Select committee inquiry
The FCO's human rights work in 2013
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The Foreign Affairs Committee is conducting an inquiry into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s human rights work in 2013, taking as a starting point the Department’s 2013 Report on Human Rights and Democracy, published on Thursday 10 April 2014.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
In the committee's words, from the summary of 6th Report - The FCO's human rights work in 2013 ↗
In this report, we examine the 2013 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Report on Human Rights and Democracy (2013 Report), and highlight some areas of particular concern. Promoting human rights should be a foreign policy priority, but for this to be meaningful, we believe that the Department would benefit from the establishment of clearly defined objectives and benchmarks to measure the outcomes of all of its human rights policies, and further prominence being given to these in the Report.
Countries of concern
The FCO designated 28 countries of concern in its 2013 report, where it judged the gravity of the human rights abuses to be so severe that a particular focus should be applied. We have concentrated our attention on three of these countries: Sri Lanka, Burma, and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Favourable trade concessions to the EU market should be removed from Sri Lanka if the Government of Sri Lanka continues to deny the OHCHR investigation team access into the country. The Government should advocate re-imposition of sanctions by the EU if there is no improvement in the human rights situation in Burma. The human rights of Israeli, Palestinian and Bedouin citizens living in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories continue to be of serious concern to the UK.
Women’s and children’s rights
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative was a key priority for the FCO in 2013. It succeeded in raising international awareness of the problem. We believe that the UK has a duty to track the implementation of commitments made under the Initiative, and we see advantages in this being undertaken by a non-governmental body that reports to this Committee. The UK is lagging behind its OECD partners in reporting how much of its aid expenditure is working towards the advancement of gender equality. The UK should do more to increase transparency of this expenditure. The FCO should demonstrate publicly its support for children’s rights by appointing a child rights expert onto the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Group on Human Rights.
Freedom of religion or belief
The FCO made the right to freedom of religion or belief a key thematic priority in 2013. A new advisory group on religious freedom was formed in March 2014 to advise the FCO on policy formulation. We recommend that the Government publish the strategy that is being drawn up by the sub-group, specifying what the FCO is trying to achieve and how it plans to spend its funding allocated to project work. The strategy should specify which countries the FCO is targeting, if any, which partners it plans to engage with, and what practical steps it will take to bring about change.
What the government said
The government responded on 27 January 2015.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response.
The government accepts some of the Committee's recommendations on reporting and accountability, while declining others, including a new term for "country case studies", publication of advisory group summaries and designating Bahrain a country of concern.
- On accountability, the FCO "will include" in the 2014 Annual Report a new chapter, "Human Rights in Action", on measurement and evaluation. It will also publish an estimate of the costs of its human rights work.
- It does not designate Bahrain a country of concern, judging it "on a trajectory of generally positive change, although we still have some concerns".
- It declines to publish summaries of Advisory Group discussions, believing this "would risk tempering that advice".
- On Burma, it judges that progress "is better encouraged through engagement" rather than seeking re-imposition of EU sanctions.
Read the government's response ↗ Read the report ↗ Report an error
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 11 April 2014 to its close on 30 March 2015.
- Oral evidence 2 sessions
- Report 27 Nov 2014
- Government response 27 Jan 2015
What it recommended 14 recommendations · 10 conclusions
1We welcome the FCO’s efforts to draw upon a wider range of indices in assessing...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We welcome the FCO’s efforts to draw upon a wider range of indices in assessing and reaching decisions on human rights standards in individual countries. We note, however, that there is still an element of subjectivity in making the final decision on the countries of concern, and the level of UK influence in a country, and the impact on its interests there, are factors in determining the final designation. The FCO’s list of countries of concern is therefore not an objective league table of the world’s worst human rights offenders but a subset of these countries on which the FCO will focus.
2We see little or no evidence that Bahrain has made enough progress in implementing political...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We see little or no evidence that Bahrain has made enough progress in implementing political reform and safeguarding human rights, and we believe that the FCO should have bitten the bullet and designated Bahrain as a country of concern.
