Call for new Human Rights law in Wales amid fears of USโstyle crackdown
Plaid Cymru MS Sioned Williams is urging the Senedd to back a new Human Rights Bill for Wales, saying global events show how quickly protections can be weakened. She said a โpowerful and coโordinated movementโ is trying to redraw โwho deserves dignity and protectionโ, and warned that Wales cannot assume its own rights framework is safe.
Her comments come after reports from the US of violent confrontations involving ICE agents, which she says show how easily governments can restrict freedoms when rights are not legally enforceable.
Warning Wales is not immune
Ms Williams said Wales has its own human rights failings, pointing to a Welsh Government report which described the detention and hospitalisation of people with learning disabilities and autistic people as a โhuman rights scandalโ.
Sioned Williams MS, Plaid Cymru, said too many people in Wales still face barriers that breach basic rights.
โItโs not enough to say that human rights are already regarded in Wales, when theyโre not enforceable,โ she said. โFor too many people with learning disabilities and autistic people, their rights are being breached, right here in Wales.โ
She said the problems extend across society, including genderโbased violence, poverty, structural racism, and the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.
โA Human Rights Bill for Wales would ensure ministers and public bodies are bound by law to uphold the human rights of civilians,โ she said. โIt would improve accountability and make rights clearer and more accessible.โ
What the Bill would do
The proposal calls for Wales to write key international human rights treaties directly into Welsh law. That would allow people to challenge public bodies in court if their rights are breached.
Ms Williams said the move was promised in the Welsh Labour Programme for Government but has not been delivered.
Her proposal is a Membersโ Legislative Proposal, meaning it is nonโbinding but will show the level of support a full Bill might receive.
Opposing voices
Reform UK has repeatedly argued for the UK to scrap or scale back human rights legislation, saying current laws are too broad and restrict government powers. The party has called for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and replace existing protections with a new domestic framework.
A Reform UK spokesperson has previously said the current system โputs the rights of criminals and illegal migrants above the rights of the British publicโ, and that the UK needs โa simpler, tougher approachโ.
The Welsh Government has not yet responded to Ms Williamsโ proposal.
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