International Human Rights Day

Fabian Hamilton Excerpts

Tuesday 10th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East) (Lab)]

I am delighted to have secured this Adjournment debate to mark international Human Rights Day, which we remember annually across the world on 10 December.

I first declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary human rights group, whose purpose is

“to raise the profile of international human rights issues within Parliament and to investigate and publicise human rights abuses occurring”.

The group is one of Parliament’s most long-standing APPGs, set up in 1976 by the late human rights champion Lord Avebury, and one of its most active, with at least one event a month and often many more. I also declare an interest in what I am about to say, as I am chair of the British group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Last week, the all-party parliamentary human rights group held a reception organised jointly with Amnesty International UK to mark Human Rights Day. It was very well attended, showing that the protection of human rights across the world is an issue that transcends party politics and matters greatly to many of my parliamentary colleagues right across the political spectrum.

International Human Rights Day commemorates the adoption of the universal declaration of human rights by the United Nations General Assembly on this day in 1948.

The universal declaration, whose 75th anniversary the human rights APPG celebrated last year in Parliament, is founded on the principle that

“All human beings are born free and equal”.

It has set the standards by which states must treat their citizens and provides the basis on which Governments can be called out and held to account for not doing so. The universal declaration has had a profound impact since, having inspired and paved the way for the adoption of more than 60 human rights treaties at global and regional levels and having provided the basis for the 2030 UN sustainable development goals. At the individual and collective level, the declaration has protected millions and empowered many to stand up against abuse and tyranny, and for equality and justice.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

First of all, I commend the hon. Gentleman. In all my time in this House—he has been here longer than I have—I have always been impressed by his commitment to human rights issues. In every debate, he and I have been there together. I commend him for that, and put it on the record in Hansard. Does he agree that today we should not simply reflect on how far we have to go, but celebrate how far we have come? We should never grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap as we diligently sow. Those lovely words from the Holy Bible, which the hon. Gentleman and I both respect, must encourage us all to keep pressing, and keep winning the small human rights victories that literally save lives, grant education and preserve innocence for children.

[Fabian Hamilton]

I thank my friend, first for his generosity and secondly because he is an extraordinary performer in this House, not just on these green Benches but in Westminster Hall. I have sat around the table with him in many, many debates, and he always stands up for humanity and faith. I respect and thank him for that, and I agree with his quote from the Holy Bible. I thank him for quoting it.

In this year’s commemoration, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is focusing on the realisation of rights as a pathway to solutions to many real-world challenges, such as armed conflict, political and social exclusion, and economic inequality—and, goodness me, do we not need that in the world right now?

Let me highlight a key provision of the declaration, the right to life, which is of course fundamental to the enjoyment of every other right that we are here to protect. Categorical violations of the right to life include: extra-judicial killing; the misuse of the death penalty, or, I would argue, the use of it at all; life-threatening prison conditions, which we have seen in the footage from Syria in recent hours and days; the use of live ammunition by police forces against unarmed protestors; serious violations of humanitarian law; and environmental degradation and climate change, which give rise to serious threats to the existence of present and future generations. Tragically, the right to life is violated in many countries, by state and non-state actors, including China, North Korea, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Colombia and Mexico to name just a few, I am sorry to say.

I would like to express the APPG’s deep concern about the killing of human rights defenders, brave people from all walks of life: community leaders, environmental activists, lawyers, journalists, trade unionists, academics and members of non-governmental organisations who are committed to promoting and protecting the human rights of their communities, in their country and the wider world. The APPG has been privileged to meet many inspiring human rights defenders over the years. Their work documenting violations, holding human rights violators to account and tackling cycles of impunity may result in serious threats, including harassment, smear campaigns, physical attacks, arbitrary detention, torture, and in the worst cases, murder.

Environmental and land rights defenders are at particular risk. The non-governmental organisation Global Witness estimates that in 2023, 196 land and environmental defenders were killed around the world. The highest number by far were in Colombia, followed by Brazil, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua. During my time as shadow Minister for Latin America, I visited Colombia and met trade unionists and human rights defenders who faced violent attacks every single day. Two weeks ago, I met representatives of the Wiwa indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia to hear their testimony at first hand, here in our Parliament.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman—my hon. Friend—for securing this debate on such an important day. He is right to draw particular attention to the experiences of defenders of indigenous communities and environmental rights defenders in Colombia and elsewhere. Back in October, in my capacity as a vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary human rights group, I hosted a roundtable here in Parliament with speakers from the Colombia Caravana. It brought together lawyers from 24 countries who had recently conducted a fact-finding trip in Colombia. They highlighted the increasing power of illegal armed groups, particularly in areas with no or limited state presence, and the serious threat that those groups posed to human rights defenders. We heard powerful testimony from the leader of an indigenous people’s reserve, who spoke of the threats to which his community was subject and called for the UK Government to do everything possible to ensure that UK companies were held to account for the impact of their actions. Would the hon. Gentleman support his call?

