Welcome to the website of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission
The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission is a body established to highlight international human rights concerns, and to inform, advise and develop the party’s foreign policy by making human rights a priority. Freedom and human dignity should be at the heart of foreign policy. The Commission aims to ensure that the importance of fundamental Human Rights is kept high on the political agenda.
The Conservative Human Rights Commission provides a forum for Party members and supporters with an interest in promoting human rights throughout the world.
The Commission has produced a number of reports, including ‘The Female Face of Afghanistan’, ‘Supporting Women Human Rights Defenders’ and ‘Child Soldiers; Progress but too little’.
The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission was set up by the Shadow Foreign Secretary in 2005 with Gary Streeter MP as founding Chairman. Since its creation the Commission’s chairmen have included Stephen Crabb MP and Tony Baldry MP, and most recently Robert Buckland MP. Commissioners also include MP’s Mark Pritchard, Fiona Bruce, Jeremy Lefroy, Nicola Blackwood and Sajid Javid, human rights activist and writer Benedict Rogers, and Heather Blake. In December 2020, Fiona Bruce MP was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief. On that appointment Fiona Bruce MP stepped down as Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission.
The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission will:
- Hold regular hearings on countries and themes
- Publish updates drawn from different human rights organisations and media sources
- Organise speaker meetings, press conferences and events
- Initiate Parliamentary Questions, Early Day Motions and debates in Parliament
- Publish an Annual Report on Human Rights
- Develop policy proposals for adoption by the Government.