Monmouth Amnesty will be joining Amnesty UK, Liberty, Stonewall, the Quakers, the Humanists and others in holding a week of action for human rights in the UK from October 10-17.
This is in the context of two major pieces of proposed legislation that threaten to undermine fundamental human rights.The group say that a new policing bill gives police sweeping powers, including additional powers to shut down peaceful protests, and that the right to protest is fundamental to a free and fair society. It’s a right that hass been fought long and hard for. Without the right to protest, accountability and freedom suffers.The Nationality and Borders Bill, far from fixing the asylum system, is set to make it far worse.A Monmouth Amnesty spokesperson said: "Along with groups across the country, we will be highlighting and publicising our concerns, lobbying local MPs, raising our concerns and calling for a rethink"Amnesty UK are have said: "Criminalising people just for trying to reach a place of safety is morally and legally indefensible. Instead of taking its international responsibilities over refugee rights seriously, the UK is effectively passing the buck to other countries. Unless this bill is drastically amended, we will end up with even more chaos and delay in our dysfunctional immigration system."Additionally the UK government had launched a review of the UK’s Human Rights Act (HRA) in December 2020. The review focuses on the relationship between the UK courts and the European Court of Human Rights. The impact of the HRA on the relationship between the judiciary, executive and Parliament, and the implications of the way in which the Human Rights Act applies outside the territory of the UK. Amnesty UK’s response argues that there is no case for reforming the HRA. It has been effective at protecting people’s rights. The proposed reforms would erode human rights protections in the UK.