Leaving the ECHR won’t stop the boats, 300 organisations warn in rallying cry to defend human rights
Nearly 300 organizations called for a rally to “vocally defend” the European Convention on Human Rights, accusing politicians of using it as a scapegoat with devastating effects.
The ECHR, an international agreement signed by 47 member states of the Council of Europe to protect fundamental human rights, is the target of criticism from both Reform Britain and the Conservative Party, which has promised to withdraw from the agreement if they win the next election.
In response, groups ranging from Liberty to Refuge, health charity Parkinson’s UK and the Military Justice Center have warned that the ECHR protects “the rights of ordinary people every day across the country, from victims of sexual violence to LGBT+ service personnel, from public interest journalists to mental health patients.”
They accused politicians of “using our human rights as scapegoats.” [and] Escalating, irresponsible rhetoric targeting immigrants and minoritized communities, with devastating real-world consequences.”
Sam Grant, director of external affairs at Liberty, which edited the statement from 292 organisations, said: “There are people in powerful positions who want us to believe that we would be better off without the ECHR, don’t believe them.
“For decades, our human rights laws have underpinned all of our daily lives, giving us the ability to speak freely, love what we want, and live in peace. These rights have been hard-earned, and we must not allow governments to take them away from us now or in the future.”
The declaration, signed by organizations such as Ben & Jerry’s, Shelter, Mind, Disability Action and the Center for Women’s Justice, argues that the ECHR “is fundamental to our democracy and allows ordinary people of all backgrounds to hold the state and public institutions accountable.”
The groups said the ECHR, developed after the Second World War and in which the UK played a leading role, and the Human Rights Act (HRA), which incorporated it into British law, “protect the rights of ordinary people across the country every day, from victims of sexual violence to LGBT+ service staff, public interest journalists, mental health patients and victims of serious injustice (from Hillsborough to Windrush)”.
“Through the Good Friday Agreement, the ECHR has finally helped restore peace in Northern Ireland and improved the quality of public services. We reject the narrative that human rights are not in the public’s interest; without these basic protections, everyone in our society would be much worse off.”
They say that attacks on the ECHR are “mostly based on myths, oversimplifications, inaccuracies and fearmongering, especially regarding immigration.”
They said leaving the convention would not solve problems such as the backlog of asylum cases or migrants crossing the Channel in dangerous small boats, but would “lead to years of legal uncertainty, undermine our international standing and harm the rights of both migrants in the UK and our wider communities”.
They called on politicians to “stop using our human rights as scapegoats, align with the British public on the significant costs of withdrawing the ECHR (such as the impact on the Good Friday Agreement) and end escalating, irresponsible rhetoric targeting immigrant and minority communities, which is having devastating real-world consequences for people already made vulnerable by wider social and economic marginalization and stigma.”
They also call on Sir Keir Starmer and the Labor government to “take a positive stance on our human rights protections and how they empower ordinary people across the UK”, adding: “Now is the time to defend the ECHR and HRA with all our might.”
The fight against moves to scrap the ECHR comes just weeks after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch announced he would withdraw from the international treaty if he wins the next election, prompting former Conservative Party attorney general Dominic Grieve to accuse him of having a death wish for his party.
Ms Badenoch’s shift to the right comes as part of an attempt to reverse her party’s decline in the face of the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which just last week tried to legislate for the UK to leave Congress.
The move was blocked by MPs who voted against the motion to bring forward the bill by a majority of 58, 154 to 96.
Andrea Simon, chief executive of End Violence Against Women, argued that the ECHR is a “crucial tool” in the fight to end violence against women and girls, “providing victims and survivors with access to support, safety and justice when they are failed by the state”.
“The ECHR means the police have a duty to investigate VAWG, and frontline support services can require local authorities to protect women and girls at immediate risk by providing alternative accommodation to victims of domestic violence. Violence against women and girls is completely preventable and based on a world of human rights for all,” she said.
In her annual conference speech in Manchester last month, Ms Badenoch said: “Well-intentioned treaties and regulations, drawn up with the best intentions over past generations, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention against Trafficking in Persons… are now being used in ways their original authors never intended.”
Mr Farage, meanwhile, said leaving the agreement was the “unfinished business” of Brexit and that the UK was “not sovereign as long as we are part of the ECHR”.
A government spokesman said: “We have been clear that the UK will remain a member of the European Convention on Human Rights as we do not need to withdraw to deliver meaningful reform.”
