PM David Cameron's speech to ECHR

Friday, 27 January 2012 12:16

PM David Cameron’s speech to the European Court of Human Rights was covered in the papers yesterday.

The PM alluded to the recent ECHR ruling on Abu Qatada saying:

“Protecting a country from terrorism is one of the most important tasks for any government.

“Again, no one should argue that you defend our systems of rights and freedom by suspending those freedoms.

“But we do have a real problem when it comes to foreign national who threaten our security.

“In Britain we have gone through all reasonable national processes…

…including painstaking international agreements about how they should be treated…

…and scrutiny by our own courts…

…and yet we are still unable to deport them.

“It is therefore not surprising that some people start asking questions about whether the current arrangements are really sensible.

“Of course, no decent country should deport people if they are going to be tortured.

“But the problem today is that you can end up with someone who has no right to live in your country, who you are convinced – and have good reason to be convinced – means to do your country harm.

“And yet there are circumstances in which you cannot try them, you cannot detain them and you cannot deport them.

“So having put in place every possible safeguard to ensure that ECHR rights are not violated, we still cannot fulfil our duty to our law-abiding citizens to protect them.

“Together, we have to find a solution to this.”

The PM argued that the UK’s commitment to freedom and human rights had to do “with Britain’s national character – a love of freedom and an instinctive loathing of over-mighty authority.”

He went on to talk about the role played by the UK in supporting the deposing of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa stating:

“When the Arab Spring erupted, the UK was a principal supporter of resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council.

“We are leading EU partners in maintaining pressure on Syria.

“We have played a key role in securing EU sanctions against Iran.

“Through the UN, we are working to empower women in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East.

“We have pledged additional money to the Special Fund for Torture Prevention.

“And we are contributing to the Council of Europe’s own Human Rights Trust Fund.

“All these are clear signals of our belief in fundamental human rights.

“And if called to defend that belief with action, we act.”

He added, “When the people of Libya were reaching for the chance to shape their own destiny, Britain stepped forward with our allies to help.”

And yet, when the Palestinian Authority presented its unilateral declaration for statehood recognition at the UN last September, with Palestinians “reaching for the chance to shape their own destiny,” the UK abstained- hardly a case of our acting when called on to defend “our belief in fundamental human rights” was it? Moreover, whilst Britain has applauded the EUs sanctions on Iran because of the continued development of its nuclear programme, it has been much less vocal, if not silent on the possession of nuclear arms by Israel, illustrating that British will implement its ‘universal’ commitment to values as and when it pleases.

The full speech is available to read here.

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