In response to the Home Secretary’s comments that the Human Rights Act may be changed to protect the public, Director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti said:

“We hope that the new Home Secretary will remember that there is no public safety without the rule of law and that all of us benefit from human rights and common decency.”

“This Government knows very well that the Human Rights Act in fact protects the rights of everyone, victims and the accused along with people well outside the criminal justice system.”

“It is high time to separate reality from spin about the much maligned Human Rights Act. The Act protects free speech, fair trials, respect for private life and the prohibition of torture - the values which distinguish democrats from dictators and terrorists.”

Contact: Jen Corlew on 0207 378 3656 or 07973 831 128

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Many human rights cases have involved victims challenging Governments for gross failures to protect them. For example, until one brave woman sued the British Government at the European Court of Human Rights, rape victims in England were subject to lengthy cross-examination in person by men who were alleged to have violated them. As a result of a judgment protecting her right not to be subject to “inhuman and degrading treatment”, the law in this country was changed. Please contact Jen Corlew for Liberty’s compilation of human rights cases and examples.