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Category: UK news

  • Shamima Begum has shown up courts’ deference to this government. It’s a worrying new era | Conor Gearty

    Issues related to national security have always been hard to crack, but judges are unwilling to consider human rights

    Are the courts reverting to type? Until quite recently, it was widely assumed that the last people to look to for protection from the state were the judges. The Irish knew this, so too did union officials, leftwing campaigners and civil libertarian activists. Progress on racial and gender equality was achieved despite judges, not because of them.

    Then along came the 1998 Human Rights Act and the flourishing of a new generation of abrasively liberal judges, men and women not afraid to impose their will on the executive where the law demanded it, undaunted by “enemy of the people” jibes. The Human Rights Act survives in law, it is true – but what of its spirit?

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Low uptake for free UK voter ID scheme among elderly and young people

    Statistics suggest many older and younger people could be disenfranchised at England’s May local elections

    Huge numbers of older voters could be disenfranchised at local elections in May after official data has shown that only 505 people aged 75-plus have applied for free voter identification documents in the month since the scheme launched.

    Statistics for the numbers who have applied since the system opened on 16 January also showed that fewer than 6% of those seeking the document were aged under 25, another group seen as disproportionately likely to lack the necessary ID.

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  • Labour explores plan to make clean air a human right with new legislation

    Shadow justice secretary Steve Reed will criticise ministers’ attempts to repeal Human Rights Act

    A new wave of human rights legislation to guarantee clean air quality and nutrition could be rolled out by the next Labour government, under plans announced by the shadow justice secretary on Friday.

    Steve Reed will vow to fight “tooth and nail” against any attempt by the government to repeal the Human Rights Act, and instead look to roll out the “next frontier” of “fundamental freedoms”.

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  • US ranking on abuse of power index hurt by inequality and violence

    Country came near median of 163 countries on Index of Impunity, higher than Hungary and Singapore

    The US scores surprisingly badly in a new ranking system charting abuses of power by nation states, launched by a group co-chaired by former UK foreign secretary David Miliband.

    The US comes close to the median of 163 countries ranked in the Index of Impunity, reflecting a poor record on discrimination, inequality and access to democracy. The country’s arms exports and record of violence are an even bigger negative factor.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Chagos islanders must get full reparations for forced exile, says NGO

    Human Rights Watch also demands trial for ‘appalling colonial crime’ of expulsion – and continuing ill treatment – of Chagossians

    The UK should pay full and unconditional reparations to generations affected by its forcible displacement of Chagos Islands inhabitants in the 1960s and 70s, an action that constituted a crime against humanity, Human Rights Watch has said.

    The NGO said that individuals should be put on trial for the expulsion of Chagossians when the UK retained possession of what it refers to as British Indian Ocean Territory, or BIOT, after Mauritius gained independence in 1968.

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  • Manchester United fans, let’s fight takeover by Qatar | Letter

    Kathryn Fletcher says United and City fans should pull together in protest against the sportswashing of human rights abuses in the UAE and Qatar

    Your article (Manchester United Q&A: could Qatari investors realistically buy the club?, 8 February) addresses questions surrounding the possible takeover of Manchester United by Qatar. It focuses on the Uefa ownership rules as a potential stumbling block, but ignores human rights (the very issue featured in the photo accompanying the article, which shows a supporter holding up a sign saying “No to Qatar – Human Rights Matter”). As a season ticket holder who is an active member of Amnesty International, I am more concerned about my club being used to further sportswash human rights abuses. These are now well known following the World Cup exposure.

    I call on concerned Manchester United fans to join the Manchester Amnesty group to campaign against this takeover. We would also love to hear from Manchester City fans unhappy about the appalling human rights abuses in the United Arab Emirates. To those who love football but hate the murky side: let’s come together. A city united!
    Kathryn Fletcher
    Manchester

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Suella Braverman’s Rwanda flight ‘dream’ could happen this year, sources say

    Home secretary reportedly believes European court of human rights will rule on policy by end of 2023

    Suella Braverman’s “dream” of flying refugees to Rwanda could be realised by the end of the year and before the next election, government sources have said.

    The home secretary believes that “with a fair wind” the European court of human rights in Strasburg could rule on the controversial policy by the end of 2023 and is unlikely to overturn UK court rulings.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Liz Truss says it is ‘unfair’ to blame her mini-budget for interest rate hike and rules out being PM again – as it happened

    UK’s shortest-serving prime minister says she ‘learned a lot’ from time in government but does not want top job again. This live blog is now closed

    Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, has also criticised ministers again for refusing to engage in meaningful talks on pay. She told PA Media this morning:

    This government has not at any time in this dispute come to the table about the substantive issue on pay, and that is the real issue. There isn’t going to be any other way to end this dispute until they come to the table and talk about pay.

