Human Rights & Democracy

[Pages:106]Human Rights & Democracy

Cp 104

The 2018 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

Human Rights & Democracy

The 2018 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

by Command of Her Majesty June 2019

Cp 104

Human Rights and Democracy: The 2018 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

? Crown copyright 2019 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit .uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This publication is available at .uk/fco/human-rights-report Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at Communications Team, WH1.165, Multilateral Policy Directorate, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH ISBN 978-1-5286-1205-0 CCS0519142502 06/19 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office

Designed in-house by the FCO Communication Directorate

Cover image: Young Bangladeshi woman with candle (Getty Images)

Human Rights and Democracy: The 2018 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

Contents

Preface by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.................................................................................. iv

Foreword by Minister for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict......................................................................................... v

CHAPTER 1: Human Rights and Democracy Priority Themes....................................................... 2

Democracy and Democratic Freedoms........................................................................................................................... 2 The Community of Democracies............................................................................................................................................. 3 Westminster Foundation for Democracy................................................................................................................................. 3

Civil Society.................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Freedom of Expression............................................................................................................................................................ 4 Media Freedom...................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Human Rights Defenders........................................................................................................................................................ 5 Civil Society Engagement........................................................................................................................................................ 6 Restrictions of Civil Society Space............................................................................................................................................ 6

Gender Equality............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Women and Girls' Rights......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative....................................................................................................................... 7 Women, Peace and Security.................................................................................................................................................... 8 Violence against Women and Girls.......................................................................................................................................... 9 Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.............................................................................................................................................. 10 Children and Armed Conflict................................................................................................................................................. 10 Girls' Education......................................................................................................................................................................11 Women's Economic Empowerment........................................................................................................................................12

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Rights.................................................................................................................. 12 Modern Slavery............................................................................................................................................................ 13 Human Rights and the Private Sector.......................................................................................................................... 14

Business and Human Rights.................................................................................................................................................. 14 Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights............................................................................................................... 15 Private Security Companies................................................................................................................................................... 15 Responsible Sourcing............................................................................................................................................................ 15 Transparency and Open Government.................................................................................................................................... 16 Freedom of Religion or Belief....................................................................................................................................... 16 Post-Holocaust Issues.................................................................................................................................................. 17 Death Penalty and Torture Prevention......................................................................................................................... 18 Overseas Security and Justice Assistance..................................................................................................................... 19 Export Controls............................................................................................................................................................ 20 Migration and Human Rights....................................................................................................................................... 20 Economic and Social Rights......................................................................................................................................... 20 The Rights of People with Disabilities.................................................................................................................................... 20

Human Rights and Democracy: The 2018 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

The Rights of Older People.................................................................................................................................................... 21 Water and Sanitation............................................................................................................................................................ 21 Rights to Health.................................................................................................................................................................... 21 Social Protection................................................................................................................................................................... 22 The Overseas Territories............................................................................................................................................... 22

CHAPTER 2: Human Rights and the Multilateral System............................................................ 23

Human Rights at the UN.............................................................................................................................................. 23 Human Rights Council........................................................................................................................................................... 23 Country issues....................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Thematic issues..................................................................................................................................................................... 25 Universal Periodic Review...................................................................................................................................................... 25 Treaty Monitoring Bodies and Special Procedures................................................................................................................. 25

UN Security Council..................................................................................................................................................... 26 The Security Council.............................................................................................................................................................. 26 Mass Atrocity Prevention and Responsibility to Protect.......................................................................................................... 26 Peacebuilding........................................................................................................................................................................ 26 Peacekeeping........................................................................................................................................................................ 26

Commonwealth........................................................................................................................................................... 27 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting................................................................................................................... 27 Commonwealth and Human Rights Institutions.................................................................................................................... 28 Protecting and Promoting Democracy................................................................................................................................... 28

Europe......................................................................................................................................................................... 28 The European Union............................................................................................................................................................. 28 The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe..................................................................................................... 28 Council of Europe................................................................................................................................................................. 29

International Criminal Justice....................................................................................................................................... 29 Sanctions..................................................................................................................................................................... 30

CHAPTER 3: Human Rights Programme Funds.......................................................................... 31

Human Rights and Democracy Programme Spending.................................................................................................. 31 Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy................................................................................................. 31 Supporting the Rules-Based International System........................................................................................................ 31 Case Studies of Programme Work supporting Human Rights and Democracy............................................................. 31

