Supporting Women Human Rights Defenders:
A Conservative Party Human Rights Commission Report

The report "Supporting Women Human Rights Defenders" recommends that a future Conservative government should consult and involve Women Human Rights Defenders in political dialogue and demonstrate that the UK is serious about the enforcement of international commitments on human rights. It urges the provision of UK investment for training projects for WHRDs, particularly for national projects in countries where abuse is rife. The report aims at judicial reform and training for women in the creation of peaceful and prosperous societies and the legitimacy of the role of WHRDs.  It recommends that obligations towards women are treated as a foreign policy priority and that working with and supporting human rights is mainstreamed through UK government policy and practice.

Those Who Bear the Greatest Responsibility:
A Conservative Party Human Rights Commission Report

The Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission has urged a future Conservative government to reinforce the International Criminal Court, at the same time as strengthening the United Kingdom’s own laws on international crimes. In a report released on 16th March 2010, the Commission also recommends the appointment of a Human Rights Minister, to oversee human rights work within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the appointment of a number of ambassadors with specific responsibility for human rights themes. An annual debate on international human rights should be held on the floor of the House of Commons.

The Female Face of Afghanistan: Recommendations to a future UK Government launched on International Human Rights Day

On International Human Rights Day, the Conservative Human Rights Commission, launched “The Female Face of Afghanistan at a reception held at the House of Commons. The publication and speakers were introduced by Nicola Blackwood the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for West Oxford and Abingdon.

Nicola Blackwood said “I am very pleased to be able to launch this report on a platform with such eminent speakers who speak out about Afghanistan in their many different ways and from their different standpoints”.

Launch of the Conservative Human Rights Annual Report 2008
with keynote speech by David Cameron MP

David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party, today delivered a keynote speech at the launch of the Conservative Human Rights Annual Report 2008. In his speech he argues that Robert Mugabe must stand down as president of Zimbabwe to prevent an international humanitarian disaster. The third annual report details violations of human rights abuses around the world, focuses on key themes and includes policy proposals for a future Conservative Government. The event and keynote speech held at the Foreign Press Association comes two days before the Sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Please click the following link to download the third annual report.

The Silent Conflict:
Why we need a plan to tackle Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War

Sexual violence is always wrong, never excusable and, far too often, still suffered in silence. But when sexual violence is used as a widespread, systematic and deliberate weapon of war the international community has a moral responsibility to protect the victims and prosecute the perpetrators. The crimes of sexual violence recorded in conflicts ranging from the Former Yugoslavia and Peru to Rwanda, Liberia and currently Darfur and the DRC are amongst the most horrific war crimes ever committed. We urgently need to find more and better ways to bring an end to this epidemic of conflict-based sexual violence and the UK has a vital role to play in formulating, promoting and implementing such policy.

Globalising Human Rights:
A Conservative Agenda for UN Reform

The report, Globalising Human Rights: A Conservative Agenda for UN Reform, has been submitted to the Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague MP. It analyses the performance of the UN Human Rights Council and calls for a “culture change” within the UN. Countries belonging to the Human Rights Council should be required to address their own human rights records before election, a Democracy Caucus should be established within the UN to balance other influential blocks, and “in the most extreme cases, the threat of expulsion – or suspension – can be used as leverage more effectively than it is now”.