Budget Cuts Should Not Kill Human Rights Monitoring

Is England backing down on its long tradition of human rights advocacy? Perhaps not. But budget cuts to human rights monitoring have some wondering.

The stir up began yesterday when the British government confirmed claims that it would cut about $ 870,000 each year from human monitoring procedures at its Foreign Office. What seems like a small amount can put a big dent in the country's humanitarian mission, long considered a staple of England’s foreign policy.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague denies that their commitment to protecting those “less fortunate” has faltered, but admitted budget cuts will affect the production of the agency’s famous Annual Human Rights Report.

The news was enough to spark anger in many former ministers and human rights groups since the report is well known for its exposure of violent crimes, tortures, capital punishment and other abuses in all countries.

“The report is not perfect, Amnesty International Director Kate Allen said on a Telegraph article. “But it offers an annual assessment of the UK’s activities on human rights. Without it there will be a big hole.”

As an example, the 2009 report outlined crimes and discrimination worldwide while analyzing the labor of international organizations such as the United Nations in the fight against poverty. The report denounced threat to democracy and rule of law. It criticized the ousting of Honduras former President Manuel Zelaya and the murder of pro-democracy protesters in Guinea. In other chapters, the report expresses Britain's stance on counter-terrorism policy and gender-based discrimination.

Hague argues that the new expenditures won't affect the report much, but what others see at stake is not the reduction of quality of the paper or whether the report will become an online publication (which is environmentally savvy, of course). They worry there will be a paradigm shift as far as humanitarian work is concerned.

The truth is that no matter who or what bears the burden of the budget cuts, England must continue its tradition to help less powerful and most oppressed countries — with or without an annual report.

Photo Credit: Shanastine