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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 2d

I have heard before now around Brexit time that the Orange Order were pro remaining in the CoE and adhering to ECHR for this reason ie in terms of freedom of assembly

Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 3d

It’s actually very refreshing to see two independent pieces in different newspapers in support of maintaining the UK’s membership of the Council of Europe & adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights in one week, one by @stephengethins.bsky.social and the other by @peatworrier.bsky.social

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 3d

Fox hunters and big tobacco.

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 3d

Also noting that litigants using the HRA (which incorporates most of the ECHR into UK law) aren’t the “foreign rapists, murderers & paedophiles of fevered tabloid imagination” but rather “powerful economic interests & social conservatives seeking judicial intervention to frustrate Holyrood” eg AXA,

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 3d

“The same people who routinely contend that the UK isn’t protecting freedom of expression are proposing to abolish the only scant protection in law currently available for it- and apparently haven’t noticed the glaring contradiction in their position.”

www.thenational.scot/politics/255...

Andrew Tickell: Scrapping the ECHR would be a threat to our freedom of expression

I LIKE to think of them as Messiah policies: always promised but never appearing. The art of a good Messiah policy is that it should always be just…

www.thenational.scot

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 4d

“The Council of Europe is a lynchpin of the defence of democracy & rule of law in Europe & beyond.

To sell out one’s rights to the snake-oil salespeople who claim leaving will solve the UK’s woes is a dash to the bottom”

Good piece by @stephengethins.bsky.social

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

As UK flirts with leaving European Convention on Human Rights, SNP must stand by the rule of law

The quest for Scottish independence must adhere to democratic norms and Europe’s rules-based system – international recognition matters

www.scotsman.com

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 4d

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Gateway to hell’: young reporter’s harrowing two years in besieged Gaza

Malak A Tantesh’s grim experience of living with perpetual fear and uncertainty amid Israel’s war after 2023 Hamas attack

www.theguardian.com

Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 12d

Vanessa Whyte, Kathryn Parton and Mary Ward were murdered by their partner or former partner.

Violence against women is not a result of immigration. It’s home-grown, home-made endemic misogyny.

Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 12d

80% of women murdered between 2007-2019 in Northern Ireland were killed at home by someone they knew.

Of the 29,000 cases of domestic abuse prosecuted, 66% of perpetrators received a non-custodial sentence.

Since 2020 28 women were murdered by their partners or former partner.

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 13d

Gosh I wonder what the implications of this are for the way that far-right, racist activity is policed? 🤔

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Secret BBC filming exposes hidden culture of racism and misogyny inside Met Police

Panorama undercover investigation captures evidence that

www.bbc.co.uk

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 14d

Given UK Gov’s shall we say ‘selective’ view of which bits of international human rights treaty law they need to apply, there is quite a degree of brass neck syndrome going on here. 🙄👀

Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 14d

Courts, both domestically and at Strasbourg already interpret the convention as a ‘living instrument’ and already award national governments leeway in taking into account their particular circumstances and the fact that some issues are best left to legislatures.

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · 14d

Good grief. 🫠

As A3 torture carries an absolute prohibition not just at ECHR level, there is in interpretation a deliberately high threshold to show cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Starmer vows rethink on international law to tackle migration www.bbc.com/news/article...

Starmer vows rethink on international law to tackle migration

The PM gives the clearest sign yet the government wants to reform how human rights laws are applied in immigration cases.

www.bbc.com

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · Sep 5

In a week where civil society organisations @cajni.bsky.social @ppr-org.bsky.social @colinmurray.bsky.social responded to claims that the ECHR was not integral to the Good Friday Agreement, it’s perhaps worth hearing directly from one of many women who fought hard to get those protections and why:

“Our group reached out to women across Northern Ireland. We worked to get the language of equality and human rights for all people in the Good Friday Agreement. We convinced others to frame the agreement to reflect partnerships, respect and dialogue and when the peace process began we served as a model for how diverse groups can work together. So in a sense we created the possibility of transformation, from a conflict that stereotyped human beings simply by their background, to respect for all human beings regardless of their background.

Once the language was in the Agreement, our joint political and civic voices had to persuade a majority to vote yes….But women should know the devil is in the details. Just because we won our rights in theory doesn’t mean we had them in practice. The Equality Coalition had 39 separate meetings with senior civil servants and policy makers to get the simple language that we had won in the Agreement translated into law with mechanisms, which measured impact. We could have accomplished this in two meetings if we had merely accepted rhetoric but we wanted results.

Northern Ireland is still at the very beginning of a long journey. But as we emerge from nearly 30 years of conflict, which reflected the most brutal denial of the humanity of the other, we managed to produce an according to, which is based on respecting the rights of the other.”
Inez McCormack

“When you accord the same understanding of human rights to those with whom you find you disagree, you have the right to classify yourself as a human rights activist…you have to trust your own courage, trust your own humanity, and trust your own capacity to be more than you are.” Inez McCormack

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Reposted by Chloe Trew

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · Sep 1

Significant intervention from some of NI's leading civil society groups working on rights and peacebuilding in response to today's Policy Exchange report claiming that the GFA does not restrict the UK's from withdrawing from the ECHR and on the importance of the ECHR for NI:

CAJ @cajni.bsky.social · Sep 1

The ECHR is deeply embedded within the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. This commitment does not allow the UK Government to formulate some version of what it regards as ECHR-equivalent protections.

