DUBLIN, Ireland, JULY 12, 2001 (Zenit.org).-The Irish government went along with the European Union´s attempt to include a pro-homosexual document in the United Nations´ recent declaration on HIV/AIDS, according to a Catholic newspaper and a lobbying group.
The Irish Catholic noted that the European Union, including member-state Ireland, led an unsuccessful effort to adopt a document called the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights as a privileged source for policy initiatives against AIDS.
The document recommended, among other things, worldwide recognition of homosexual marriage, the legalization of prostitution and “safe and legal” abortions — all of which are illegal in Ireland, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (www.c-fam.org) reported in its weekly Friday Fax.
Tom Hanny, a spokesman for Ireland´s Department of Foreign Affairs, told the Irish Catholic, “We weren´t endorsing the guidelines. There were elements of the guidelines Ireland might have problems with. However, it was a la carte, you could look through them and take out what you want.”
Irish Catholic editor David Quinn, however, said that the Irish government´s response was “disingenuous at best.”
The Irish government insists that the country will retain control over internal policies concerning family and life issues, regardless of what it might assent to on the international scene as a member of the European Union. But, according to Quinn, this argument shows a misunderstanding of the potential uses of international law.
Quinn said he believes that the European Union fights for radical language within international treaties in the hopes of establishing this language as international law. European Union courts, he said, will then be able to cite this language as an international norm, and therefore binding upon its own member states.
