Human Rights Centre Blog
Spotlight regularly features a significant individual or team from the Human Rights community to answer questions put by students from the University of Essex. This month, we focus on an independent advocacy organisation, CAGE. CAGE campaigns against injustice and oppression, and fights on behalf of the victims of human rights violations around the world. The […]
by Pauline Canham In focus UK Covid policy on care homes violated human rights Amnesty International has published a report As if Expendable which shows that the UK government adopted policies that “directly violated the human rights of older residents of care homes in England”. The report specifically highlighted the decision, in the early days […]
by Pauline Canham In Focus UK government considers human rights ‘opt-out’ to speed up asylum seeker deportations  The UK government is currently resisting requests by Brussels to give a formal undertaking to adhere to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as part of Brexit negotiations.  The areas of ‘opt-out’ being considered would, as […]
by Pauline Canham In focus Police violate human rights in their use of facial recognition technology Three senior judges in the UK Court of Appeal have ruled that Police in South Wales violated the right to privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights, through the unlawful use of facial recognition technology. The ruling comes […]
by Alana Meier Last week the 12th annual Human Rights in Asia Conference took place in the form of two virtual panel discussions. Originally scheduled to happen in person at the University of Essex 21 March, the event was postponed due to the sudden COVID-19 outbreak. However, the students pushed through to find a new […]
by Sinéad Coakley All around the world, we are seeing the removal or modification of tangible cultural heritage, either by forceful means or by government action. This global debate was triggered by the abrupt and harrowing murder of George Floyd in the USA at the hands of a man employed by the state to protect […]
This week’s stories in focus: A ‘weapon of repression’: China’s national security law: by Bethany Webb-Strong On the 30th June, China announced a new national security law which grants Beijing sweeping powers over semi-autonomous Hong Kong, representing a colossal threat to Hong Kong’s sovereignty. The security law details 66 articles which criminalise secession, subversion, […]
Part 1 of 2 Each month, the HRC Blog features a significant figure from the Human Rights community to go under the Spotlight, answering questions put by students from the University of Essex. This month, we feature Clive Stafford Smith OBE. This is part 1 of 2. About Clive Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of ‘Reprieve’ […]
By Myriam Naoual While we often talk about the role of international entities and NGOs in the fight against discrimination, local not-for-profit organisations and charities do not receive such recognition or attention. However, these organisations are usually the ones contributing more directly to promoting equality within the local community. My organisation, Ipswich and Suffolk Council […]
by Dr Andrew Fagan, Director, Human Rights Centre Turmoil has become the new norm within many liberal-democratic societies. Following a decade of economic austerity within many societies, the consequent rise of right-wing populism, the emergence and rapid spread of Covid-19, and now the ongoing exposure of the systemic racism which has underpinned so much of […]
Human Rights Centre Blog