Weekly Human Rights News: 22-09-23

We’re excited to announce the five organisations we will be partnering with in the coming months to co-design a human rights solution to issues they face every day.

All Wales People First: A self-advocacy umbrella body for people with learning disabilities across Wales.

All Together Dignity & Fourth World UK: An anti-poverty human rights organisation working on the Young Voices Project led by young people with experience of poverty and social services interventions. 

My Life, My Choice: A self-advocacy organisation based in Oxfordshire and entirely led by people with learning disabilities.

Families in Trauma & Recovery:  A peer-led mental health organisation that offer training and one-to-one support.

Migrants Rights Network: A campaigning organisation that fights for the rights of migrants and equality and justice.

Fair Justice System for Scotland: A grassroots-led legal charity based in West Calder advocating for greater racial equality and diversity in the Scottish justice system.

We all met on Monday 18^th September to get to know more about each other’s work and start thinking about tools to help each organisation embed human rights law in their work. We’ll share the solutions publicly in December 2023 but stay tuned for updates along the way.

On Wednesday 20^th September, we talked to staff in a Local Authority about embedding human rights in social care practice. Attendees described the workshop as a “really good, interactive session where both trainers are not looking for textbook answers but exploring learning."

Please be aware that the external human rights news BIHR shares weekly contains difficult and potentially triggering issues. This week triggers include cases concerning abuse in the immigration system and state violence.

An inquiry found evidence of inhuman and degrading treatment at an immigration centre

The Brook House Inquiry was set up in November 2019 to “investigate into and report on the decisions, actions and circumstances surrounding the mistreatment of detainees broadcast in the BBC Panorama programme ‘Undercover: Britain’s Immigration Secrets’”.

On Tuesday 19^th September, Kate Eves, the Chair of the Inquiry, published her report. She found 19 incidents of inhuman or degrading treatment, breaching Article 3 of the Human Rights Act. The report makes 33 recommendations for actions that need to be taken although notes that, “my Report comes as the latest in a long line of reports and investigations into immigration detention – many, with depressing regularity, making broadly similar findings and recommendations. It has long since been time to act on recommendations, rather than simply keep repeating them.”

Read the report

People challenged the Troubles Act on human rights grounds

On Monday 18^th September, the Troubles Bill received royal assent, meaning it is now part of UK law and goes from being a Bill to being an Act. The Act offers conditional amnesty to people accused of killings during the Troubles and prevents future inquests and court cases. It has been criticised for breaching the duty to investigate under the Article 2 right to life. New legal challenges have now been brought against the Act by families of alleged victims of state violence who are bringing challenges under the right to life (Article 2); the right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 3); the right to a fair trial (Article 6); and the right to be free from discrimination (Article 14).

Source: Irish Legal