    They said on many occasions that they’re in constructive talks; first of all, I don’t know what those constructive talks are – they are certainly not on pay.

    Nobody wants to see these strikes, nobody wants to be on strike – the last thing nurses want to do is to be on strike.

    What they do want is a government that can show leadership, get around the negotiating table and settle this dispute.

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  • Sunak ‘plans to stop deportation appeals’ for people who reach UK in small boats

    Home Office reportedly proposed two options to try to prevent those crossing Channel from claiming asylum

    Rishi Sunak is proposing to stop asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats from appealing against their deportation, according to reports.

    The Home Office, led by Suella Braverman, had put forward two options for the prime minister’s consideration as he attempts to automatically prevent those arriving in Britain from claiming asylum, the Times reported.

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  • The Guardian view on Brexit’s unsound legal thinking: turning back the clock | Editorial

    Ministers want Britain’s judges to interpret human rights not in the light of present day conditions, but those of the 1950s

    The government “should not proceed” with its bill of rights. That was the withering judgment delivered last week on Dominic Raab’s proposals by parliament’s joint committee on human rights. MPs and peers assessed the bill and correctly decided that the ideal outcome for the country was to drop the deeply flawed legislation. It’s not a bill of rights so much as a bill of wrongs. The cross-party committee said the justice secretary’s proposals would reduce the protections currently provided, make it harder to enforce human rights, and show contempt for international obligations.

    The Conservative party in its present guise is determined to free the executive from accountability, and Mr Raab’s ideas are part of a power grab that includes attempts to restrict judicial review, the right of protest and freedom of expression. Making his bill law would see Britain turn its back on the gains made by human rights legislation. Major advances made by disabled people, same‐sex couples and Windrush victims would never have occurred under these proposals.

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  • Lords can stop police getting pre-emptive protest ban rights, Green peer says

    Labour must whip its benches to vote against controversial proposed powers, says Jenny Jones

    Controversial proposed powers for police to pre-emptively ban protests believed likely to cause “serious disruption” could be killed in the House of Lords if Labour whips its benches to vote against them, the Green peer Jenny Jones has said.

    The powers, described as “a blank cheque to shut down dissent”, were introduced by the government this month in late amendments to a public order bill that already includes a series of anti-protest measures.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Rishi Sunak told to ditch plans to overhaul human rights laws

    MPs and peers say bill will damage people’s ability to enforce rights and harm UK’s international reputation

    Rishi Sunak is being urged to abandon the government’s controversial attempt to overhaul human rights legislation after a warning that the bill of rights appears to “tip the balance” in favour of the state and seriously damages people’s ability to enforce their rights.

    A cross-party committee of MPs and peers said the bill, which would replace the Human Rights Act, which enshrines the European convention on human rights in the UK, showed a “disregard” for the UK’s international legal obligations and would lead to more cases going to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg.

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  • Family of executed British-Iranian national ‘prevented from seeing body’

    Alireza Akbari’s sister and daughter went to cemetery to collect his remains but were told he had already been interred

    The Tehran-based family of the executed British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari have been prevented from seeing his body or burying him in the grave in which he had asked to be laid to rest in Shiraz, his birthplace, family members have told the Guardian.

    Akbari was executed for spying for M16, charges he vehemently denied and for which there is no substantive evidence, save a confession extracted under torture.

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  • Economic, social and cultural rights must be enshrined in UK law | Letter

    A new report has found that our basic human rights are not being upheld by the British government, says Jess McQuail

    This week UK government representatives will meet world and business leaders at Davos to talk a big game on inequality. Yet at the same time, a new report from more than 70 civil society organisations across England and Wales has found that our basic human rights at home are in crisis.

    Over the last six months, the UK human rights organisation Just Fair has been accepting evidence from organisations on the front line of the cost-of-living crisis for a report to the United Nations on rights in the UK. The evidence is damning, and points to a government falling short in many areas and for too many people.

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  • UK looks clumsy and powerless in wake of Iran’s execution of Alireza Akbari

    Culturally insulting language used by Rishi Sunak and James Cleverly will increase tension between the two countries

    Britain’s relationship with Iran has a fraught, unedifying history, dating back to the 18th-century imperial tussle between England, Napoleonic France, and tsarist Russia for control of Persia. Iranians have long memories. To this day, they blame the UK for many of their woes.

