HUMAN RIGHTS DENIED, SOVEREIGNTY IGNORED

By Henry Ferguson

On 27th January 2025 I wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, Mr. Angus Robertson MSP, about implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in Scottish legislation and am still waiting for a reply.  I made two suggestions in my letter - each of which has been assigned an official “case-holding number” by the Scottish Government - but a reply now looks increasingly unlikely.

My letter suggested that, as the elected representative for constitutional matters within the Scottish Government, Mr. Robertson should agree to the following:

1.      The Human Rights of Scottish citizens

As provided for by the Scotland Act 1998 and as requested in Petition PE2135, the Scottish Government should give full legal effect to ICCPR, an international Human Rights treaty ratified by the UK in 1976, in the devolved law-making process, and

2.      The Sovereignty of the Scottish People

As foreseen by the Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020, the Scottish Government should insert the phrase “Subject to referendum” as the last article in the Bill to implement ICCPR.

In a nutshell:

Both suggestions are within the competence of the Scottish Government and Parliament.  By doing neither, the individual and inalienable UN Human Rights of Scottish citizens to direct Political Rights (Initiatives & Referendums) are being denied, and the Sovereignty of the Scottish People - the right to have the last word - is being ignored.

3.      An independent viewpoint

Although not within the scope of PE2135, it’s also important to note that ICCPR Art. 1 recognises Self-Determination as being first among the Covenant’s Rights.  In this context, as described in Petition PE2135, the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) - Scotland’s UN-recognised watchdog - has stated: “The Scotland Act 1998 requires both the Scottish Parliament and Government to observe and implement all the UK’s international HR obligations” (4th Feb. 2024 Report to the UN HR Committee, page 15).

Further, the inaugural Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC), when commenting on the Supreme Court judgement on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), stated: “On the one hand and significantly so, the judgment essentially reaffirms that human rights are not reserved to the UK Parliament by the Scotland Act and that Scotland can incorporate UN treaties, so thank you Donald Dewar”

4.      Scottish Government comments on PE2135

The Scottish Government’s written submission on PE2135 was signed by the Directorate for Constitution (DfC) rather than, as one would expect, Mr Angus Robertson MSP. The Director of DfC, Mr Dominic Munro, is a senior UK Civil Servant reporting to Whitehall.

The DfC comments: “it is important to note that this (i.e. giving full legal effect to ICCPR) only applies to devolved matters within the competence of the Scottish Parliament.” and that: “This route cannot be used to effectively extend the Parliament’s powers by claiming that the incorporated international treaty provisions now allow the Parliament or the Scottish Government to do anything that would have previously been beyond devolved competence”.

That’s not what the Scotland Act 1998 says, however - insofar as powers to incorporate international Human Rights treaties are concerned it remains unamended and in full force.  And the UK’s 1976 ratification of ICCPR was - and remains to this day - unconditional.

5.      Who do I believe?

What’s quite clear is that the UK government is acting in bad faith.  It ratified an international treaty in 1976 and has done nothing since to incorporate the treaty in domestic law.  Also, despite repeated criticism from both the SHRC and the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), the UK continues with its refusal to ratify the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.  What’s that about, you might ask?  Well, the Protocol establishes a formal complaints procedure directly to UNHRC which, of course, Westminster wants to avoid at all costs - no question of giving rebellious Scots a key to the prison door!

But to go back to the DfC comments above - one could almost say that, despite the authoritative and independent evidence to the contrary, the DfC is engaged in a high-stakes gaslighting operation directed at MSPs and, even more seriously, the wider Scottish public.

The SHRC puts it more politely when it says in its 4th February 2024 report: “The Commission recommends that the UK, at every level of government, desists with all policy activities which restrict or undermine the level of protection for civil and political rights as set out in the present Covenant…” (Page 64 Annex A Part B)

Together with my RespectScottishSovereignty (RSS) colleagues, I believe that the DfC has adopted a deliberate policy to restrict and undermine Scottish Sovereignty and it’s urgent that fellow Scots resist such an attack with all means at their disposal.

6.      What should I do?

Taking account of the above, we strongly recommend the following:

·         Sign the RSS Petition PE2135: in favour of direct Political Rights

·         Register with ScotlandDecides.org: in favour of independent voting & blogging

·         Register with DearScotland.substack.com: in favour of unbiased reporting & blogging

Equally important, please share this message widely with friends, family, work colleagues etc. (please don’t overlook that Scottish diaspora are eligible to sign PE2135).