The island's two Human Rights Commissions have set up a joint committee, as required under the Belfast Agreement, to deal with pressing human rights issues on an all-Ireland basis. At their first official meeting in Belfast yesterday the two commissions agreed that their joint committee would have as its first two tasks the drafting of a charter of rights for the whole island and the setting up of a working group on racism.
The joint committee comprises all the members of both commissions - nine from the North and 15 from the South. The chief commissioner of the North's commission, Prof Brice Dickson, said he was "delighted" to work with the president of the Republic's commission, Mr Justice Donal Barrington. "The creation of a joint committee will mark another step in the implementation of the Belfast Agreement and has the potential to open a new chapter in the development of an awareness of human rights and responsibilities", he added.
Mr Justice Barrington said he hoped that the joint committee would be able to produce a charter to "protect the fundamental rights of everyone living on the island and one which all democratic political parties would find acceptable".
Prof Dickson said that the all-island charter of rights would be primarily aimed at politicians. "We want it to be fairly short, to the point and value-based. It will be mainly aimed at the political parties rather than spanning the whole range of human rights issues for everybody", he told The Irish Times.
Regarding the working group on racism, Prof Dickson said both commissions had been mandated with drawing up national action plans on racism by the international human rights conference in Durban, South Africa, earlier this year.
"There is no doubt that racism is a growing problem on both sides of the Border. We feel that the part the two commissions ought to play is one of propagating international standards as well as fulfilling an educational role", he added.
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has taken a particular interest in the ongoing Holy Cross school dispute and is currently financially supporting one of the Catholic parents in bringing legal action against the Police Service of Northern Ireland. "We have had legal advice telling us that it would be extremely difficult for the commission itself to bring a case against the police alleging it does not sufficiently protect the rights of children. It is a much more straightforward case to bring for a parent or, indeed, one of the children, and we would certainly support that", Prof Dickson said.
The Northern commission's term of office expires next February, when members will have to be reappointed or new members nominated. Prof Dickson said he hoped that the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights - the commission's biggest undertaking since it was set up in March 1999 - would be ready for publication by then. Future tasks for the joint committee would include audits on disability, emergency laws and on the extent to which international human rights standards were being adhered to in both jurisdictions, he added.