Amnesty guide as cutbacks ‘threaten human rights’

AMNESTY International’s Irish section will today launch a handbook for Irish campaigners on human rights, which it says are under threat because of Government cutbacks.

The A-to-Z book on human rights in Ireland will help NGOs, voluntary groups and service providers put together everything from a press release to a submission to the UN.

The launch of the book, Building Ireland’s Future, comes amid claims by Amnesty that recent government actions have amounted to an unprecedented rollback in equality and human rights protections in Ireland.

The Equality Authority’s former chief executive Niall Cowley — who resigned following a cut of 43% in the group’s funds — is expected to say at the launch that Ireland is facing an equality crisis as well as an economic crisis.

A number of trade unions and voluntary as well as community groups are expected to attend the launch.

The handbook deals with a range of campaign issues from lobbying for the implementation of international treaties to a referendum on the rights of the child and ensuring community participation in local planning decisions.

It will also feature advice on human rights law, complaint mechanisms and case studies showing how campaigners have succeeded in upholding human rights.

The handbook can be used by campaigners on issues dealing with disability rights, education, discrimination, health and housing, according to Amnesty.

In the handbook’s introduction, executive director of Amnesty in Ireland, Colm O’Gorman says: “Violations of human rights are not just things that happen to strangers in far away places. They happen here in Ireland, in small places.

“They happen in our schools and in our homes. They happen in the prisons where we put children experiencing mental health difficulties because we fail to provide appropriate facilities and on the streets where those denied a home are forced to live.”

Former equality chief Niall Crowley is expected to stress the need to further develop equality legislation and the benefits this will bring for businesses.