Diplomats from repressive regimes including the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Algeria are planning to attend the launch of an official report into Britain’s human rights to be hosted in London on Monday.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) invited representatives from the countries, which face investigations into torture and other abuses, to attend the publication of a report on human rights in the UK.
The decision by the watchdog has enraged staff who are engaged in a dispute about plans to make redundancies and budget cuts as part of the government’s efficiency programme across Whitehall.
Ann Clwyd, the veteran MP and human rights campaigner, said: “I think it is very inappropriate, unless they have a training course built in for those attending.
“Clearly some of those attending do not understand the importance of human rights or the importance that this country puts on human rights. Why have they been invited and why are they coming?”
The EHRC is to send the report, which examines the UK’s human rights record, to the United Nations. As this is part of a UN process, the organisation invited representatives from every single UN country.
A leaked list of those who have accepted invitations shows that representatives from 35 countries will attend Monday night’s soiree at Carlton House Terrace, the grand Georgian street nestled between Pall Mall and The Mall in central London.
It appears that many of those who have accepted have received recent criticisms for human rights abuses.
A representative of the government of the Philippines will attend the human rights event, according to the list.
The “war on drugs”, declared by the president, Rodrigo Duterte, has been followed by the killing of thousands of people by police who claim to be acting in self-defence and by unidentified gunmen.
The killings have been a profound setback for human rights and the rule of law in the Philippines, according to Human Rights Watch.
Two diplomats from Kazakhstan’s embassy will also attend. According to the latest Amnesty International report, the government has allowed torture and other ill-treatment to remain largely unchallenged. This week, the government sought to liquidate independent trade unions through the courts.
A representative of Algeria will also attend, according to the list. Amnesty International’s 2015-16 report said the authorities in the north African state had restricted freedoms of expression, association and assembly, arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning peaceful protesters, activists and journalists, while perpetrators of torture continued to evade justice.
Uzbekistan, whose press attache is expected to attend the EHRC event, has an “atrocious” human rights record, according to Human Rights Watch, whose report says thousands of citizens have been imprisoned on politically motivated charges and torture is endemic in the criminal justice system.
Other governments that have questionable human rights records, according to Amnesty International, but will send along representatives to the event include Singapore, Turkey, Thailand, Egypt, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Mexico and Jordan.
The EHRC is to lose a quarter of its staff, including 24 workers who are being threatened with compulsory redundancy. The offices in Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh and Newcastle are due to close in March 2017. The EHRC’s overall budget has been cut by 70% since 2010. Staff plan to demonstrate outside the event dressed as Victorian carol singers.
An EHRC spokesperson defended the decision to extend invites to all countries.
“This event is being held to mark the publication of our report to the United Nations on human rights progress in the UK. As this is part of a UN process we invited representatives from every single UN country. Countries where human rights need to improve must also have the opportunity to hear a passionate defence of human rights and their importance, which is what will happen at this event,” he said.
The report is part of a five-year cycle of reviews by the UN where other countries are invited to comment on Britain’s human rights record and progress.
The UK’s human rights record will be examined by other UN member states and the EHRC, in its role as the UK’s national human rights institution. “We want to make sure that those countries have our perspective, to inform their examination of the UK,” an EHRC source said.