3We recognise, however, that attempts are being made, through a new constitution and setting up...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We recognise, however, that attempts are being made, through a new constitution and setting up of parliamentary elections, to lay the foundations for a more democratic and representative Egypt. We attach key importance to the promised reforms being implemented.
4There is merit in a ‘halfway house’ concept and in flagging countries where there is...
Recommended (the committee's words)
There is merit in a ‘halfway house’ concept and in flagging countries where there is a risk of deterioration in human rights severe enough to warrant future designation as country of concern. However, we are not convinced that ‘case study’ is an appropriate term for such countries. It is misleadingly soft on countries that would benefit from a more critical assessment by the FCO. We recommend that the FCO use the term case study purely for illustrating FCO activity and human rights programmes. A different term should be used for countries which the FCO is signalling are at risk of being designated country of concern in future.
5We believe that human rights policy, like any other aspect of government policy, would benefit...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We believe that human rights policy, like any other aspect of government policy, would benefit from the establishment of clearly defined objectives and benchmarks to measure outcomes. We recommend that FCO, in next year’s report, include short sections outlining objectives for, and evaluation of, each of its key initiatives, and we reiterate our recommendation from our report on the FCO’s work in 2011, that the FCO should assess its work and should experiment with accountability measures for its human rights programmes.
6We believe that it would be in the interests of transparency if summaries of discussions...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We believe that it would be in the interests of transparency if summaries of discussions at meetings of the Advisory Group on Human Rights and its sub-groups were published.
7While we recognise the difficulty in estimating total costs of the FCO’s human rights work,...
Concluded (the committee's words)
While we recognise the difficulty in estimating total costs of the FCO’s human rights work, an annual figure compiled on a consistent basis, even if inexact, would be useful in showing trends in spending over the years. We believe that the FCO analysis was useful and encourage the FCO to provide equivalent figures in future years.
8We recommend that the FCO review the configuration of its funding mechanisms for human rights...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the FCO review the configuration of its funding mechanisms for human rights programmes. The FCO should provide funding to longer-term human rights projects that extend beyond the current 12 month timeframe.
9We recommend that the FCO, in its response to this report, outline how it monitored...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the FCO, in its response to this report, outline how it monitored whether people who spoke with the Prime Minister about human rights have faced reprisals, and whether the FCO has any knowledge of reprisal attacks on people who met the British delegation during its visit to Sri Lanka in November
10We recommend that the Government encourages the new Indian administration to give public support to...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government encourages the new Indian administration to give public support to the OHCHR international investigation on Sri Lanka.
11We recommend that the Government negotiates with its EU partners to remove GSP status from...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government negotiates with its EU partners to remove GSP status from Sri Lanka, if the Government of Sri Lanka does not allow the OHCHR investigating team into the country and uphold the right of human right defenders to engage with the UN human rights system.
12We recommend that the Government reiterate to the Government of Burma that the current situation...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government reiterate to the Government of Burma that the current situation is still highly unsatisfactory, and that the UK will strongly advocate the re-imposition of sanctions by the EU if there is no progress over the next 12 months in improving the conditions of the Rohingya community, and in securing the unconditional release of all political prisoners. We also recommend that the UK Government closely monitors whether former political prisoners who wish to stand for elections in 2015 are able to do so.
13We believe the British Government should play a more prominent part in helping to resolve...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We believe the British Government should play a more prominent part in helping to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Bedouin community, and should use its standing with the Israeli government and the Bedouin community to promote a peaceful, negotiated settlement.
14We recommend that the Government bring forward proposals in its response to this report for...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government bring forward proposals in its response to this report for tracking implementation of commitments under the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. We see advantage in an accountability exercise funded by the Government but undertaken by a non-governmental body, rather than by the FCO itself, reporting to this Committee on the implementation of commitments.
15We recommend that, in future, the implementation plan for women, peace and security should be...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that, in future, the implementation plan for women, peace and security should be published in conjunction with each new National Action Plan to ensure that it is not just words, and that action will follow.
16The UK is lagging behind its Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) partners in...
