The Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales is pleased to publish its Biennial Report for 2022-2023, which highlights and spotlights the extraordinary work, activities, initiatives and advocacy of BHRC, our partners and our members in this two-year reporting period.
With a foreword by the immediate past Chair Stephen Cragg KC, Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers and Chair of BHRC from 2022-2023, BHRC’s Biennial Report records the vital work carried out by the Executive Committee with the support of our Project Team. The report details the close collaboration of BHRC with our valued partners including the Bar Council, the Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA), Advocates for International Development (A4ID), the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), Peace Brigades International (PBI), the IBA Human Rights Initiative (IBAHRI), the Yazidi Justice Committee, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) among many other partners.
Our focus in 2022-23 has been primarily on Central Asia (including China and Hong Kong), the Middle East (including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Gaza and Israel), and South Asia (including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Pakistan). These regions continue to suffer from acute human rights crises and substantial rule of law concerns, with regression in human rights in these and other states having become even more deeply entrenched after the pandemic in 2020-2022.
Fundamental rights most at risk in this reporting period have been related to the detention, harassment, exile, torture and persecution of human rights defenders, lawyers, judges, and civil society, and have included the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and access to information. BHRC also continues to advocate against and raise international awareness of the arbitrary detention of political prisoners and the continued use of torture and the death penalty in states across South Asia and the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Iran.
To download the BHRC Biennial Report 2022-2023, please click here.
