Speaker of the House, Anglu Farrugia earlier this week delivered a speech during the Commonwealth Parliamentary Assembly which focused on human rights. He stressed that safeguarding human rights should be a ubiquitous element in all of our daily activities.
“At the outset, I want to state that I strongly disagree with those who contend that the Commonwealth is a terminally-ill patient with little or no future to look to. On the contrary, I feel that if used well, the Commonwealth and its organisations are far from a being on their deathbed,” he said.
Dr Farrugia pointed out that the Commonwealth not only has room to survive, but also to grow.
“As we are all aware, the Commonwealth is home to 2.2 billion citizens – almost a third of the world population – of which over 60% are under the age of 30. Compare this with the population of the European Union, which currently stands at around 750 million citizens. This contrasts strongly with the situation in Europe and the Western world in general.
“The EU population size is not only three times smaller than the population of the present Commonwealth, but projections show that ageing, coupled with falling fertility rates, will continue to characterise the future of Europe.
“Bearing this in mind, one should immediately realise that with these demographics, the Commonwealth has vast potential for development, growth, private investment and employment.
“One other striking characteristic of the Commonwealth is that 31 of its Members (i.e. 58% of its members) are classified as small States with a population of 1.5 million people or fewer.
“What makes this feature even more striking is the fact that all these small States have an equal voice in this organisation and their views on issues of common interest – such as climate change, susceptibility to natural disasters, environment protection and gender equality, to mention but a few – carry equal weight as those of the larger member countries.
“The Commonwealth Charter affirms the role of our organisation as ‘a recognised intergovernmental champion of small States, advocating for their special needs; providing policy advice on political, economic and social development issues; and delivering technical assistance.’
“Therefore, the message conveyed by the Charter affirms that the divergences that often exist between the member countries are not to be considered as divisive but as an incentive for convergence.”
The relevance of the Commonwealth in the promotion of human rights
The 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta should serve as an occasion to stop and think about how the development of human rights has been the cornerstone of the liberty and democracy we enjoy. But an anniversary should not be just an occasion for us to reminisce and revel in our achievements. As part of a wider Commonwealth reform, 2015 is a good time to look forward and determine what still needs to be done.
As part of a wider Commonwealth reform, Dr Farrugia said that he feels that for this organisation to be a true promoter and guardian of the rights of its citizens, it requires a centralised organ responsible for ensuring the respect of this set of core values across all its territories: one based on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, which would be responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights in the member countries and another based on the Council of Europe’s European Court of Human Rights, with which individuals or groups of individuals could lodge their complaints against Member States on breaches of human rights issues, not satisfactorily resolved in the home country.
He said that a Commonwealth Human Rights Council would be the most appropriate first step.