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Making the Case for the Human Rights Act

“Human rights are an integral part of the faith and tradition of Judaism. The beliefs that man was created in the divine image, that the human family is one, and that every person is obliged to deal justly with every other person are basic sources of the Jewish commitment to human rights.” Monsieur René Cassin, 1974 (Co-drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

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International human rights law developed in response to the horrors of the Holocaust; a practical expression of the necessity to ensure that nation-states would never again be allowed to oppress their own citizens. It is a framework that is based on the principle that human rights are universal and indivisible. 

[hyperlink The European Convention on Human Rights Family Tree, which should be ‘situated’ under ‘resources’] tells the lineage story of the modern human rights framework and how it is intrinsically Jewish – especially the many Jewish lawyers who were involved in its development.  

The European Convention on Human Rights (1951) was brought into UK law as the Human Rights Act in 1998.  

The UK Human Rights Act protects the rights of vulnerable people and minorities. It ensures that all UK public bodies -such as courts, police, local governments, hospitals, schools etc  and other bodies carrying out public functions comply with the rights set out in the European Convention and in the spirit of the Universal Declaration.  

But that protection could be seriously limited if the Act is repealed, amended or replaced or if the UK were to withdraw from the European Convention.  

 

Making the Jewish case for human rights’ – Debora Singer and Florence Eshalomi MP (July 2022).

The rights protected by the Human Rights Act and the European Convention include:

 

  • the right to life 
  • freedom from torture and degrading treatment 
  • freedom from slavery and forced labour 
  • the right to liberty 
  • the right to a fair trial 
  • and many other rights that we take for granted. Importantly, these rights apply to everyone, irrespective of their race, gender, religion or other protected status. 

Our campaign focuses on ensuring the UK remains firmly committed to the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights and the rights it enshrines.

London Elections 2024

Apr 4, 2024

René Cassin asks Candidates to Make the Case for Human Rights The London Elections 2024 are due to take place on...

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