Recommended (the committee's words)
The UK is lagging behind its Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) partners in using the OECD’s Gender Equality Policy Marker. The Marker is used by OECD countries to check whether their aid-related activities promote women’s rights. We recommend that the Government should use the Marker to identify all aid which supports the advancement of gender equality, as a way of increasing transparency of expenditure.
17We believe that the Government’s initiative to increase the involvement of women in peace and...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We believe that the Government’s initiative to increase the involvement of women in peace and security discussions would have benefited from greater participation of women at the NATO Summit, including participation by women representing civil society who would suffer as a result of any deterioration in the security situation.
18The FCO should do more to demonstrate publicly its support for children’s rights.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The FCO should do more to demonstrate publicly its support for children’s rights. As we observed last year, one simple way for the FCO to improve engagement with child rights groups is for the Foreign Secretary to appoint a child rights expert to his Advisory Group on Human Rights. This would provide reassurance that children’s rights are represented at the FCO, and the FCO has the necessary support to deal with these issues.
19We welcome the steps taken by the FCO in promoting the right to freedom of...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We welcome the steps taken by the FCO in promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief. Given the rising trend in restrictions on the right to freedom of religion or belief and the role religious intolerance plays in fuelling conflict, we also welcome the FCO’s indication that spending on project work to support freedom of religion or belief will rise from 2013-14 levels. The formation of a sub-group of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Group on Human Rights to advise specifically on freedom of religion or belief is a sensible and worthwhile step. We recommend that the FCO publish the strategy being drawn up by the sub-group specifying what the FCO is trying to achieve and how it plans to spend the funding allocated to project work. The strategy should specify which countries the FCO is targeting, if any, which 8 The FCO's human rights work in 2013 partners it plans to engage with, and what practical steps it will take to bring about change.
20Whilst we recognise the difficulties of garnering support at the UN Security Council for action...
Concluded (the committee's words)
Whilst we recognise the difficulties of garnering support at the UN Security Council for action against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), the gravity of the human rights violations by North Korea is so severe that the UK and its partners at the UN Security Council should not be seen to stand by. We encourage the FCO not to give up on using UN organs, including the Security Council, to bring pressure to bear on North Korea to improve the human rights of the population, and to work towards securing referral of North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
21There is a clearly a difference of opinion between the UK Government and the UN...
Recommended (the committee's words)
There is a clearly a difference of opinion between the UK Government and the UN Special Rapporteur on whether there is international consensus on the legal parameters surrounding the use of drones. We believe that the Government should acknowledge this and provide a written response detailing its points of disagreement with the UN Special Rapporteur’s findings to both Parliament and the UN Human Rights Council.
22We find it surprising that the Home Office was unable to facilitate a request, even...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We find it surprising that the Home Office was unable to facilitate a request, even at short notice, from a UN Special Rapporteur to visit Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre. It sets a dangerous precedent for other countries to follow suit and has caused embarrassment to the UK. We welcome the Minister’s assurance that the FCO is developing a new process to work with other government departments to improve cross-Whitehall preparations for future visits by UN Special Rapporteurs.
23We note support for the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights from some...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We note support for the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights from some human rights organisations such as Amnesty International UK, but we also note concerns about whether it will be fully implemented, whether there is political will to develop it, and whether it lacks teeth. If the Action Plan is to command confidence, the Government should indicate that mandatory measures are being held in reserve if voluntary measures are not effective in improving business respect for human rights.
24The Government maintains that human rights and business interests go hand in hand.
Recommended (the committee's words)
The Government maintains that human rights and business interests go hand in hand. This was undermined by UK Government Ministers sending conflicting messages that appeared to indicate that advocating human rights was subservient to promoting UK trade and investment. The Government should recognise that this conflict exists: by doing so, the Government would be better able to articulate how it is able to achieve both of its legitimate foreign policy objectives. In cases where a conflict arises, such as when the Government engages in business with an authoritarian regime, and particularly when it sells arms to such a regime, the The FCO's human rights work in 2013 9 Government should set out explicitly how UK trade and investment would help to influence positive change in human rights in that country.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 2
- 8 Jul 2014No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗
- 13 May 2014No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