“Human rights advocates claim that the depiction of torture in popular TV shows has had the effect of promoting the practice in real life, implying that the production companies may have failed to meet their responsibility to respect human rights as articulated in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.” [Faris Natour, JustMeans.com; Wired on Zero Dark Thirty] “So, ban Schindler’s List?” [@susanwake]
Meanwhile, the regime in Iran says it will sue over its depiction in the movie “Argo” [CNN; more from Wikipedia on French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, whose attempts to marry imprisoned terrorist Carlos the Jackal “have been frustrated by legal issues”]
3 Comments
Well, the UN will only be upset about protrayed torture if it is done by Western governments. With such honest UN Human Rights Council members as China, Cuba, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, you just cannot expect Israel or the US to get a fair shake.
All your images are belong to us!
None of the reports of the Iranian threat that I have seen has revealed the putative cause of action or in what court Iran might sue. “portraying Iran as the bad guy” is not actionable in most jurisdictions that I know anything about. It may well be in Iranian courts, but in that case not only would any judgement be unlikely to be enforceable, but few people would even take seriously the court’s condemnation of the film.