MCF submits report to UN Human Rights Committee

MCF has contributed to a report submitted from Community Policy Forum a report to the UN Human Rights Committee on the UK’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its other international human rights obligations.

The report outlines various ways that the UK is failing to uphold the rights of Muslim communities and urges the UN to ask serious questions to the UK Government in relation to ten broad areas:

• Migration
• Islamophobia
• Securitisation
• Policing and the justice system
• Freedom of expression, political participation and the right to assembly
• Hindutva
• Violence against women and girls
• Charities
• Muslim children
• Media

“The UK’s compliance with the ICCPR can further be examined through the third sector perspective when engaging in civic spaces. The challenges experienced by Muslim-led charities, in particular, demonstrates a pattern of the UK receding from its stated commitment to democracy, human rights, and freedoms.

Increased use of divisive rhetoric within politics, along with low levels of public trust in media institutions, has heightened the role of NGOs in providing reliable information based on first hand accounts in highly politicised crisis zones.

Muslim-led charities who specialise in delivering aid in disaster areas, particularly in regions afflicted by war, can provide unique insights into the humanitarian crisis, which has the potential to undermine the Government’s foreign policy agendas. Muslim NGOs have the potential to have an influence within civic spaces and have a vested interest to campaign in line with their charitable purposes. However, we have seen a trend in recent years where Muslim charities are being criticised and maligned by politicians and media outlets, leading to many charities feeling squeezed in an ever-shrinking civic space where charities can engage. This section addresses how Muslim charities have been uniquely targeted for scrutiny, thus severely hindering their freedoms of expression and assembly, thus infringing upon their rights under Articles 19, 21, 25, and 26 of the ICCPR”

Download the full report: Report: The UK’s Implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) – Community Policy Forum