‘Boycott Bill’ runs contrary to Jewish values and experience, Jewish human rights charity tells Michael Gove
The UK Jewish human rights charity René Cassin has written to Michael Gove to express concern about proposed legislation currently being debated in the House of Commons.
In the letter, Mia Hasenson-Gross, René Cassin’s Executive Director, has told Gove that the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill
is an attack on fundamental civil and political rightsis an anti-democratic over-reach of state powerwill hamper René Cassin’s work to support Uyghur Muslims facing genocide in Chinarisks undermining community cohesion
Michael Gove introduced the Bill in the House of Commons on 19 June 2023 in his role as Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities. The Bill will be debated in its Second Reading in the Commons on Monday 3 July.
Explaining her reasons for writing to Gove, Mia Hasenson-Gross said:
“The Jewish community knows all too well of the consequences of silencing opposition and free speech and this bill runs contrary to our Jewish values and experience. We are encouraged that many communal organisations have already spoken out against the legislation, including the Union of Jewish Students and a range of Jewish youth movements. We encourage the rest of the British Jewish community to join us in rejecting this Bill, which is harmful for Jews in the UK and harmful for the fight for human rights for all”.
The text of René Cassin’s letter is as follows:
Dear Secretary of State
Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill
I am writing to express René Cassin’s grave concerns over several aspects of this proposed legislation.
René Cassin – the Jewish voice for human rights – is a UK charity which works to promote and protect universal human rights, drawing on Jewish experience and values. We take our name from the French-Jewish author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
I summarise our concerns as follows:
The Bill is an attack on fundamental civil and political rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression as outlined in the preamble and Article 19 of the UDHR, and as guaranteed under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
The Bill is an anti-democratic over-reach of state power. The Bill gives the Secretary of State extensive personal discretion in relation to territories that they may choose to exclude from the reach of the legislation. This sets a dangerous precedent, where the personal preferences of an individual minster can influence the extent to which local democratically elected bodies can exercise their rights
The Bill will hamper our work to support Uyghur Muslims currently facing genocide at the hands of the Chinese state. Encouraging disengagement from companies and products associated with forced Uyghur labour is one of the very few tools UK campaigners have in trying to exert pressure on the Chinese government. The Bill could potentially prevent public bodies from making the principled decision not to purchase products tainted by such gross abuses of human rights
The Bill will undermine community cohesion by implying that Jewish communal interests can be served by restricting the fundamental rights of the UK public as a whole (including the Jewish community itself)
The Jewish community knows all too well the consequences of silencing opposition and free speech and this Bill runs contrary to our values and experience.
I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you in person to discuss these concerns and how these might be mitigated.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Mia Hasenson-Gross
Executive Director, René Cassin
For more information and comment, contact Mia Hasenson-Gross on 07939 130286 or via mia.hasenson-gross@renecassin.org
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Notes for editors:
More information on the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill available on Parliament’s website at https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3475
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