    Britain invaded in 1941 to limit Nazi influence and protect the Anglo-Persian company’s oilfields. In 1953 it intervened again, mounting a coup, with US help, to overthrow a democratically elected government and bolster the rule of the autocratic, pro-western shah.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Inadequate help for torture victims in UK immigration centres, watchdog finds

    Borders inspector blames unfounded suspicions by ministers that detainees are gaming the system

    Torture victims and suicidal people in immigration detention centres are not receiving adequate help because of unfounded suspicions from ministers and officials that they are cheating the system, the UK borders watchdog has found.

    David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI), also questioned why Suella Braverman had ended annual investigations into the treatment of vulnerable adult detainees.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK risks being listed as a ‘human rights abuser’, NGO warns

    Human Rights Watch warns UK has ‘very short window’ to reverse legislation, including restrictions on the right to protest

    The UK government could soon make the list of countries that abuse rather than protect human rights with its “outright assault” on the rights of its own citizens and aggressive roll-back of protections such as on the right to assemble and protest, according to the international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).

    “The shrinking civic space is not relegated to countries far away,” said Tirana Hassan, the acting executive director of HRW. “When you come to the UK, you look at the very worrying trend we are seeing. A slew of legislation was passed last year where fundamental human rights are being challenged. The protest law is something we are deeply concerned about.”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK review of gender recognition list risks ‘trans travel ban’

    Campaigners condemn government plan to update list of countries whose GR certificates are automatically recognised

    Rishi Sunak has been told he risks “re-toxifying” his government’s record on LGBTQ+ rights and introducing “an effective trans travel ban” after the equalities minister announced a review of countries whose process for changing gender on legal documents is recognised by the UK.

    Kemi Badenoch notified the Commons on Monday of plans to update the list of approved countries and territories whose gender recognition certificates (GRCs) are automatically recognised by UK officials.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti released from jail after family post bail

    Alidoosti was arrested for support of women’s movement in Iran, including posing on Instagram without hijab

    The celebrated Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti has been released from prison by the authorities after her friends and family provided bail. Pictures of her outside jail with campaigners holding flowers and without a hijab were shown on Iranian social media.

    She had been arrested for issuing statements of support for the women’s movement in Iran, including by posing on Instagram without a hijab, the compulsory hair covering in the country.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Welsh first minister criticised for ‘lavish’ World Cup hotel stay paid by Qatar

    Mark Drakeford and economy minister Vaughan Gething were guests of host nation at five-star Ritz-Carlton

    The Welsh first minister has been criticised for staying in a five-star hotel paid for by the Qatar government during his trip to the football World Cup.

    Mark Drakeford and the Welsh economy minister, Vaughan Gething, stayed at the Ritz-Carlton as guests of the host nation.

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  • Dominic Raab ‘deceptively and deliberately’ undermined me as victims’ tsar, says Vera Baird

    Outgoing commissioner says justice secretary expected her to be his ‘puppet on a string’

    The role of a victims’ champion in England and Wales has been “deceptively and deliberately” undermined, leaving people affected by crime voiceless in the corridors of power, the outgoing victims’ commissioner has said.

    In her first major interview since stepping down from the role in September, Dame Vera Baird accused the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, of seeking a “puppet on a string” while he undermined the rights of victims with his proposed bill of rights.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Our loved ones are imprisoned abroad. Why won’t the UK government help? | Gurpreet Singh Johal and Sanaa Seif

    Our brothers have spent another Christmas unjustly detained overseas – abandoned by those who should protect them

    In March, after six years in captivity in Iran, the British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe flew home to be reunited with her family. The photographs of her hugging her husband, Richard, and their daughter, Gabriella, moved me to tears. I have long shared their anger at the UK government’s failure to protect its citizens imprisoned overseas. But, in that moment, I was able to share their joy, too.

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  • MP urges Britons to leave Iran after arrest of ‘British linked’ suspects

    Foreign affairs committee chair says holding of men allegedly involved in protests part of ‘industrialised taking of hostages’

    All British people still in Iran should leave immediately because of the “industrialised” level of people being taken state hostage, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee has said.

    Alicia Kearns made her call after the Iranian government said it had arrested seven “British linked” suspects including some dual nationals allegedly involved in the country’s anti-government protests, which began 100 days ago.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Braverman says she wants to deliver Rwanda deportations at scale as soon as possible – as it happened

    This live blog is now closed. You can read our full report here:

    And here is the key quote from the summary of the judgment.