[Fabian Hamilton]

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention, for her work as an officer of the APPG, and for chairing that meeting. I was slightly late for it, but I was there for most of it, and I heard those testimonies. Of course I would support that call. I think it important for us to recognise the extraordinarily brave and courageous work of people like those who were there on that day, such as the human rights defenders from Peru from whom we heard very recently, and the representatives of the Wiwa people of Colombia, whom I mentioned. All over the world, human rights defenders are putting their lives, their safety and their freedom at risk to defend their lands and their rights against rapacious companies that are exploiting them because no one will protect them except themselves. I thank the hon. Lady for her support, and for all the work that she is doing. With President Gustavo Petro, we have renewed hope in Colombia, but sadly the attacks continue. Given that the UK is the penholder for Colombia at the United Nations, I should be grateful if the Minister reaffirmed our commitment to what the Colombians call paz total, or total peace.

As I have said, indigenous peoples continue to be disproportionately targeted, accounting for 49% of total murders. The UK and like-minded countries must help to support and protect human rights defenders. I understand that, to this end, the “UK Support for Human Rights Defenders” guidance, published in 2019, is being reviewed, and I should be interested to know whether the Minister has an update on when we can expect that review to be published. Given the crucial role that human rights defenders play in fostering peace, justice and inclusive development, I ask the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to consider elevating the guidance to a more comprehensive strategy, with benchmarks for officials and posts, which could then be adapted to specific country situations.

I cannot speak about the importance of the universal declaration without highlighting another of its central provisions: equality. Article 2 states:

“Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

I believe that all parliamentarians are horrified by the treatment of women and girls in some parts of the world, particularly Afghanistan.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on an excellent speech, and on securing a debate on such an important day. He rightly mentions Afghanistan and the issues around the discrimination of women and girls in that great country. Should the UK consider joining the 30, I think, countries that are involved in an action at the International Court of Justice, because of their concerns about breaches of the UN convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women?

[Fabian Hamilton]

Yes, and I would be interested to hear from our Minister whether we should join that action, because in some way or another, we really need to draw the world’s attention more clearly, and in a more focused way, to the shocking, appalling and totally unjustifiable treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan—and, indeed, other parts of the world. Until the sexes in this world are equal, we will not have the peace, justice and development that all humanity deserves.

Under this Government, we rightly have a relentless focus on tackling violence against women and girls in our country, but that focus should extend across the world, as I have said. It is simply incomprehensible—I stress this again—that in the 21st century, the Taliban can completely silence Afghan women and girls, almost erasing their very existence and barring them from education and public life. Extremely courageous women who protest against these violations face the most terrifying consequences, including enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture.

Just today, I heard an example of how this works on the ground in Afghanistan. I was told by somebody who knows the country well, and who is not an Afghan, that he recently spoke to Afghan doctors and midwives about the problems that many Afghan women experience when giving birth, especially in remote rural areas. Birth complications can lead to all sorts of other horrors, including the death of babies at birth. Under a special exception, the Taliban have allowed women to work as doctors and midwives, thank goodness, but a problem arises if a female midwife or doctor is stopped by, as he put it, a “bearded man” while she walks to work from where she lives. She will be stopped and questioned, and sometimes returned home. As women and girls can no longer get the training or education necessary to become gynaecologists, obstetricians, specialists, doctors, clinicians or midwives, there is a time-bomb ticking in this field of work, among others, in Afghanistan. It is extremely disturbing.

Our APPG is worried about democratic back-sliding globally, and the consequent erosion of political and civil rights, such as freedom of expression, assembly and association. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy index, less than 8% of the world’s population lived in a full, proper democracy in 2023. Almost 40% lived under authoritarian rule—a share that has been creeping up in recent years. I do not need to remind hon. Members that this is happening, because we are all aware of it. Every single day, we hear stories of Parliaments and parliamentary democracy under attack.

Electoral autocracies are becoming more prevalent; sham elections are held, in a largely unsuccessful attempt to provide a veneer of political legitimacy. I will not name countries, but we all know who they are. The increase in violent conflict, as seen in Russia and the middle east, has stifled progress towards more meaningful political participation. It would be helpful to know more about how our Government will continue to promote and support democracy across the world and, closer to home, whether the defending democracy taskforce still has a role to play in protecting the UK’s democratic integrity from threats of foreign interference.

[Sorcha Eastwood (Lagan Valley) (Alliance)]

I really appreciate the hon. Member bringing this matter to the House today. It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that we do everything we can to stand up for human rights, whether at home or abroad. The need to stand up for democracy, not only in the world in which we live physically but online, is also a real concern for me and many across the House. Does he agree that we need to do everything we can to ensure that elections, not just here but across the world, and the tenets of democracy are protected as we struggle to deal with those who would love to erode the fundamental freedoms and human rights that we hold dear?

[Fabian Hamilton]

I thank the hon. Member for making such an important intervention. I would certainly agree that online interference is something we should be deeply concerned about. Indeed, we are deeply concerned about it. We have seen examples of that interference, that hacking and those bots, as they call them, creating posts for non-existent individuals on our social media, urging people to do something or to vote in a particular way, and quoting sham facts and figures that are made up or invented to persuade people to make a decision that would be against their interests or inclinations.

