이슬람국가의 국제인권조약 현황 및 특징

Abstract

Human rights issues in Islam have been controversial for a long time. Even in modern times, the image of Islam on human rights leaves us with a rather negative impression. However, it is suggested that the issue of human rights in Islam should be reexamined on the basis of religious and cultural diversity. It points out the limit of western-centered approach to human rights and emphasizes the concept of Islamic human rights based on God-oriented perception. This shows that the evaluation of human rights in Islam can vary significantly depending upon the viewpoints. Therefore, when discussing the relationship between Islam and human rights, it is necessary to clarify the subject and criteria of the discussion, and diagnose it accurately. This article examines the relationship between Islamic countries and human rights treaties as a starting point for clarifying the issues of Islam and human rights. It analyzes characteristics of the ratification of the 18 major international human rights treaties for all members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The 18 major international human rights treaties include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Optional Protocol to it & the Second Optional Protocol to it aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women & the Optional Protocol to it, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child & the Optional Protocol to it on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The results of the analysis confirm that most of the Muslim countries share the same global trend of human rights protection through international human rights treaties. However, some Islamic countries are showing a clear contrast with non-Muslim countries regarding the ratification of several human rights treaties. Such contrast is particularly prominent in the ratification of the optional protocols among the member states of the League of Arab States and the Gulf Cooperation Council. The optional protocols to human rights treaties provide mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the treaties, which is linked to the possibility that the issues of human rights in the member states may be expanded into international concerns, so ratification of the optional protocols is a firm commitment to human rights protection. The characteristics of the Islamic countries identified in the ratification of the optional protocols to the human rights treaties show that regional influence is more prominent than the religion itself, but some treaty has shown that the possibility of Islamic religious influence should be carefully considered.