Human Rights

Movers George, I.G.

That this Synod

i) affirms that Christian faith should move us to concern for all people, and notes that the U.N. Universal
Declaration of Human Rights declares concerns for all people;

ii) commends to all dioceses the practice of observing ‘One World Week’ in proximity to United Nations Day,
October 24th, as a means of highlighting human interdependence and the need to eliminate exploitation;

iii) urges the Church to speak out against:
(a) torture, used as a cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners, burning down of people’s
homes, granaries, and the confiscation of livestock and denial by governments of supplies of medical facilities and relief food by international organisations to people in areas of armed conflict;

(b) all governments who practise capital punishment and encourages them to find alternative ways of
sentencing offenders so that the divine dignity of every human being is respected and yet justice is pursued;

(c) the incarceration of prisoners of conscience, challenging governments to search for treatment and
punishment of convicted persons in accordance with internationally accepted standards;

(d) any denial of the principal that a person is innocent until proven guilty by due, fair and impartial
procedures of law.

iv) Commends the work of various international human rights organisations campaigning to support the
freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and their work on behalf of human rights activists throughout the work who are persecuted for their defence of those fundamental freedoms.

(Archdeacon I.G. George, 25-8-89)

Resolution year: 1989
Resolution number: 52/89