Foreign Policy and Human Rights

As part of the SOAS’s annual Sir Joseph Hotung International Human Rights Lecture, I attended a conference entitled ‘Foreign Policy and Human Rights: Is there a contradiction?’ To mark this occasion, Lord Patten of Barnes, the co-Chair of the International Crisis Group and of the UK-India Round Table, presented his case on diplomacy as keynote speaker.

Having spent 5 years as the Governor of Hong Kong, much of Lord Patten’s speech was related to his diplomatic experiences in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is prosperous and stable because it has strong British business backing, dating far back from colonial times. It is common to see “UK PLC” in China, however is dismayed that when speaking of business, the topic of human rights is rarely connected. While Dr. Henry Kissinger opened up business and diplomatic relations with China during the 1970s, he ignored the Indo-Chinese tension, which eventually led to China bombing Cambodia. China still has a policy of ‘separating business with politics’ which has led to human rights negligence in the country.

Democracies that govern under human rights law are usually more peaceful and stable that has the best standard of living and business practices, Helsinki being a striking example. However, Lord Patten warned that setting out ethical foreign policies before the government begins its term leads to failure as it is often hard to live up to. Human rights issues cannot be selective as issues interrelate to one another. Yet in the practice of business, it is difficult to practice human rights with the rigidity of commerce law. As in the case of Africa, corruption and civil wars have begun over the ownership of natural resources, and industrial growth and failure to social problems links with business practices. Oil dependency on authoritarian states like in the Arab encourages our democratic idealisation on these States.

Lord Patten stated that “we used to fear mighty states. Now we fear weak states” and eventually problems are exported from powerful, well-developed countries to weaker, less-developed countries which creates the problems of drugs, weapons trade, diseases etc. Diplomacy can be effective if links are made in all areas of foreign policy and human rights. For example, diplomacy should control industries of small arms and need to make UN embargos on arms more effective by tracing the origin of weapons, buy it up and destroy the stockpile to protect civilians. Often in the case of diplomacy, people are treated as “expandable pawns”, where the heroes of real politiques are either “authoritarians” or “revolutionists”. The longer the authoritarianism lasts, the more extreme successors will become.

Lord Patten has made it clear that there is a contradiction between human rights and foreign policy, and that economic development has direct links to social responsibility. Diplomats should get involved in global governance and explore opportunities to weaken the barriers between human rights and foreign policy if we are to reduce the effects of major global issues.

Y-WILPF Recruiting

Since being elected as the new coordinator in April 2009, Y-WILPF UK has taken a major turn with its capacity building programme within the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. As Y-WILPF’s aim is to empower new and young members in WILPF, the new partnership with Changemakers has enabled Y-WILPF to have access to young women in clubs, schools and colleges across East London. Changemaker’s Development Manager, Marie Lyse Numuhoza and I are working together in bringing young women into Y-WILPF so that they can engage in WILPF activities, fundraise and expand WILPF as an organisation.

To enable new members to be as active as possible, Y-WILPF endeavours to host a Talent Show in April 2010 as part of WILPF’s annual birthday celebration. The Talent Show will be a ticketed event to showcase the work of women through forms of art, drama, dance and other entertainment avenues. In order to organise this mammoth event, Y-WILPF will be recruiting committee members within the network with specific duties. The idea of forming a committee will not only allow new members to learn about WILPF, but will encourage young women to contribute to the growth of WILPF and gain valuable experience from an international organisation.

The Talent Show is not the only event we will be working on. Y-WILPF will be engaged with UK WILPF’s three core campaigns and collaborate in outside events such as the Blockade of Aldermaston in February 2010. It is essential that Y-WILPF members participate in as many events as possible so that they can learn about global issues, network with professionals, and encourage like-minded women to join WILPF.

By recruiting young women through the Y-WILPF committee, we hope that new and young members can share fresh ideas with our current executive members with the aims of making WILPF a stronger and more united organisation. If you are interested, please get in touch with me as soon as possible

The Citizen and the Law of Armed Conflict

1-2 September, 2009

In this two day conference, the Institute for Law Accountability and Peace (INLAP) and World Court Project UK have joined to form a steering group in concerns with accountability and the law. The first day constituted of talks from a wide range of experts while the second day enabled participants to discuss techniques on how to empower citizens.

Day One

The conference began with a review of international and domestic Law, which was examined by Nick Grief (Professor of International Law) and Robbie Manson (Co-founder of INLAP). As concerned citizens, we have the right to know how our country is run and what decisions are being made. However there is confusion as to when a country must adhere to domestic or international law in regards to militarism and defence. For example, US forces based in the UK adhere to US law, even though their operations are conducted on British soil. Therefore when is it appropriate to apply international law, and is the government, parliament, ministerial or individuals held accountable when laws are broken? Robbie Manson answered ‘no’, especially if definitions across international law are not concrete, as is the case for the term “crime of aggression”. Without terminologies in international law fully defined in all countries, accountability is less likely to happen.

