Amnesty International

Devolved institutions - international human rights

John WatsonProgramme Director, Scotland

Devolved Powers

Powers reserved to Westminster listed under Section 5 of the Scotland Act:

- Foreign affairs- Defence- International development- Asylum……..

Human rights?

Scottish Government/Executive

China Engagement Strategy:

14. Scottish Ministers will take the opportunity to raise with appropriate senior Chinese figures concerns about Human Rights in China. We will encourage Scottish organisations to engage in programmes in China which are designed to have positive impact on human rights.

Scottish Government/Executive

International FrameworkThe International Framework document sets out how the Scottish

Government will co-ordinate its international engagements and activity. The Framework draws together how the Scottish Government’s international activities support sustainable economic growth in Scotland.

International Development Fund6 million – 9 million a year, most of which goes to Malawi under a Co-

operation Agreement that outlines key areas in which Scotland and Malawi will work together. Developing links with Indian sub-continent

Fair TradeSupporting the campaign to make Scotland one of the world's first Fair

Trade Nations

Scottish Government/Executive

Asylum Seekers

- Opposition to dawn raids and ongoing concern over detention of asylum seeker children in Dungavel detention centre

- Call for amnesty for families in Scotland long-term, rejected by Home Office

- Asylum seeker students funded for higher education

Scottish Government/Executive

Rendition Flights:

- Scottish Government criticises lack of enquiry into reports of numerous sightings of aircraft implicated in rendition flights at Scottish airports

- Declines to take further action itself!

Scottish Government/Executive

No Recourse to Public Funds:

- Can the Scottish Government provide refuge support to women specifically excluded by immigration rules?

Scottish Parliament

European and External Relations Committee

- remit includes international activities of the Scottish Administration

- current workload includes review of Scottish Government’s China Plan and an inquiry into Scotland and migration, including people trafficking

Scottish Parliament

Cross Party Groups on:

Cuba, Palestine, Malawi, China, Poland, Taiwan, Tibet, Russia, International Development, nuclear disarmament ……

and of course human rights

Scottish Parliament

Official visits

- Estonian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee

- President of Malawi

- Chairman of Russian Foreign Affairs Committee

- Speakers of the Serbian and Montenegrin Parliaments

- The Dalai Lama………

MSPs

International Parliamentarians Petition on Guantanamo Bay

- Scottish Parliament highest sign-up rate in the world

International Arms Trade Treaty

- MSPs call for regulation of international

arms trade

MSPs

- S3M-5674 Jack McConnell: His Excellency Dr Bingu Wa Mutharika and the African Union

- S3M-5642 Jackson Carlaw: Israelis and Palestinians Working Together

- S3M-5561 Michael Matheson: Support for Haiti

- S3M-5525 Bill Wilson: The Illegality of the Invasion of Iraq and the Detention of Anthony Charles Lynton Blair

- S3M-5484 Joe FitzPatrick: Malawi Anti-homosexual Arrest

- S3M-5479 Marlyn Glen: Parliamentarians’ Endorsement in Support of a Nuclear Weapons Convention

- S3M-5463 Sandra White: Scottish Development International Trade Mission to Israel

MSPs

Visitors to Parliament

- Burmese democracy campaigners

- Indian chefs

- Asylum seekers

Elsewhere

Scottish Human Rights Commission

- international engagement one of the four initial

focal points

- taking place amongst international network of such institutions, applying for UN accreditation

- hosting conference of international human rights institutions in the Scottish Parliament in October

Related Matters

Human Rights Act and/or a Bill of Rights

- European Convention of Human Rights integrated into Scotland Act through reference to the Human Rights Act

- Human Rights Act cannot be abolished without amending Scotland Act

Conclusion?

A matter of political will

- European Convention of Human Rights integrated into Scotland Act through reference to the Human Rights Act

- Human Rights Act cannot be abolished without amending Scotland Act