CHAPTER 4: Consular--Human Rights and Assistance.............................................................. 33

Consular Cases............................................................................................................................................................. 33 Death Penalty.............................................................................................................................................................. 33 Torture and Mistreatment............................................................................................................................................ 34 Overseas Detainees...................................................................................................................................................... 34 Forced Marriage........................................................................................................................................................... 34

CHAPTER 5: Human Rights Priority Countries............................................................................ 35

Afghanistan................................................................................................................................................................. 35

Human Rights and Democracy: The 2018 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

Bahrain........................................................................................................................................................................ 36 People's Republic of Bangladesh.................................................................................................................................. 37 Burma (Myanmar)........................................................................................................................................................ 38 Burundi........................................................................................................................................................................ 39 Central African Republic............................................................................................................................................... 40 China............................................................................................................................................................................ 41 Colombia..................................................................................................................................................................... 42 Democratic People's Republic of Korea........................................................................................................................ 43 Democratic Republic of the Congo.............................................................................................................................. 44 Egypt........................................................................................................................................................................... 45 Eritrea.......................................................................................................................................................................... 46 Iran.............................................................................................................................................................................. 46 Iraq.............................................................................................................................................................................. 47 The State of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories......................................................................................... 48 Libya............................................................................................................................................................................ 49 Republic of Maldives.................................................................................................................................................... 50 Pakistan....................................................................................................................................................................... 51 Russia........................................................................................................................................................................... 52 Saudi Arabia................................................................................................................................................................ 54 Somalia........................................................................................................................................................................ 54 South Sudan................................................................................................................................................................ 55 Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka................................................................................................................... 56 Sudan........................................................................................................................................................................... 57 Syria............................................................................................................................................................................. 58 Turkmenistan............................................................................................................................................................... 60 Uzbekistan................................................................................................................................................................... 61 Venezuela.................................................................................................................................................................... 62 Yemen.......................................................................................................................................................................... 63 Zimbabwe.................................................................................................................................................................... 64

Human Rights and Democracy: The 2018 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

Preface by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt

Three decades ago, the world stood on the brink of the fastest advance of human rights and democracy in modern times. During the annus mirabilis of 1989, the Iron Curtain crumbled before our eyes and six European countries seized their liberty.

At that moment, it seemed possible that democracy and liberal values would sweep the world. Sure enough, another eleven countries would escape from dictatorship by 1999.

But from the vantage point of today, we know the optimism of that era was misplaced. Since the turn of the millennium, the worldwide advance of human rights and democracy has slowed and, in some respects, gone into reverse. Freedom House reported that 2018 was the 13th consecutive year of "global declines in political rights and civil liberties".

All this makes it even more important for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to strive to uphold the values that define our country. Since becoming Foreign Secretary, I have launched a campaign to defend media freedom and a review of the FCO's support for Christians who suffer persecution because of their faith.

If there is one essential quality of an open society, it is the freedom of journalists to hold the powerful to account without fear of retribution. Yet the overall picture is bleak. In 2018, no less than 99 journalists were murdered around the world, according

to the United Nations. Another 348 were jailed by governments and 60 taken hostage by non-state groups.

In summer 2019, I will join my Canadian counterpart to host an international conference in London on media freedom. We have decided that democratic countries need to stand together to make it a taboo to murder, arrest or detain journalists just for doing their jobs.

Our aim is to shine a spotlight on abuses and raise the price for those who would act to silence the media. We can only achieve this if countries with shared values work together.

I was deeply disturbed to learn that 215 million Christians faced persecution in 2018, according to a study by the campaign group Open Doors. Christians faced harassment in 144 countries in 2016, according to the Pew Research Centre, compared with 128 in 2015.

I am not convinced that our efforts have always been commensurate with the scale of the problem or the empirical evidence that Christians often endure the greatest burden of persecution. We must never

allow a misguided sense of political correctness to inhibit our response.

So I have asked Rt Rev'd Philip Mounstephen, the Anglican Bishop of Truro, to conduct an independent review of the FCO's efforts to help persecuted Christians and report back to me in 2019.

In this report, you will learn about the FCO's efforts to promote human rights and democracy in 2018. You will read of the countries where we have particular concerns.

In an imperfect world, we will not always be able to respond identically to the same abuses in different settings. But protecting human rights and safeguarding Britain's national values are not optional extras for the FCO. They are part of who we are.

I am determined that British diplomacy will continue to uphold the principles of humanity and fairness that our country has always stood for.

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