“Is the international community doing enough to prevent mass atrocities and protect refugees?” This is the question that the Chair of LI’s Human Rights Committee, Markus Löning, posed to readers as he introduced the second edition of Liberal International’s Human Rights Bulletin this week, which centred on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
The latest edition brings together expert parliamentarians to examine liberal answers to questions of humanitarian crises and post-conflict reconciliation. It includes two expert opinions: Former Foreign Minister of Canada Hon. Lloyd Axworthy of LI full member, Liberal Party of Canada, argues in support of moving away from loose coalitions, while the Presidential Secretary of the Philippines, Jose Luis “Chito” Gascon of LI full member, Liberal Party of the Philippines, reflects on the fragile peace process in the Philippines.
Chair of Liberal International’s Human Rights Committee (HRC), Markus Löning, has interviewed Dr. Fouzia El Bayed, an MP for LI full member Union Constitutionnelle and member of LI’s HRC, exclusively for the second edition of the Human Rights Bulletin.
Having discussed the importance of scrutinising conditions for inmates in Morocco’s prison system, Dr. El Bayed – the founder of the Parliamentarians Against the Death Penalty in Morocco – explains why she is fighting for abolition in a country where the death penalty retains some public support.
On the 29th January, LI President Dr. Juli Minoves and Rt. Hon. Lynne Featherstone, Minister at the United Kingdom’s Home Office, awarded Waris Dirie with the LI Prize for Freedom, applauding her ongoing work to abolish the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Prevention and elimination of the harmful practice of FGM around the world is one of the priority work areas of LI Human Rights Committee.
On the 11th March, LI co-hosted an event on women’s empowerment and gender equality within the framework of the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW) in New York. The event attracted over 100 participants from multiple continents.
After submitting a resolution to the European Parliament on Raif Badawi, LI full member ALDE Group has co-written a letter to Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, calling upon her to address the case of Raif Badawi, a Saudi liberal blogger sentenced to ten years imprisonment and 1000 lashes.
Raif Badawi was the recipient of the Geneva Summit 2015 Courage Award.
