Topic: Controversial Cultural and Religious Practices
Country: Honduras
Delegate Name: Isabel Vander Molen
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Honduras position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
In this era of globalization and technological advancement, topical interest often overlooks the issues present in affairs of groups who practice harmful traditional cultural procedures. Though the UN charter declares that our mission is to create international cooperation in solving transatlantic issues and human rights violations, these terms are too broad in dealing with the small instances of human rights violations committed in cultural practices. Despite the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by nearly every member, the UDHR only states that “ Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits” in regards to culture and human rights. The lack of acknowledgement of cultural relativism is a grave error made by the writers of the UN Charter and UDHR, for it has allowed for human violations to be committed with the excuse of practicing traditional cultural rituals. The delegation of Honduras is both a signatory of the UDHR and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. With no significant human rights violations committed in the name of traditional or cultural practices, Honduras’ most pressing controversial cultural practices would center around illicit trade of animals throughout central and latin america. In order to combat illegal and harmful animal trade, Honduras has passed a small amount of legislation protecting certain animals. These pieces of legislation include the Resolution No.22082, Resolution No.1383, and Resolution 209-82. The latter specifically prohibits the capture, sale, and export of specific flora and fauna native to Honduras. In regards to animal trafficking and rights in cultural practices, Honduras would see fit a comprehensive plan to unite Central and South American governments against illicit animal trade and cruelty in relation to cultural practices. In regards to human rights violations occurring from traditional/cultural practices, Honduras would see it fit to develop a resolution that defined what human right violations are in cultural settings. Additionally, there should be a set criteria for evaluating whether or not certain cultural practices are harmful, with input from the affected groups are. Of course, Honduras believes that education is one of the best ways to enlighten and improve the quality of lives lived by affected portions of the population of controversial cultural practices. Finally, there should be boards that monitor whether human rights are being violated in cultural groups. Including the help of NGOs would be most beneficial, since many NGOs such as the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA), Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC) , and the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact are included in the affairs of native groups and thus could better monitor
