Weekly Human Rights News: 11-08-23

Universality, the fact that human rights belong to all of us, is what makes human rights so important. This has become particularly clear through our work with the RITES Committee – a coalition of lived experience experts with a range of background, expertise and experiences using human rights in everyday life. We invited members of the Committee to come together to talk about human rights and what universality means to them. We’ll be sharing a blog post soon with what our members had to say!

The Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry is asking about people’s experiences of the pandemic

The Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry is investigating the way the Scottish Government responded to the pandemic from 01 January 2020 to 31 December 2022. Their goal is to establish the facts, see what lessons need to be learned and make recommendations to Scottish Ministers.

As part of the inquiry, they’ve launched the Let’s Be Heard campaign to encourage people across Scotland to share their experiences of the pandemic. They’re asking the public:

1. What were your experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. What were the impacts of these experiences on you or the people you know?
3. What lessons do you think should be learned from your experiences?

Find out more and get involved on the Let’s Be Heard website.

The family of a woman who died in care are appealing to the European Court of Human Rights

In February 2023, 52-year-old Jackie Maguire, who had Down’s Syndrome, died in hospital from a perforated stomach ulcer and pneumonia, having refused to go to hospital the day before. Jackie was living in a care home where staff were supporting her with day-to-day needs and had a deprivation of liberty order in place. While an inquest into Jackie’s death found she died of natural causes, the family believe there should have been a wider investigation into her death to see if the State failed to protect Jackie’s right to life (Article 2). UK courts rejected their claim, saying the care home and the medical professionals met their duties and were not obliged to force Jackie to go to hospital earlier based on the deprivation of liberty order in place. The courts made it clear that the steps that need to be taken to protect Article 2 will depend on the facts of each individual case. In Jackie’s case, it was found that Article 2 had not been breached so there was no need to carry out a more in-depth inquest. Jackie’s family are now appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.

Read her lawyer’s press release