'Human rights' that go too far (From Oxford Mail)

'Human rights' that go too far

1:19pm Thursday 19th June 2008

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The Vice-Chancellor of Brookes admires Liberty's Shami Chakrabarti (Oxford Mail, June 13). I used to feel the same.

However, I was shocked when she attended a Countryside Alliance board meeting in June, 2006, which was trumpeted on the CA website, saying: "In outlining the challenges that faced her organisation, it soon became clear that we share common ground on civil liberties and human rights.

"Shami described some of the difficulties of the left wing' label that has always been associated with her organisation and compared these to the conservative' tag that we so often have to bear."

I had some time earlier seen that Ms Chakrabarti seemed to be supporting the hunters.

I sent her a polite letter asking if she could clarify her position. She did not reply.

After she attended the CA board meeting, I emailed Liberty again, but again received no reply.

Human rights may be Ms Chakrabarti's concern, but if her position is that hunters have the human right to chase a fox to exhaustion and see their hounds tear it to pieces, and the human right to pursue a pregnant deer until it can run no more and stands trembling and exhausted awaiting its fate, the human right to massacre fox cubs at dawn in their woodland home in order to train young hounds to be vicious, then she does not deserve the respect she currently receives.

If she does not, perhaps she could clarify her position publicly, which would be very welcome.

PENNY LITTLE Back Way Great Haseley

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