OPINION FEATURE: Scrapping our Human Rights Act is a giant leap in the wrong direction

The Conservative government want to introduce a ‘Bill of Rights'. Sounds good right? But actually this bill will remove all the important rights our Human Rights Act has been protecting for nearly 25 years.

The Human Rights Act is a UK law passed in 1998 that allows you to defend your rights in

UK courts. The act compels public organisations to treat everyone equally with fairness,

dignity and respect. It incorporates the vital rights that are protected in the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. This convention was drafted to protect those who feel their rights have been violated after the horrors of the second world war.

The brilliance of our Human Rights Act is that it covers everyone's rights. Whether you are a British citizen or a foreign national, every single resident of the UK is protected. This is

regardless of race, sexuality, gender and religion.

The Human Rights Act includes a huge list of protected rights. These include:

● The right to life

● The prohibition of torture and inhumane treatment

● Protection against slavery and forced labour

● The right to liberty and freedom

● The right to a fair trial and no punishment without law

● Respect for privacy and family life and the right to marry

● Freedom of thought, religion and belief

● Free speech and peaceful protest

● Protection of property

● The right to an education

● The right to free elections

.

The Human Rights Act has been used throughout history. 96 lives were lost in the infamous Hillsborough disaster and for over 25 years relatives and friends of the victims were kept in the dark about what really happened that fateful day until a campaign brought about a second inquest.

Families were able to use the right to life protected in the act to ensure the inquest has the

power and scope to uncover the truth. Justice was found eventually as mistakes made by

police, ambulance services and those who designed the stadium were found to have a

consequential impact on this tragic loss of lives. The inquest also concluded that the fans

and victims were not to blame for the tragedy as had previously been suggested by officials.

The John Worboys case is another key example of justice being brought about by

the Human Rights Act. Metropolitan police dismissed Worboys’s rape victims and failed to

take action. Fortunately, where public authorities failed them, the victims of Worboys distressing actions were able to use the act to hold the police responsible.

As a result, the Metropolitan Police were forced to pay compensation and change the way they respond to violent crimes. This investigation also revealed that due to police inadequacy Worboys was able to commit up to 100 rapes in London between 2002 and 2008.

The Human Rights Act is vital for living in an equal, just and fair society where governments

and other public bodies act in our best interest. For more than 20 years, this act has been

instrumental in protecting the rights of thousands of people, and helped them stand up to

those in power. To lose the protection of this act would be extremely detrimental to our

society.

The government wants to scrap the Human Rights Act that has been an essential

part of our democracy for the last 25 years. Instead, in an unforgivable move, the

government has proposed a Bill of Rights Bill (nicknamed the ‘Rights Removal Bill’).

This bill will allow the government to decide whose rights are more important than others and weakens the power individuals have in protecting their own rights.

The bill will force those whose rights have been violated to prove they have

suffered significant disadvantages before they can even go to court. This is incredibly difficult for vulnerable people up against the state.

This bill will also force the most vulnerable groups who have been horrifically stripped of their rights to go to the European Court of Human Rights which is a long process that most

cannot afford.

This ‘Rights Removal Bill’ gives our government power to remove the rights of non-British

citizens and continue its display of toxicity towards its own residents. Those who are

challenging deportation will have their rights stripped from them. It also removes the rights of British soldiers serving their country abroad. If soldiers are treated badly by the Ministry of Defence, like those horrifically killed in Iraq and Afghanistan when travelling in defective Land Rovers.

Not only will this bill have dire consequences on non-citizens it could have a harrowing

impact on the lives of sexual assault victims, disabled children, those in care homes and the

well-established peace in Northern Ireland.

Human rights are universal and should not be decided by those in power. It is crucial we

stand up and make it clear that we will not tolerate the stripping away of our human rights.

Signing petitions, participating in informed conversations and educating others is how you

can keep this historic act from getting ripped up by the ruthless government. Although the

‘Rights Removal Bill’ has been shelved our current government are still eager to push

through despite severe opposition.

Click the links below to sign petitions to save the Human Rights Act and share this article so

others can educate themselves.

Amnesty International’s campaign to save the Human Rights Act:

https://savetheact.uk/

Liberty Human Right’s campaign to save the Human Rights Act:

https://action.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/page/100020/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=Website

Edited by Caitlin Hart