While it is challenging to apply law to armed conflict, citizens are experiencing difficulties in relating to the government. Ann Feltham (Campaigns against Arms Trade) highlighted the lack of transparency shown by the government. The government’s annual report in the UN and EU bears little information on research conducted and is extremely vague due to commercial confidentiality. Liberal Democrat MP, Norman Baker urged that citizens make use of the ‘Freedom of Information Act’ (2006) to our advantage. However, while the act has enabled organisations like CAAT to retrieve commercial information on the arms trade, how to publicly present this information poses another question.

Dr. Paul Dorfman (University of Warwick) questioned whether the use of nuclear arms is justified and if the same information is known to the government as it is to the public. At present, there is demand for a public inquiry to be made on the Iraq war, as the reason to attack was not only illegal but publically favoured against. Dr. Andrew Blick (Senior Research Fellow) stated that the British parliament is weak with its conduct with the government. The Prime Minister can still declare war without the consent of the parliament, which undermines the system completely. It is not enough for politicians and officials to listen to citizens when parliamentarians cannot enforce the law on its own government.

The decisions that the government make may be linked historically, ignoring domestic and international law altogether. Dr. Nick Ritchie (University of Bradford) revealed that the justification of nuclear arms may be a matter of national identity rather than for national security. In a political point of view, keeping nuclear arms means maintaining a role as the “pivotal power” of the world. There are political fears that the liberation of nuclear arms may damage special foreign relationships. Labour Party MP, Clare Short agreed that the renewal of the British nuclear system is just an excuse for power, thus encouraging citizens to raise the debate on what Britain’s role should be. If “our political system is broken” then it falls on citizens to urge ministers for legal change.

A key approach to engaging with the government is through opinion polls and campaigning, however each method has its strong and weak points. Milan Rai (Justice Not Vengeance) illustrated that the attack on Iraq still went ahead despite large public demonstrations against the war. Yet, London Mayor, Boris Johnson continued as “Mayors of Peace” after public outcry when he left the position. With accurate and regular information, an action or decision can proceed or be stopped. According to Jenny Jones (Green Group), working with a group/organisation is a useful lobbying tool. By preparing pre-written letters and targeting specific counsellors, a message is likely to be accepted. Furthermore, it is easier to target the media through an organisation as the message behind the campaign is supported by a larger audience.

To round off the first day, case studies on the Trident renewal, War on Terror, and successful interactions between citizens and the government were presented by Angie Zelter (Trident Ploughshares), Gareth Peirce (Solicitor), and Jackie Chase (Brighton activist).

DAY TWO

For citizens to make a real impact to transform the British political system, it is essential to make use of resources already available like the Freedom of Information Act, as well as approaching local media and engaging with MPs.

In Day Two of the conference, 4 workshops were conducted to empower participants in discussions on how to engage in dialogue, petitions, face-to-face meetings, holding events, writing to the press and using IT successfully. These networking approaches were presented by David Bohm (MEDACT), Jenny Maxwell (Chair of West Midland CND), Ashley Woods (Media Consultant), and George Farebrother (World Court Project).

A comprehensive guide to empowering citizens will be developed by the World Court Project, however a short guide to ‘Writing to MPs’ and ‘How to Network’ will be available in this blog shortly.

SEND TO GORDON!

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street, London
SW1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister,

RE: Attend the UN Summit in Copenhagen

On 7-18 December, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) will take a place in Copenhagen. COP 15 will hopefully be a crucial milestone in achieving a fair and binding global climate treaty.

While I admire and support Mr. Ed Miliband's efforts to encourage the UK to becoming carbon neutral, I strongly believe it is essential for our Prime Minister to attend the COP 15 summit. With negotiations off track, a strong deal at the final climate treaty summit can only be determined if top politicians with real power are prepared to negotiate. So far, no dealer from the world's richest and most powerful countries had committed to attend.

Climate change is already severely impacting upon the daily lives of thousands of people, and young adults everywhere are one of the key stakeholder groups who will inherit global problems. We need coherent solutions and smart strategies which can be agreed upon by all G8 members and require a higher level of awareness. A fair, ambitious and binding global treaty is our best hope of shifting every single country toward green jobs, energy efficiency, more sustainable lifestyles and clean power. Climate change impacts various issues across the world, including poverty, environmental degradation and the economy, therefore as this issue affects me, your decision will determine how I vote at the next election.

I believe that this summit could launch a historic shift towards a clean-energy, green-recovery future that leaves the climate safer for future generations at an international level. I call upon you, an important member of the G8, to attend the climate change summit and urge the G8 to reach a binding contract to secure our future.

I urge you to show leadership alongside other countries and participate as our head of government in demonstrating the demands of young adults in creating a fair, just and reasonable strategy at COP 15. Your attendance if critical if we are to reach a global treaty.

Thank you for your time.

Yours Sincerely,

YOUR NAME