Ambassador for Peace and close friends get together in Lancaster Gate to review Universal Peace Federation (UPF) activities in 2011 and make a new start for 2012. Twenty five friends attended to discuss plans for the coming year as well as make comments on recent conferences. Their comments particualrly emphasised appreciation for youth acivities in UPF. There were some discussions of how to develop the family, youth and gangs area. The UPF Youth area has developed in recent months but we would like to establish it on a better basis. (For more photos please use this link.)                     

UPF’s Proposed Programme for 2012 was discussed. See below:

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Happy New Year 2012

To all Ambassadors for Peace, Friends and Contacts of the Universal Peace Federation in the UK we want to wish you a Happy New Year.

Review of 2011 Link. We were happy that we could have a successful conference raising a number of prominent, current issues, 'Commemorating Human Rights Day 2012: How Far Have We Progressed?' This was the culmination of many other activities during the year.

Looking forward to 2012 we forsee the events and activities that promote peace, development and humanity's role of one global family under an inclusive and loving God.

We will have a 'Forgiveness and Reconciliation' conference chaired by Rev. Dr. Marcus Braybrooke, with a theme including the Holocaust and Genocide commemoration event we usually hold at the end of January. There will be the usual commemoration of the International Day of Women, International Day of Families, Africa Day and International Peace Day.

We will hold an European Conference to mark the 'World Environment Day: Population, Demography and Urbanisation' in early June.

Rt. Hon. Tom Brake MP, Liberal Democrat spokesman for Home Affairs issues, took a Human Rights angle on the recent riots in the United Kingdom. He expressed his concern that Human Rights are experiencing a backlash in UK at the moment. They had not restricted the police in dealing with the looting. “The police does not want or need new weapons, curfew powers, or the power to shut down social networks”, he stated and expressed his concern about misleading language in the media, when it comes to “so-called Human Rights.”

Sheikh Rahman began his speech with an invocation. He said that if he had done that in Pakistan he would be charged and would be in prison. "Thanks Robin Marsh and Margaret Ali for allowing make the presentation to this august gathering in the Houses of Parliament."

He said, "I have campaigned with my friends and colleagues within the community to seek redress against the draconian laws and the injustice that exists even within the constitution of Pakistan and that are in complete opposition not only to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Pakistan is a signatory, but also in contradiction to the (Pakistan’s) constitution itself. It is a difficult subject. 

Religious minorities suffer greatly under oppressive laws enacted in the 1970’s. Religious minorities in Pakistan: Ahmadis, Shiities, Bahaiis, Hindus and Christians have been increasingly persecuted in recent decades. Pakistan is only 60 years old. Rights are routinely violated on the premise that they are non-Muslims and therefore second class citizens. However the founder of the nation when he made his opening speech to the House of Parliament when Pakistan was created, remarked, “In the course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims cease to be Muslims not in the religious sense because that is of personal faith of each individual but in the political sense as citizens of the state.”

The former Human Rights Ambassador for Spain, Silvia Escobar, pointed out the role that institutions like the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe play in securing human rights in Europe. She highlighted that the different articles of the UDHR are closely interconnected and “the failure of one is abuse of another.” Escobar emphasised that at the core of the matter is dignity, which is the foundation for peace, security and freedom. She remarked “dignity even comes before equality.”

She expressed her gratitude to Baroness Scotland saying that one of the priorities the focus of the Spanish Chairmanship was to tackle violence against women. She thanked Lord Parekh for his comments on the economic, cultural and social rights. The adoption of the protocol on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights in 2007/2008 was very important. It expresses the diversity of Europe.

Keith Best, CEO, of Torture Care, gave a short history of torture practices, and opposed any justification to torture, calling it ‘morally repugnant’. Torture is taking life without killing. Its fundamental purpose is to destroy someone's personality. It confounds the basic tennets of all the major religions. The inalienable rights to freedom and human dignity which come from God. The fact that the United States under George Bush Jr. was prepared to waterboard individuals and give evidence to the senatorial committee explaining that they had waterboarded people, I believe, lost the United States all moral authority as a result and did civilisation lasting damage.

Medical, legal reports indicate that the Sri Lankan Government, after the cessation of hostilities, is engaging in torture. The Sri Lankan victims are scarred in torture with complete impunity. The scars form a kind of branding that is supposed to inform the Police if these people are picked up again that they have been tortured before. No one is expecting to be held accountable for torture in Sri Lanka.