Plenary, 22 Feb 2006

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Official Report 452KB pdf

---

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Irene Khan, who is the secretary general of Amnesty International.

No generation has enjoyed as much wealth, comfort and opportunity as we enjoy today, yet we live in an unsafe, endangered, unfair and deeply divided world. It is made unsafe by the proliferation of arms, by wars and conflicts, by terrorist attacks and—sadly—by the actions of Governments that ignore the rule of law and undermine fundamental human rights.

We live in a world that is endangered by environmental degradation and global warming, and by our callous disregard for the sustainability of our lifestyles and livelihoods, and we live in a world that is inherently unfair. More than a billion people—a sixth of humanity—live on less than a dollar a day. Half a million women die every year in childbirth and more than half the population of Africa do not have access to life-saving drugs. We live in a world that is deeply divided by racism, xenophobia, growing Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, by discrimination and by fear of "the other".

I speak of the world, but those divisions do not appear only in distant places: they also appear right here in Scotland. Our fractured communities need a glue to bind us together: I believe that that glue can be a strong and unwavering commitment to uphold human rights. Human rights are based on universal standards and international law. If we ignore them, we undermine the international commitment to, and co-operation in, finding global solutions to global problems.

Human rights embody the common values of human decency and dignity, equality and justice. Their erosion weakens the basis of our common security. Today, more than ever, we need to reinforce our shared belief in human rights and human dignity. Scotland has a history of standing up for fairness and justice and Scotland's voice must be heard in the United Kingdom and Europe. As political leaders, you can make that happen. You can help us to overcome our fears and build bridges.

In the words of Andrei Sakharov, who became a member of Amnesty International when it was dangerous to do so in the Soviet Union,

"The defence of human rights is a clear path towards the unification of people in our turbulent world and a path towards the relief of suffering."

Today, we need your leadership to go down that path.