Addressing in Geneva today a seminar on human rights organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Dr. Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, who is a member of the Cultural and Information Affairs Committee of the Consultative Council (Majlis Al-Shura), underlined the importance of global cooperation in fighting terrorism. Terrorism, he said, threatens not only material achievements, but also the humanitarian and ethical values advocated by various religious faiths. He went on to criticize the imposition from outside of cultural or political styles, saying this runs counter to the principles of human rights and declaring that any act of reform should arise from the deep-rooted values of each society.

Dr. Al-Ghamdi declared that the issue of human rights has an ethical and not an ideological dimension, and that no country, even if it enjoys military, economic, scientific and strategic strength, has the right to undermine the rights of other countries or to launch aggression against them under the pretext of protecting national, economic or strategic interests. He urged understanding of the religious and cultural values of others.
The Shura Council gained full membership in IPU on April 7, 2003, by unanimous vote of its members at the 108th session in Chile.

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