International Human Rights Day 2015 by Ann Clwyd MP

In my role as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG), I

would like to mark International Human Rights Day this year by stressing the
continued importance of the international human rights framework.

It is becoming increasingly common for some UK politicians to denigrate

international and regional frameworks and obligations, and for the media and UK
population to denigrate human rights.

It can be all too easy for us in the UK to take the promotion and protection of
internationally recognised human rights for granted, to the extent they become
devalued and perhaps even understandable that some have concluded these
rights dont mean much when we are faced by individuals and groups who hold
such rights in contempt.

Let us, however, not forget the origins of the international human rights
framework - forged in the experiences of the Second World War in recognition
that human rights underpin stability, security, justice and prosperity and the
issues ultimately at stake, such as: extrajudicial executions; disappearances;
sham trials; torture; imprisonment for peacefully exercising rights; forced
religious conversion; persecution and discrimination on the grounds of gender,
race, ethnicity and/or sexual orientation; and, unfettered corruption.

These issues and the extent of serious and systematic rights violations are
well illustrated by the cases featured in this years Amnesty International Write
for Rights campaign which span the globe and involve a number of countries,
including Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Burma, Malaysia, Mexico, and the US.

The cases also demonstrate another long-standing obstacle to the realisation of

rights: the limited or convoluted avenues for redress available to victims
particularly those who are marginalised, in conflict zones and/or trying to defend
fundamental rights in authoritarian regimes. The impunity which results often
continues to fuel further serious and systematic violations in too many parts of
the world.

Yet again in the last twelve months, often through the auspices of the PHRG, I
have been privileged to find out more about the commitment, resilience and
courage of human rights victims and defenders throughout the world in the
face of incredible - and frankly at times unbelievable - risks, odds and hardships.

I would ask my Parliamentary colleagues and others throughout the UK therefore

to take just a few minutes today to show their solidarity with those who dont
have the luxury of taking their human rights for granted by taking an action in
support of those whose cases are highlighted in the Write for Rights campaign
this year. See http://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/Write-for-Rights-2015.

And to take a few more minutes to consider how the international human rights
framework has benefited those in this country, in Europe and more widely, and
what you could do to protect those achievements, and the UKs international
credibility as a human rights champion on the world stage, if they were
threatened in future.