Meeting of the Parliament 08 December 2022
Around the world there are, sadly, still so many examples of human rights abuses and violations happening every single day. Today, I will speak about just three places where we know human rights are under threat.
Just last week, we heard of the illegal arrest and assault in China of a BBC journalist who was in Shanghai to cover a protest. That is a shocking example of what can happen in China, but unfortunately it is nowhere near the worst of what has happened in recent years, as the country has slid further towards disgraceful restrictions on fundamental rights and freedoms. The suppression of democratic protests in Hong Kong was atrocious. The state was determined to exert a depressing show of force against normal people who bravely took to the streets to speak up for their own rights. The treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang has been despicable. We still cannot know the full extent of the evil acts that have taken place, but from what we know, there is more and more evidence of genocide.
I hope that every member in the chamber can support the Prime Minister’s recent statement in which he said:
“China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves towards even greater authoritarianism.”
We are also seeing, in what is happening in Ukraine, the tragic reality of a country that is controlled by a dictatorship. Russia’s war in Ukraine has brought the horror of war back to Europe for the first time in years. We have seen that Vladimir Putin’s army has, in town after town, committed horrendous acts against local civilian populations. No matter how much Russia tries to deny it and deflect from it, the reality is a litany of appalling human rights abuses.
I turn to Iran. I commend the immense bravery of the people there, especially the women who have decided that enough is enough and that they will no longer tolerate the systemic discrimination that they have faced. Violence against women and girls is a problem everywhere, but in Iran it has been state sponsored for decades. It is inspiring and upsetting in equal measure to see so many women risk their lives in the name of freedom.
Today’s debate is supposed to be on all human rights abuses and the people who strive to defend human rights globally. It is supposed to be a debate in which the Scottish Parliament unites as one to reaffirm our commitment to the universal and inalienable rights and freedoms in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is supposed to be a debate about international human rights days.
However, the SNP Government has decided that making a political attack at home is more important. It has decided that provoking grievance on these shores is better use of our time. It opted to use its motion for the debate to criticise the UK Government without foundation. Its playing constitutional politics with an issue such as this shows what the Government is about. For this Government, everything is a reason to increase division and provoke grievance—even international human rights day.
If the SNP wants to make the debate about issues that are closer to home, I suggest that it makes it about the vital issues right here in Scotland.