The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission held a two-hour hearing on Wednesday 12 December to consider ways in which the institutional structures and mechanisms of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the promotion of international human rights could be improved.

The Commission heard evidence from a panel of experts including:

Sir Andrew Green – former British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Syria
Craig Murray – former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Jeremy Croft – Head of Policy and Government Affairs, Amnesty International
Jiri Sitler – former Czech Ambassador to Burma, and now Director of Protocol at the Czech Foreign Ministry

All four speakers welcomed the Commission’s proposals to create a Minister with special responsibility for international human rights and an Ambassador-at-Large for International Human Rights, and to increase the role of advisory bodies and special panels within the Foreign Office, such as the Freedom of Religion Panel and the Freedom of Expression Panel. The speakers agreed that human rights training should be provided to all diplomats posted to countries whose human rights records were poor, and that the advancement of human rights should feature in FCO staff personal objectives. The panel also agreed that there is a greater role for the BBC World Service and the British Council in advancing human rights and democracy. Jiri Sitler shared the Czech Government’s experiences of democracy and human rights promotion.