In connection with the latter, I note a growing worry about transnational repression when authoritarian Governments reach across their borders to silence dissent among diaspora communities and exiles, including through illegal deportation, abduction, digital threats, attacks and family intimidation. Indeed, we have heard examples in recent years of BBC World Service correspondents in London having their families intimidated, harassed or even arrested by the authorities in Iran. Those people have nothing whatever to do with the work that their family members are doing here in London, but they are none the less paying the price for that freedom to broadcast, that freedom of information and the brilliant work that the BBC World Service does.

The UK has not been immune to this, as I have just said, and I am pleased that our Government have recognised that. Individuals living here who have left Russia, Hong Kong, China or Iran have been subject to surveillance, attacks, confiscation of their properties and bank accounts in their countries of origin, and even assassination and attempted assassination.

UK parliamentarians have been targeted as well, with foreign Governments imposing sanctions against them for calling out human rights violations. This will need to be more effectively addressed. I am sure I am not alone in the House in finding out that all my assets and bank accounts in Russia, of which I have none whatsoever, have been confiscated or closed down. In recent years, members of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the last Parliament were refused visas to go to China because of what the Committee had said about Hong Kong and Taiwan. This is simply unacceptable, and we need to address it.

As I said earlier, I am the current chair of the British group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and I would like to commend the human rights work of the IPU, particularly that of its committee on the human rights of parliamentarians—not the one I chair, but the international one—which is doing a lot of work to defend the rights of parliamentarians. The committee seeks to defend them when they are under attack. Every year, MPs around the world face abuse, mistreatment, disappearance and sometimes death. The human rights APPG and the British group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union work hand in hand in the belief that parliamentarians’ voices must be protected and allowed to be heard, free from the fear of violence or harassment. Parliamentarians are often the so-called canaries in the coal mine. If the human rights of parliamentarians are being violated, the situation of those in that country who do not have wider popular backing or the high profile of a local MP is likely to be far, far worse.

I therefore urge my hon. Friend the Minister to make it clear that this Government will put human rights and peace building at the forefront of our foreign policy once again. That includes a relentless focus on securing the release of arbitrarily detained nationals such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori. Anoosheh spoke extremely powerfully and beautifully at last week’s event about his imprisonment in Iran, and I am pleased to call him a friend. He is a delightful man and I am amazed that, after the ordeal he went through, he is still able to campaign in the open and democratic way that he has. He really is a remarkable man. I would like to gain more support for victims of gender-based violence in conflict and modern-day slavery, and to encourage support for the International Criminal Court and the importance of international law.

More specifically, parliamentarians have a key role to play in ensuring Governments’ compliance with human rights obligations, and holding those Governments to account for any violations; in incorporating human rights protections in national legislation; in helping to generate the necessary political will to bring about positive change domestically and internationally; and in engaging with, supporting and validating civil society, human rights defenders and inter-governmental and grassroots human rights organisations. I pay tribute to all Members of the House and the other place for their work on these issues, whether on Select Committees, with all-party parliamentary groups or in their individual engagement with human rights organisations and defenders.

I also pay tribute to my dear friend, Tony Lloyd, who died earlier this year, from whom I took over the responsibility of chairing the APPG on human rights. He was a spokesperson from his first election in 1983, through his time as Minister of State at the Foreign Office in Tony Blair’s Government of 1997, for human rights and for the prominence and importance of human rights worldwide. Not long before he died, he spoke to a friend of mine and said, “In the event of my death, I would like Fabian Hamilton to take over the role.” I found that deeply moving, so I undertake the role not just in the name of all those who are oppressed, whose human rights are not easy or clear, or whose human rights are taken away from them, but in the name of Tony Lloyd, to carry on the work he did.

Governments, of course, have the ultimate responsibility for ensuring their citizens benefit from their rights, and for promoting respect for human rights internationally. I know this Government take that responsibility seriously. Having worked closely with the Foreign Secretary and his excellent team for several years, I can say with the utmost certainty that this Government are committed to protecting the rule of law and the international rules-based order on which our security and prosperity rest.

I therefore welcome the Government’s unflinching approach to calling out serious and systematic human rights violations committed by state and non-state actors and, when appropriate, the imposition of sanctions. I believe it would be beneficial for the Government to consider bringing in legislation on mandatory human rights and environmental corporate due diligence.

Finally, the debate could not come at a more appropriate time. Democracy and freedoms hang by a thread across the world: in Putin’s Russia, there are forced conscriptions for the illegal war in Ukraine; the Iranian regime is clamping down on legitimate protests with the most brutal force; and China continues to lurch towards interference in our democracy, has all but destroyed any semblance of it in Hong Kong, and wishes to attack the democracy that is now evident in Taiwan. Members of the all-party parliamentary group on human rights and I hope to continue engaging on these issues with the FCDO, and I am looking forward to the Minister’s response on this 76th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.