Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

Georgia, Uganda, Mozambique and Lebanon and provided training on the rule of law
and human rights for parliamentarians and parliamentary staff. The programme’s
curriculum was developed with local partners in order to ensure that it reflects the
local political and human rights context. Workshops organised under the programme
provided an opportunity for participants to develop legislative best practice. In
Uganda, participants focused on the proposed anti-homosexuality bill. This was the
first time parliamentary staff had been challenged to debate the issue from a legal
and human rights perspective. As a result, the staff agreed that all future legislation
should only be presented to parliament if accompanied with a certificate stating that
it complied with Ugandan and other international human rights law. The clerk of the
Ugandan Human Rights Committee is following up this proposal with the Committee.
Based on the consortium’s curriculum, a handbook on the rule of law and human
rights will now be produced for parliamentarians and committees which the
foundation will share with other countries, including those of the East African
Community. The foundation will work with the East African Legislative Assembly, the
central legislative body of the East African Community, to provide a tailored
programme of support to assembly staff on how to use the handbook.
Human rights defenders
Human rights defenders are individuals or groups who act to promote or protect
human rights and include NGOs, lawyers, journalists, academics and politicians. In
many countries they and their families face the risk of harassment, arrest, detention
or death.
Human Rights Day 2010 focused on honouring those who defend human rights
around the world. To mark the day, William Hague highlighted “those who champion
the rights and freedoms of their fellow men and women, often at great personal
cost”, including Liu Xiaobo who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but remains
imprisoned in China; the 2,200 prisoners of conscience still detained in Burma; the
four people, including Le Cong Dinh, imprisoned in Vietnam for expressing their
opinions; the human rights activist Azimzhan Askarov, imprisoned for life in
Kyrgyzstan; and human rights defenders in Iran who are harassed, intimidated and
imprisoned, including the lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh.
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