Quakers lobby on controversial bill
Quakers call for bill to be paused or amended to remove most serious threats to human rights
Quaker lobbying was praised as the controversial Overseas Operations Bill was debated in the House of Commons last week. The bill passed through the Commons in November despite concerns raised by a number of peace and human rights campaigning groups.
George Foulkes, the baron of Cummock, said he had been ‘particularly impressed and moved [by representations] from the Quakers, Freedom from Torture and Survivors Speak OUT’.
He said, as the UK delegate for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, he was concerned about the power the bill grants to ministers to derogate from the European Court of Human Rights which, he said, ‘seems like an encouragement to do so… If we pass this Bill in its current form, our position in the parliamentary assembly will be undermined, as the Quakers say in their submission to us’.
Quakers in Britain and Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT) have been briefing peers against the bill, saying it will have ‘a significant, negative impact on key values of truth, justice and peace in the UK and abroad’. The chief concerns are that the bill undermines international law; does not protect troops or civilians; is not needed to tackle repeat investigations against members of the armed forces who have served abroad; weakens the rule of law and decreases the accountability of governments and armed forces.
Quakers are again calling for the bill to be paused so the government can reconsider how best to protect armed forces personnel, civilians and wider society. If it cannot be paused, they say, it must at least be amended to remove its most serious threats to human rights, including the time limits on prosecution.
Friends are continuing to write to their MP about the bill, as any positive changes made by the Lords will need to be approved by MPs.
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