The coalition government is plunged into a major row today over its commitment to human rights amid claims that it will scrap the Foreign Office's landmark annual assessment of abuses across the world. The Observer has learned that civil servants have been told to stop working on the next edition of the FCO Annual Report on Human Rights, which highlights incidents of torture and oppression, monitors use of the death penalty and aims to expose the illegal arms trade. The report also acts as a guide to MPs and businesses over which countries it is ethical to trade with.
David Miliband said that under Labour the list had 'saved lives'
The former Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, broke ranks last night to claim that any move to end the annual report risked "downgrading human rights" and would be met with "fierce resistance". NGOs said that doubts over the future of the report, which was introduced by Robin Cook in 1997, fuelled their concerns that coalition ministers were "blindly" pursuing commercial interests in countries where atrocities were taking place.
Last year the former Labour government used the report to publicly declare its concerns with 22 countries, including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. David Miliband, the shadow foreign secretary and Labour leadership candidate, said that it had "saved lives", revealing atrocities in Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza and Sri Lanka. "Britain has led the world in standing up for human rights and the coalition is taking a serious step back," he said, arguing that the audit was not just "nice to have" but a crucial tool.
A Foreign Office source said a huge amount of effort went into the report each year, with some embassy staff spending months uncovering atrocities. He said the team had been told the future of the study was "under review" and staff had been asked to "hold fire on it". He added: "The word has already gone out to the embassies that we need to concentrate on trade. It's not surprising, but it's very sad."
NGOs fear the coalition is putting economic interests above the drive to stamp out abuses. Last week Tom Porteous, the director of Human Rights Watch in London, warned in an article on Comment is Free that by "blindly pursuing commercial interests" the UK risked undermining efforts to protect human rights.
Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK, said she had deep concerns about plans to axe the report, saying the move would "raise serious questions about how much they value human rights ... The government has already stressed that it will concentrate on trade when it comes to foreign policy. But that move cannot be at any cost. Amnesty International's fear is that this is the latest step in putting economics before human rights," Allen said.
An FCO spokeswoman said: "The foreign secretary is determined that the UK's foreign policy should reflect the values that we uphold at home and that our actions overseas be consistent with support for human rights. In the current financial climate ...we need to look carefully at how best to communicate and ensure transparency with parliament and the public on our human rights activity."
