Advocacy Statements

Indian Visa Policy Discriminates on Grounds of Race

London, 14 September 2010

The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has written to the Prime Minister of India and the Indian External Affairs Minister to urge a change to the country’s visa and immigration policy, which discriminates against UK citizens of Pakistani origin.

ERT’s letter refers to guidance on application processing time provided on the Indian High Commission’s visa application website for the United Kingdom. The guidance indicates that processing time for UK citizens of Pakistani origin is a minimum of 7-8 weeks, compared to a suggested minimum processing time of 5-7 days for all other UK citizens. This policy has affected a number of UK nationals, including students.

Deportation of Roma Immigrants by French Authorities is Illegal

London, 9 September 2010

The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) calls on the government of France to adhere to the European Parliament Resolution dated 9 September 2010 and immediately halt the process of “voluntary deportation” of Roma immigrants residing in the country. ERT - also concerned by the news that the Italian authorities too have resumed dismantling Roma camps - calls on the European Commission to adopt a Roma strategy which would ensure equal rights for the Roma in a manner which respects them as European citizens.

ERT Calls for LGBTI Equality on International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia

On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Equal Rights Trust (ERT) calls upon all countries to repeal laws that perpetuate LGBTI discrimination and for human rights organisations to put LGBTI equality among their strategic priorities. This year the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia is focused on exposing and opposing the negative impact of religious fundamentalist discourses and giving visibility to voices who are working for inclusion, tolerance and peace.
 
ERT is currently carrying out a project which explores how the Declaration of Principles on Equality can be used to defend LGBTI rights in countries with strong Islamic or other religious and cultural opposition to LGBTI rights. Over the past six months ERT has used this research to advocate LGBTI equality.

ERT Joins Leading Kenyan NGOs in Call for Equality to be Put at Centre of New Constitution

Nairobi, 29 January 2010

The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) yesterday joined the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (FIDA) in calling on Kenya’s parliamentarians to put the rights to equality and non-discrimination at the heart of the country’s new Constitution.

ERT Urges Moldova to Amend Constitutional Clause on Equality

On 27 January 2010, The Equal Rights Trust submitted an expert opinion to Mihai Ghimpu, Acting President of the Republic of Moldova and Chairperson of the Moldovan Commission on Constitutional Reform, arguing that Article 16 (Equality of Rights) of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova (the Constitution) falls short of international human rights standards. In its letter, ERT also made recommendations for amendments which would better reflect the Republic of Moldova’s commitment to human rights.

700 Years of Solitude - The Human Cost Paid by Stateless Detainees at Guantanamo Bay

The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has called on US President Barack Obama to release 103 potentially stateless detainees who have been cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay, but remain in detention solely because it is not possible to resettle them. Research undertaken by the Trust indicates that between them, the 103 detainees may have spent more than 700 years in detention

UN Human Rights Day 2009 Devoted to the Fight against Discrimination

On 10 December - international Human Rights Day - The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) invites new endorsements of the Declaration of Principles on Equality, a set of key principles drafted and signed by 128 leading experts and launched by ERT in October 2008. With this renewed appeal, ERT responds to the initiative of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to declare discrimination as the theme of Human Rights Day 2009.

Stating that complacency is discrimination’s best friend, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, speaking ahead of Human Rights Day, called on individuals worldwide to make an extra effort to tackle discrimination, starting from their own homes and workplaces.

Equal Rights Trust Urges Commonwealth Heads of Government to Condemn Homophobic Laws

In advance of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting this weekend, the Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has called on the Heads of Government to condemn an Anti-Homosexuality Bill recently introduced in the Parliament of Uganda and to take urgent action to repeal existing homophobic laws across the Commonwealth.

Homosexual conduct is currently illegal in 43 of the 53 Commonwealth nations, despite the commitment in the 1971 Commonwealth Declaration of Principles to “foster human equality and dignity everywhere”.

In a letter to the Commonwealth General Secretary Kamalesh Sharma, ERT urges Heads of Government to:

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