Promoting human rights

The British Foreign Secretary, David Milliband, recently launched the annual Foreign and Commonwealth Office's report on human rights. This document sets out the UK government's work and policy on human rights last year, highlights the countries with worrying human rights violations, and explains the importance human rights have in achieving the British government's foreign policy goals.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter make the human rights situation in any country the valid concern of all countries' governments.

It is easy to take our human rights for granted living in Malta, or the UK, but people living in less politically-stable countries are not so lucky. No country in the world has a perfect human rights record, but it is how far countries are short of that goal that is the significant factor.

When we talk about human rights we talk about a body of law, but we also talk about the inherent sense that we are entitled to certain freedoms and protections.

It is this sense of inalienable right to self-expression and equality that defined the international human rights landscape last year.

Following the disputed election in Iran, protestors defied the regime's brutal attempts to suppress their calls for democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms as universal rights. It was a belief that human rights are worth risking their lives for that inspired the human rights defenders who were murdered in Russia last year.

And it was a sense of sacrosanct entitlement to their rights that led women to assert those rights on the streets of Afghanistan, and in the courts of Sudan.

However, many of the issues covered in the report highlight the growing tendency to once again claim human rights as a 'western' construct, unsuited to particular cultures and countries. In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the government continues to insist that national security and cultural differences invalidate human rights obligations, and justify subjecting humanitarian workers to severe restrictions.

In Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi is incarcerated on the basis of similar arguments that her battle for democracy undermines national security. And in other parts of the world, many women are still denied their human rights on the basis that culture and religion render those rights inapplicable. The increasing threat to gay people's rights in some African countries also reminds us that tolerance is a dream, rather than a reality, for much of the world's population.

But the report also highlights how people around the world are pushing back against the idea that human rights are not universal.

Last year, demonstrators in Guinea and Honduras demanded their rights to democracy; human rights defenders from Belarus to Syria continued to protest against injustice; and worldwide, individuals and groups continue to work to realise the rights of all.

Governments worldwide have a responsibility to applaud these efforts, and to support them by challenging the notion that human rights depend on culture and circumstance. Governments must also not be afraid to engage in debates about human rights, and remain committed to championing those rights around the world, asserting their applicability to every man, woman and child. Priorities for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the coming year include the promotion of women's empowerment and opportunities and tackling violence against women, supporting credible elections, and promoting the global abolition of the death penalty.

Most governments recognise that justice, freedom, and equality must underpin their work if it is to produce sustainable and positive change. But some governments are increasingly retreating to a defensive and isolationist view of human rights.

Every government should be open, and accountable, for their human rights records, and they should cooperate with international bodies, and adhere to internationally agreed standards.

So it is vital that all governments keep banging the human rights drum together until they are genuinely universal, and no longer under threat.

Though the world has made progress, we need to ensure it is not reversed by how we tackle the economic crisis, terrorism or conflict. More than ever, we need global solutions that promote justice, freedom and equality.

Respect for human rights is an essential foundation of stable societies that are peaceful, prosperous and free. And that is everyone's goal.

Ms Stanton is UK High Commissioner to Malta