Read our joint statement 👇
@ppr-org.bsky.social & Human Rights Consortium NI

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Reposted by Chloe Trew

PPR @ppr-org.bsky.social · Jun 12

Friends and neighbours.

Chefs and makers.

Grafters and campaigners.

Mums and Dads.

Students and teachers.

We are the #KindEconomy and our currency is kindness.

We stand every day in solidarity against those who seek to tell us that anyone is less than human.

A woman wearing a chef's hat and apron chops vegetables. A pile of onion skins is scattered on a metal kitchen worktop.

A line of 5 people stand in front of a long table where people await a feast. One is wearing the mayoral chain. There are pictures on the wall behind.

A woman in a turquoise hijab looks down while holding a drill.

Two young men sit cross legged on the floor, smiling in conversation.

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Reposted by Chloe Trew

PPR @ppr-org.bsky.social · Jun 4

Thanks to @belfasttelegraph.co.uk for covering the struggle for support by shopkeepers whose businesses were destroyed by violent racists in last year's organised August attacks.

To lend them your solidarity, sign up to our Take Action now: www.nlb.ie/take-action/unkept-promises

A photograph of a newspaper article entitled £4k council offer for traders who lost businesses in racist rioting 'grossly unfair.' A man stands in front of the burnt out ruins of his cafe.

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Reposted by Chloe Trew

PPR @ppr-org.bsky.social · May 30

In August 2024, two Black and Minority Ethnic owned businesses were destroyed in August racist violence in Belfast.

On 3rd August several Black and Minority Ethnic owned businesses in Belfast were attacked in acts of organised racist violence. Photo of young men running with faces covered, others are holding furniture high ready to break windows.

Destruction caused by fire at Bash Cafe. Text reads two businesses Bash Cafe and Sham Supermarket were completely destroyed with damage of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · May 25

They went on to state that Irvine “is a trusted interlocutor who has directly engaged with loyalist paramilitaries”, omitting to mention that this is because he is a paramilitary leader.

m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/colu...

Winkie Irvine’s host of top-level referees, some of whom wanted to hide their identity from the public

There’s a question that has long enraged and dismayed law-abiding citizens: why do the police almost never arrest known paramilitary commanders?

m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · May 20

Just now they are excluded from education with only a very limited number of ESOL places available each year.

Their futures are on hold, with severe impacts on their mental health and long delays in being able to make a contribution.

To support them visit: www.nlb.ie/take-action/...

Take Action | It's time for targeted education provision for young refugees and asylum seekers. | PPR

Take action to support our campaigns -- It's time for targeted education provision for young refugees and asylum seekers.

www.nlb.ie

Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · May 20

These amazing young people launched ‘Stranded Dreams’ yesterday, their proposal for a flexible rolling programme of English and other subjects in Northern Ireland.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Wait to enter education 'frustrating' for teenage asylum seekers

A report calls for a specialist education programme for those aged 16-24 who come to NI as asylum seekers and refugees.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · May 17

A surprising duo argue for the repatriation of Shamima Begum.

Alf Dubs &Jacob Rees-Mogg: citizenship stripping is fundamentally unBritish

Let’s hold Rhys Mogg to his new found understanding of rights: ‘Defence of our rights cannot be abandoned simply because it is politically convenient.’

Reposted by Chloe Trew

Scottish Trans @scottishtrans.bsky.social · Apr 16

Along with @lgbtiscotland.bsky.social, we've published our reaction to the judgement in the UK Supreme Court today.

There will be more we want to say to trans people directly once we have a chance to catch our breath.

www.equality-network.org/uk-supreme-c...

Graphic with a purple background. It reads: "We are really shocked by today's Supreme Court decision- which reverses twenty years of understanding on how the law recognises trans men and women with Gender Recognition Certificates. The judgement seems to have totally missed what matters to trans people- - that we are able to live our lives, and be recognised, in line with who we truly are. We will continue working for a world in which trans people can get on with our lives with privacy, dignity and safety. That is something that we all deserve.". The Scottish Trans and Equality Network logos are in the bottom right.

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Reposted by Chloe Trew

Big Issue @bigissue.com · Mar 26

Disabled people have urged the government to fund “welfare not warfare,” after the chancellor confirmed plans for benefits cuts alongside an uptick in defence spending at the Spring Statement. 🚫 💷

Advocates have warned that the “cruel” cuts will harm the most vulnerable. ⬇️
buff.ly/ptK7c9O

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Chloe Trew @chloeht.bsky.social · Mar 27

So very sad to hear of the passing of @christinasnp.bsky.social. She was kind, approachable and cared so much about furthering human rights and equality in Scotland. A tremendous loss.

Christina McKelvie MSP (@christinasnp.bsky.social)

MSP for Hamilton Larkhall & Stonehouse Scottish Government Minister for Drugs & Alcohol Policy. Promoted by Christina McKelvie MSP at Barncluith Business Centre Townhead St Hamilton ML3 7DP Reposts ...

christinasnp.bsky.social