Hansard

Today we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I thank Ruth Maguire for leading the debate and for the wonderful work that she does as convener of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee. I know that she is very committed to the issue.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the cornerstone document of the United Nations. The declaration is unequivocal:

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

The declaration is inextricably tied to development, setting out the rights of all to

“a standard of living adequate for ... health and well-being”,

including the right to education, to work and to social security.

I also thank Alan Miller, Scotland’s first chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, for the work that he has done in leading the national task force for human rights leadership and in establishing a new strategy framework for human rights in Scottish domestic law.

We have heard some good speeches tonight. Mary Fee talked passionately about the rights of trans people and John Finnie gave a wonderful speech about the scandal of human trafficking and gender-based violence. As always, Bill Kidd talked passionately about the rights of asylum seekers. I agree with Bill Kidd that Scotland should be a refuge for people fleeing conflict and violations of their basic human rights.

The declaration includes many other articles, including the right to marriage and to have a family, to own property, the freedom of belief and religion and the freedom of opinions and information. There are many others.

Some communities have been disproportionately affected during the pandemic, and I will highlight some of those groups. Initial analysis of the direct impact of the coronavirus by ethnicity and disability has shown greater impacts for some ethnicities.

There has been a very poor level of information available about the impact of Covid-19 on ethnic minorities in Scotland. Because of that, a full picture of the impact on people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities is still not available. We must protect our BAME communities and their health by applying human rights to the situation that we face now.

Despite the fact that less than 1 per cent of the population of Scotland live in care homes, deaths from coronavirus in care homes have made up two fifths of the national total. I raised the scandal of the “Do not resuscitate” orders earlier in the session, and I have highlighted their use during the pandemic. I do not believe that we have got to the bottom of the matter, but I want a declaration that no future Scottish Government will allow such a policy to be enacted ever again. Age Scotland has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of “Do not resuscitate” notices, and I look forward to the outcome of that.

I turn now to the group of young adults who have been shielding throughout the pandemic, who have been especially badly hit. The 18-24 age group in particular—a group who have had to give up their freedoms and jobs in order to protect themselves and their own health, as well as helping to protect the country by not transmitting the virus—have experienced reduced social contact with their peers, and the situation of that particular group really needs addressing in relation to mental health services. Human rights must be applied to them in a meaningful way.

For the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to mean anything in our lives, we must try to apply its articles and the values that we believe in as best we can in the daily work of the Scottish Parliament and in our daily work as politicians.