, is one of the first examples of the codification of law, presented to the public and applying to the acts of the ruler. In the Arab world, a rich tradition of Islamic law embraced the notion of the supremacy of law. Core principles of holding government authority to account and placing the wishes of the populace before the rulers, can be found amid the main moral and philosophical traditions across the Asian continent, including in Confucianism. In the Anglo-American context, the Magna Carta of 1215 was a seminal document, emphasizing the importance of the independence of the judiciary and the role of judicial process as fundamental characteristics of ...

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories." PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest a...

Alan Baker, Legal Advisor, Israel Foreign Ministry Col. Daniel Reisner, Head of the International Law Department, Israel Defense Forces A country -- whether it be Israel, or the United States in its fight with al-Qaeda -- whose army is involved in fighting a terrorist organization which has no state and no boundaries, has to be able to carry out those acts necessary to deal with terror. What happens if the police see a suicide bomber who opens his jacket and shows his explosive belt? Can the Israeli police kill him? He hasn't done anything. There is a rich international legal literature covering war crimes of military forces, but no agreed international legal definition that covers all cases of terrorism. There is a basic asymmetry in international law with respect to terrorists and armies fighting terrorism that needs to be resolved. If we receive information about a terrorist bomber going to carry out a suicide attack and we can catch him en route, and shoot a miss...

by Michael Greaney Religion has nothing to do with terrorism—and everything. Distortions of the teachings of various organized religions have always been used to justify everything under the sun. Similarly, great wrongs have been committed in the name of the family and the State. It should come as no surprise that activities by terrorist or insurgent groups in the name of various religions over the past several centuries have succeeded in giving all organized religion, and ultimately all forms of religious belief, a very black all-seeing eye. If such-and-such can be done in the name of religion, the reasoning goes, then religion must be a very bad thing indeed. Such reasoning, while plausible, is not well thought out. It is a form of the logical fallacy called “hasty generalization.” That is, because we see instances of the misuse of organized religion, we generalize on insufficient knowledge and data, and assume that all organized religion (and ultimately all religion) constitut...

1. Introduction Genetics is a branch of biology that deals with the science of heredity and variation of organisms. In the 1800s, Gregor Mendel sought to understand mechanisms of inheritance. Over 3,000 years earlier, Moses recorded that Adam had begat a son (c. 3811 B.C.) in his own likeness and image (Gen. 5:3). Moses also wrote that the father of Israel, Jacob, selectively bred cattle, sheep and goats (Gen. 30:31-43). Around 61 A.D., the New Testament writer, James, noted that a fig tree can not bear olives (James 3:12). For thousands of years, people have known that animal and plant life produce the same animals and plant life. This means a kind or species produces the same kind or species with variations within its genetic parameters (Gen. 1:11-31). Mendel observed that inheritance occurs from traits called genes. All life has cells that contain genes molecularly structured in DNA. DNA is composed of a chain of nucleotides. Genetic information is contained ...