    The court has concluded that, it is lawful for the government to make arrangements for relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda and for their asylum claims to be determined in Rwanda rather than in the United Kingdom. On the evidence before this court, the government has made arrangements with the government of Rwanda which are intended to ensure that the asylum claims of people relocated to Rwanda are properly determined in Rwanda. In those circumstances, the relocation of asylum seekers to Rwanda is consistent with the refugee convention and with the statutory and other legal obligations on the government including the obligations imposed by the Human Rights Act 1998.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Sunak rejects Tory calls to ignore human rights court rulings over Rwanda deportations

    No 10 opposes bill that would allow removal of asylum seekers from UK even if it went against European court judgment

    Rishi Sunak has rejected calls by dozens of Conservative MPs to toughen up his asylum plans further by ignoring rulings from the European court of human rights over the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda.

    The prime minister sidestepped questions in the Commons over whether he would be willing to withdraw from the European convention on human rights, saying he was delivering legislation allowing people who had arrived illegally to be removed from the UK.

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  • The UK foreign secretary talks tough on rights abuses, but where’s the action? | Dan Dolan

    James Cleverley squares up to some states, but ducks egregious cases involving allies such as India, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia

    The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has said that the British government “wants dictators to fear us”, but to those watching closely it would seem that he has a highly selective approach to human rights abusers.

    Just days ago, the Foreign Office was scrambling to withdraw comments by a minister, David Rutley, acknowledging that Saudi Arabian authorities had tortured a Jordanian father facing imminent execution, after a complaint by Saudi authorities.

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  • Civil society calls on Rishi Sunak to commit to keeping Human Rights Act

    More than 150 groups urge PM to rule out once and for all its replacement with Dominic Raab’s bill of rights

    More than 150 civil society groups have written to Rishi Sunak urging him to commit to retaining the Human Rights Act and rule out its replacement by a British bill of rights.

    The prime minister’s position in regards the proposed legislation is in doubt but Dominic Raab, having been reappointed justice secretary, remains determined to push through his pet project, which was shelved under Liz Truss’s premiership.

    Fundamentally weaken the right to respect for private and family life.

    Remove the legal duty on courts and public bodies to interpret other laws compatibly with human rights, exposing people to the arbitrary use of laws with no checks.

    Limit access to justice by adding barriers to bringing a human rights case to court.

    Destroy the positive obligation on public bodies to take proactive steps to protect people from harm, including protecting domestic and child abuse survivors.

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  • UK will sanction human rights abusers rather than ‘commentate’, says Cleverly

    Foreign secretary criticised UK’s lack of robust approach at taking action against perpetrators around the world

    British diplomats have too often acted as “commentators” rather than using leverage against human rights abusers, according to the foreign secretary, who said the culture of his department would shift so that dictators would “pay the price”.

    The UK is set to announce a raft of sanctions against individuals in 11 countries, including Iran, Russia, Mali and Nicaragua, targeting those responsible for acts of torture, sexual violence and the repression of protests.

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  • Watchdog criticises UK ministers’ ‘antagonism’ towards human rights

    Council of Europe report finds government’s attitude is weakening protections for the public

    The UK government has “an increasingly antagonistic attitude” towards human rights that is weakening instead of strengthening protections for the public, a European inquiry has found.

    Inflammatory language used by MPs and officials to describe lawyers could put their safety at risk, according to the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatović.

    Provisions in the PCSC Act that de facto criminalise Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities leading a nomadic lifestyle must be rescinded.

    There is “a high level of anxiety among stakeholders” about human rights protection in the UK, in view of the significant impact of recent and proposed legislation.

    The UK’s policies towards refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are eroding their rights. Proposals criticised in the report include newly introduced inadmissibility rules for asylum claims, the possibility of removing persons to Rwanda, and the criminalisation of asylum seekers arriving irregularly.

    The emergence of a harsh political and public discourse against trans people in the UK has a negative impact on their rights.

    The UK government should consider withdrawing the legacy bill, which offers a conditional amnesty to people accused of killings and other Troubles-related crimes.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Harry and Meghan win racial justice and mental health award

    Duke and Duchess of Sussex honoured for their activism days ahead of revelatory Netflix show

    A US human rights charity has awarded Harry and Meghan its Ripple of Hope award for their activism on racial justice and mental health.

    In a statement celebrating their award, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said “a ripple of hope can turn into a wave of change”. The couple received the award on Tuesday night in New York, two days before the release of a tell-all Netflix show expected to include damning revelations about the royal family.

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