Article 11: (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Click here to watch video on Article 11, Innocent Until Proven Guilty
I once sat in a downtown courthouse and watched a trial, a murder case in front of a jury. The first time this trial was conducted, a mistrial was called because one of the witnesses published material on a webpage that was not presented in court, and that could change the opinion of the jury. ltimately, the judge called a mistrial, and conducted a new trial with new jurors.
Why did the judge do this? Because, if you call someone a killer, even without any evidence, over and over, the jury and judge hearing the case may buy into that. When you look at a person with the mentality that they are a criminal, even without evidence, you are more likely to believe they have committed crime. That is why criminals are suppose to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Recently, DNA evidence has freed so many people who were presumed guilty and serving life sentences, so you really don’t know if someone is guilty, unless you know.
Now, many of us who have been following the news probably have read articles in where Tamils are labeled terrorists, and this label has been generously swapped on many of the articles that talk about the Tamil refugees who risked life, and made the journey to Merak in hopes of refuge. By labeling the refugees as terrorists, and inducing an ill-proven fear, the general public, and officials automatically associate terrorists with the refugees.
If you can label someone as a terrorist, then you can undermine their rights, and justify their ill-treatment; the public wouldn’t protest if you held ‘terrorists’ in horrific conditions, and so that is exactly what medias and international governments have done. To free themselves of the responsibility of helping innocent Tamil refugees to find a safe haven, they [The Australian and Indonesian Governments in this particular instance] have labeled them as terrorists.
Also, by labeling them terrorists, it takes away attention from the reason the Tamil refugees made the dreaded trip to Merak to begin with; because they were persecuted by the Sri-Lankan Government.
Even in terms of the Sri-Lankan Government detaining and holding civilians hostage without releasing them because they fear ‘terrorists’ may be hiding among the civilians is a violation to the right of those held to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. If you publish articles saying those detained or those who have arrived on the boat are refugees, without evidence, you are swaying public opinion, and making it more likely for people to believe they are guilty, when in actual fact they are not.
Have you ever heard the quote you can make a lie truth by repeating it all the time, although I believe that the truth will one day come out, when you repeat a lie over and over, some people are bound to believe that lie as truth. Therefore, everyone has a right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Everyone deserves the chance to make their case, explain their side, and show their evidence that contradicts their charge.
Here a quotes for you to think of:
“The use of the word terrorism serves regimes a number of purposes. First, it protects regimes from being challenged and if not defeated. Even if regimes have terrible human rights record, the very invocation of the term “terrorism” provides them some measure of support form the international community. Second, the use of the label “terrorism” seeks to hide the ugly aspects of regimes and thereby provide them with some respect in the international community. Third, hue and cry about “terrorism” has the prospect of internationalising the problem. By painting and propagandising about the “threats” from “terrorists” elites tend to stay in power longer than otherwise possible. “ – Prof.Ramasamy
“The spectre of terrorism – real and exaggerated – has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses.” —Naomi Klein
Credits: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=71&id=425 http://chrv.ca/news/?p=141
Tags: Speak Out
