Foreign policy, human rights and the United Kingdom

Amnesty International welcomes the UK Government's undertaking: to incorpor ate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic law, to pu t human rights at the heart of its foreign policy and to be guided by human rights principles in its treatment of asylum-seekers, ifs Policy on arms e xports and its policy towards international development. This paper reviews the subject of international human rights standards and demonstrates their importance. It then offers advice as to the steps the UK Government should take in order to implement ifs undertakings in full. It comments on the si gnificance of the incorporation of the ECHR into UK law and summarizes the state of the debate over whether or not there should be a Bill of Rights fo r citizens of the UK: It argues that the incorporation of the ECHR into UK law should be accompanied by the creation of a (UK) Human Rights Commission equipped with effective pourers to strengthen human rights protection with in the UK: It concludes with a list of specific recommendations pertaining to the UK Government's conduct of international affairs.