Scottish Government GRA Reform consultations and bills
Dear Scottish Commission for Human Rights,
Under FoI i would like to know what, if any interactions you have had with the Scottish Government re. GRA Reform, consultations and bills over the last years and up to date. I request copies of all meeting minutes, reviews, comments, input, recommendations, and general correspondence, inter alia.
Also, have you ever communicated with the Scottish government on the Yogyakarta Principles, SOGI or SOGIESC, informally or formally, or they with you, and please could i have copies of all documentation including but not limited to agendas, minutes, letters, comments, reviews, emails, etc.
And, please copies of anything passed on from, or sent to the UN on these subjects and detailed documentation of engagements with UN representatives on these topics.
Thank you for your attention.
Yours faithfully,
Cooke
Dear Cooke,
Thank you for contacting the Scottish Human Rights Commission.
Your email has been forwarded on to the person in our organisation responsible for dealing with Freedom of Information requests. We will respond to you as soon as possible, and no later than 20 working days as required by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act.
Kind regards
Diana Brogdon
Business Support
Dear Cooke,
I write with regards to your Freedom of Information clarification request
where you asked us to check and reconfirm the following:
Judith Bueno de Mesquita, lecturer at the University of Essex, and
signatory to the Yogyakarta (2006) as Judith Mesquita, linkedin feb. 2020,
states "i have acted in an advisory role for projects of many
organisations including the Scottish Human Rights Commission".
Is there another 'Scottish Human Rights commision' ?
Please explain.
Also, Victor Madrigal-Borloz has been the UN Independent Expert on SOGI
since late 2017, and it seems very unlikely that there has never been
contact with SCHR, especially given the ongoing Gender identity focus and
Gender Recognition Act reform proposals etc by the Scottish government.
I am very surprised that these SOGIESC Human Rights advocates have had no
contact or interactions whatsoever with the Scottish Human Rights body.
Our Response
Having carried out a further, extensive search, widening the brief from
GRA to everything the SHRC has been involved in since its inception we did
indeed find that Judith Bueno de Mesquita had contributed to a report in
2009 entitled Human Rights in a Healthcare Setting: Making it Work. It
can be found [1]here.
I can confirm that there is no other Scottish Human Rights Commission.
On 3^rd December 2019 we were asked, along with a number of other Human
Rights Institutions for input by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, not Mr Madrigal-Borloz himself, as
follows:
Please find enclosed a call for inputs from the Independent Expert on
protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation
and gender identity, Mr. Victor Madrigal-Borloz, to inform his upcoming
thematic report addressed to the Human Rights Council on so-called
“Conversion therapies”.
We declined to provide input due to capacity issues.
Please accept our apologies for the over sight concerning Ms Bueno de
Mesquita.
Further information
If you are not satisfied with this response then under the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 you have the right to ask for an internal
review of our response. Please contact us at [Scottish Commission for
Human Rights request email] within 40 working days. We will aim to
provide you with our review response within 20 working days.
If you remain unhappy with our response, you then have the right to
appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner. You should keep copies
of all the correspondence you have had with us, as if you decide to
appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner you will be asked to
provide these. You can find out more information about the Scottish
Information Commissioner at [2]www.itspublicknowledge.info
Kind regards
Scottish Human Rights Commission
Bridgeside House
99 McDonald Road
Edinburgh EH7 4NS
T: 0131 297 5750
References
Visible links
1. http://www.scottishhumanrights.com/media...
2. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/
Dear Scottish Commission for Human Rights,
Thank you for rechecking your records and sending Ms Mesquita's document. However,
You appear to have forgotten to attach the referenced communications and requests from Borloz's office re. 'Conversion therapies'. Please send.
This is important please copies of all communications FROM and TO,
OSAGI, and the UN Independent Experts/offices of, Borloz and previous incumbent, Muntarbhorn.
Please copies of everything that refers to SOGI/SOGIESC or Yogyakarta Principles from whatever UN source, and your responses.
Also, please refer back to my original request, you have not responded on the requests in para1 or para2 nor provided the data.
Similarly, you have not responded nor provided data to the request in para3.
Please respond with the requested data, complete, in good time. Thank you for your immediate attention.
Yours faithfully,
D. Cooke
Dear Cooke,
Please find attached our response to your Freedom of Information request
of 15^th February 2020.
I hope you find this information useful.
Kind regards
Scottish Human Rights Commission
Dear Scottish Commission for Human Rights,
Thank you very much for your attachments. I will read them with much interest.
Very best wishes.
Yours faithfully,
Cooke
Cooke left an annotation ()
So apparently Borloz has not had much interaction with SHRC, good. So far it seems little traction directly with the Scottish Government as well (so far from foi). I have no clarity on interactions with Scottish politicians or particularly ministers, including the FM. However, Stonewall input to SG repeatedly refers to the 'independent expert' i.e. Borloz, see Conversion Therapy Petition attachments +.
Re. The Equality Unit, SG, head Lisa Bird and other women in the civil service who have been involved with CEDAW at the UN have not published any details and are little on record. Interactions of Borloz or UN Dev directly with EHRC, UK CS and Westminster gov needs checked out. But, the routes are apparently indirect. UN influence and interactions are lacking transparency.
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Cooke left an annotation ()
See original request:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/f...
and their response, which was incorrect.