On 30 April the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, launched the FCO’s Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report for 2011. This is one of the British Government’s major annual human rights events, highlighting our global human rights priorities. It is intended to increase awareness of the UK’s role in promoting human rights worldwide, as well as to influence countries to take more concrete steps towards upholding and maintaining international human rights obligations. It details the successes there have been, and the challenges that remain.
The report highlights 28 featured countries of concern. This is not an exhaustive list, but they are amongst those countries where we have the most serious wide-ranging human rights concerns. And the report highlights key issues, including the death penalty on which Pope Benedict has spoken out recently, noting progress achieved or still to be made. Quite rightly, the report does not shy away from commenting on Britain’s own progress and failings. No country is perfect when it comes to upholding human rights, least of all my own. As an Embassy, we welcome the opportunity to discuss human rights issues with the Holy See, and we do so often.
At Westminster Hall, on 17 September 2010, during his State Visit to Britain, Pope Benedict acknowledged that as a result of its history “Britain has emerged as a pluralist democracy which places great value on freedom of speech, freedom of political affiliation and respect for the rule of law, with a strong sense of the individual’s rights and duties, and of the equality of all citizens before the law”. He noted that “Catholic social teaching has much in common with this approach”. These are values that we believe are fundamental to a dignified human existence, and should be part of the basic human condition in whichever country a person lives.