We call on the UK Government to deliver the outstanding human rights commitments made a quarter of a century ago in the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement and to protect the rights of people across the United Kingdom. 

The main undelivered commitment is a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. A Bill of rights could ensure additional protections for people across a range of rights such as adequate healthcare, access to education and decent housing. This would provide a safety net that everyone in society could rely on to ensure that their rights are protected when things go wrong.

Ongoing attempts to remove existing human rights standards, including the government's recent proposals to scrap the Human Rights Act, threaten the protections we enjoy under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) across the United Kingdom and are a betrayal of the values of the Northern Ireland peace agreement.

The signatories to the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement committed themselves to ‘the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust, and to the protection and vindication of the human rights of all.’ 

It is a disgrace that 25 years after the signing of the Agreement, the people of Northern Ireland are still waiting on one of the main human rights commitments of that deal. 

It is time for the UK Government to fulfil its commitment, deliver a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights and protect human rights across the UK by protecting the Human Rights Act and guaranteeing full access to the ECHR. 

It is time to #MakeOurFutureFair.