Conservative Party Human Rights Commission


"If you cross the path of tyranny, or incipient tyranny, I believe there is a duty to fight it …. If you achieve a voice that will be heard, you should use it to speak up for the voiceless and oppressed. If you possess any power or authority, you must strive to use it to help and to empower the powerless." - Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, in Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror

	NEWS SECTION UPDATES
	18 Mar 08:	New report on UN Reform launched at Chatham House	¨ Click Here
	18 Mar 08:	Hearing on rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war	¨ Click Here
	18 Mar 08:	Hearing on child soldiers	¨ Click Here
	12 Dec 07:	Commission holds hearing on Foreign Office Reform	¨ Click Here

	EVENTS HEARING ON RAPE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE AS A WEAPON OF WAR The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission will hold a hearing on rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war, on Tuesday 25 March from 3-5pm in Committee Room 19, House of Commons. ¨ Click Here

	EVENTS HEARING ON CHILD SOLDIERS The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission will hold a hearing on the forcible conscription of child soldiers, on Wednesday 23 April from 3-5pm in a Committee room (to be confirmed), House of Commons. ¨ Click Here

	EVENTS WILLIAM HAGUE LAUNCHES 2007 ANNUAL REPORT The Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke at the launch of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission’s Annual Report, Monday 10th December 2007, in the Jubilee Room, House of Commons. ¨ Click Here

	EVENTS FRINGE MEETING AT THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONFERENCE 07 The Commission held a fringe meeting at The Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool with William Hague MP, addresing an audience of over 200. The meeting was also addressed by Simon Coveney TD, Benedict Rogers and Mohamed Nasheed. ¨ Click Here


	ANDREW MITCHELL MP FILM RECORDED FROM VISIT TO BURMA Shadow International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell MP, has returned from a visit to Burma, where he recorded a video from his trip. Andrew also appeared on internet TV station, 18 Doughty Street, with Ben Rogers talking about their experience. ¨ Click Here

	ELBEGDORJ TSAKHIA FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF MONGOLIA In an interview with the Conservative Human Rights Commission, Mr Elbegdorj Tsakhia, former Prime Minister of Mongolia and leader of the country’s democracy movement in the 1980s, spoke of his support for democracy in Vietnam. ¨ Click Here

	SAM RAINSY CAMBODIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ‘Be vigilant’ on human rights, warns Cambodian opposition leader, Special report: Rado Tylecote talks with Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy in Phnom Penh, 24th April 2006. ¨ Click Here

	CONSERVATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS WHO ARE WE The Commission was established in 2005 by the Shadow Foreign Secretary and is chaired by Stephen Crabb MP. Human rights activist Benedict Rogers serves as Deputy Chairman. The commission includes several Members of Parliament. ¨ Click Here

	NEWGROUND ORIGINAL POLICY PAPER New Ground is a paper written by James Mawdsley and Benedict Rogers, setting out a vision for a bold, principled and imaginative foreign policy that promotes human rights and democracy. ¨ Click Here

	Welcome to the website of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission. The Conservative Party follows in the tradition of William Wilberforce, who as a Member of Parliament 200 years ago led the campaign to end the slave trade. Freedom, democracy, human dignity, opportunity and the rule of law are at the heart of our politics. They are values which should be applied to all areas of policy, domestic and international. The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission is a body established by the Shadow Foreign Secretary to highlight international human rights concerns, and to inform, advise and develop the party’s foreign policy by making human rights a priority. Freedom and human dignity should be at the heart of foreign policy. Established in 2005, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission is chaired by Gary Streeter MP. Members of the Commission include MPs Michael Gove, John Bercow, David Burrowes, Mark Pritchard and Gerald Howarth, and human rights activist and writer Benedict Rogers. The Commission works closely with a number of human rights organisations, including Amnesty International. The Commission builds on the ideas set out in New Ground: Engaging People with the Conservative Party through a bold, principled and imaginative foreign policy (www.newground.org.uk), a paper published in 2003 by James Mawdsley and Benedict Rogers. In its initial phase, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission will focus on about 20 primary countries of concern. These include some of the worst possible offenders, such as North Korea and Burma, and some of the smallest, most forgotten situations such as The Maldives and Eritrea. The countries of focus are drawn from all continents, from Cuba to Vietnam, Nepal to Iran, Sudan to Belarus, and they include human rights violations perpetrated by both State and non-State parties. For example, in Turkmenistan and Uzbekhistan, violations are perpetrated by the State, but in India the violations against the Dalits, which the Commission will concentrate on, are primarily the result of societal and cultural factors. The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission will: ¨ hold regular hearings on countries and themes ¨ publish weekly updates drawn from different human rights organisations and media sources ¨ organise speaker meetings, press conferences and events ¨ initiate Parliamentary Questions, Early Day Motions and debates in Parliament ¨ publish an Annual Report on Human Rights ¨ develop policy proposals for a future Conservative Government