FOR the past few weeks we have been hearing the Christian message of “do to others as you would have done to you”, a message common to all religions. The message also resonates in our everyday life in the secular world. In addition, it is intrinsic to the values of human dignity and equality enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which calls upon us all to respect “the other”.
Adopted on December 10,1948 by the UN General Assembly following two world wars, the Great Depression and the Holocaust it represented humanity’s commitment to build a better world.
In marking its sixty-eighth anniversary, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave a sobering message that this better world, this respect for “the other”, is under unprecedented pressure. Narrow political and state interests are being placed above the needs and rights of humanity and the framework of law and values painstakingly constructed over decades.
Evidence is not hard to find. The catastrophe of Syria began when those in power used force to suppress peaceful demonstrations seeking progress. The use of veto powers by certain states in the UN Security Council frustrated a resolution of the conflict. The inevitable forced migration was met by a downward spiral of a number of European states denying refuge to those fleeing conflict. Demagoguery and populism have begun to occupy the public space. “The other” has become a convenient scapegoat.
Closer to home, the mean-spirited Brexit debate was part of this narrative and has imperilled the two pillars of Scotland’s constitutional framework that guarantee our rights and freedoms. The first pillar of EU law guarantees rights including those enjoyed in everyday life in employment, equality, environment, freedom of movement, privacy, family life and consumer standards.
The second pillar of the European Convention on Human Rights keeping our governments and politicians accountable to us and our rights is imperilled. Once free from EU membership, the UK will be freer to remove our protection by the European Court of Human Rights. In these times Brexit has become a defining issue for Scotland.
As a member of the First Minister’s Standing Council on Europe, I have been engaging with civil society and the legal community in exploring options to best deliver a developing consensus around three guiding principles for Scotland: non-regression from EU rights protections; not being left behind future progressive European developments; and taking a lead in rights and social protections.
From this perspective I welcome the contribution of Scotland’s Place in Europe, the Scottish Government document that affirms the need of safeguarding and enhancing human rights and social protections for everyone in the country.
The document makes common sense that maintaining membership of the European single market is the next best thing to continued membership of the EU as it reduces the risk of regression and increases the potential of further progress in rights and social protections. This has been Scotland’s journey and should continue to be so.
Yesterday’s human rights debate at Holyrood is also to be welcomed in its recognition of the link between Brexit and the increased risk of future withdrawal from the protection provided to all of us by the European Court of Human Rights. This would not only weaken our human rights framework but also that of the wider Europe.
Whilst the three principles can help us find a way forward perhaps the overall guiding principle is provided by Eleanor Roosevelt, the architect of the UDHR: “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home, so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world ... without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
It is with this mind that Mr Hussein has launched a campaign for each of us to sign up to a pledge to do something in our daily lives to stand up for the rights of “the other”.
Professor Miller, former chairman of the Scottish Human Rights Commission and a member of the First Minister’s Standing Council on Europe, writes in a personal capacity.
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