Orville Taylor | No Phoenix: Resurrect Jesus, please

Around 2,024 years ago, a man who dared to say all men were equal and that we should treat others as we want to be treated, pulled off an act that not even Houdini or any modern magician can. On the third day after being tortured, nailed on to a plus sign and murdered, he walked out of his tomb, holes in his hands and all.

Stories of the raising of the dead are not actually unique to Christianity, and certainly are found in Asian religions. Nevertheless, some devout, mixing modern science and faith, believe that the Holy Shroud of Turin, which supposedly wrapped his body, has traces of sildenafil citrate. However, there is no hard evidence.

Resurrected Yashua of Nazareth first appeared to two women telling them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me!” Play on the first syllable of the town’s name if you wish, but there is great significance that he put the women at the front.

Fresh out of the tomb, to his disciples, he said, “peace be unto you!” The message is clear. Two millennia later, Jah Jah Haile Selassie I understood this, as he addressed the UN in 1963. Peace can only be guaranteed by eliminating “distinction as to race, sex, language or religion; the safeguarding of international peace and security.”

Start with the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) standards of decent work and thus equality of treatment and then it is almost impossible to go around. Last week we addressed the issue of House Speaker Juliet Holness and the extant conflict of interest was inherent in her appointment. Even as we listen to allegations about her improper treatment of matters, including the letter of reprimand to a public servant, the fundamental issue really is whether or not the basic standards of equality have been upheld.

As strange as it might sound, the whole notion of impartiality, though enshrined somewhat in our Constitution as regards race, political allegiance, creed and religion among others, there was nothing prior to 2011, which guaranteed freedom from discrimination based on having either male or female genitalia. However, given all of the international dynamics coming from out of two world wars, the ILO has been very clear about its fundamental human rights, including freedom from discrimination based on race or ethnicity.

A country does not have to explicitly ratify a fundamental human rights convention. Rather, as long as it is a member of the ILO, Section 22 of its Constitution binds such a country.

FOUR STANDARDS

Addressing four core set of standards, the eight fundamental human rights conventions include Conventions 100 and 111, which deal with equal enumeration and freedom from discrimination respectively.

Discrimination can come from multiple sources. These include sex and the race. Now, there is a difference between discrimination and prejudice; because discrimination has to do with the deliberate and structural denial of access to goods and services based on any inherent criterion. On the other hand, prejudice is an attitude, which may or may not be demonstrated via discrimination. For example, a tribalist politician may deeply resent persons from the other major party. However, when given the opportunity, he does not allow his dislike for his opponents or affinity for his peers to affect his judgement.

Nevertheless, there are assumption that are made, and with some justification, that individuals who express prejudice are very likely to discriminate. In such cases, therefore, those persons who vocalise their antipathy, based on any of the above-mentioned characteristics, is at risk of breaching fundamental human rights standards.

Freedom from discrimination is central to decent work. So important is this, that long before Jamaica became an independent nation, it adopted the 1944 convention related to labour clauses. We ratified it in December 1962, indicating what the priority is when two labour-based parties are in parliament.

This convention, number 94, binds all governments to ensure that its labour practices are upheld by every single individual who makes money from the public purse. It explicitly requires that all government contractors abide by the international labour standards, and indeed, allows the government to withhold payments where it is demonstrated that the contractor is not complying with them.

EARLY DAYS

It might be early days yet. However, the incision caused by the tainted tongue of British contractor, Frank Hester, cannot go unpunished. Hester, whose Phoenix Partnership recently signed a US$5 million contract with the Jamaican government, spoke of a Jamaican descended British parliamentarian, “It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.”

With endless Rastafari ‘bunning’ fire on this; there is no acceptable resurrection of the phoenix from the ashes for Hester, who cannot claim he is just being a jester. The government may have little recourse than to terminate the contract.

It has to be recognised that at the core of any kind of business transaction in modern democracies, any variation from fundamental human rights must be strongly rejected.

Mark you, there is no issue with him making fair criticism of Abbott. However, he crossed all lines and sacrificed half of his soul with his comments. In a Christian country, with 80 per cent of the electorate indicating a home church, we can accept his half-soul apology but must also soak the ashes.

Phoenix is no Jesus and there is no rising from the ashes here. Happy Easter; not Hester.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com