Der Beirat stellt sich vor: Hugh Williamson
Interview with Hugh Williamson
Hugh Williamson is director, Europe & Central Asia division, Human Rights Watch. Follow on twitter: @hughawilliamson
When you were correspondent for the Financial Times in Berlin you joined Transparency Germany as a member. Why?
As a journalist I found Transparency International an impressive organisation that challenged the way governments and businesses operated. I wanted to support this work. I was part of a working group on corporate accountability, chaired at the time by Shirley van Buiren, where we tried to hold companies to account over allegations of corruption. It was a rewarding work – also to see things from a different perspective from that of a business journalist.
At present you are heading the Europe & Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch in Berlin. The connection between corruption and human rights is not clear for everybody. What do you think?
My work focusses on many aspects of human rights, ranging for instance from freedom of expression and stopping torture, to the right to health and the right to housing. Corruption often plays a major role in these abuses. Human Rights Watch also has a whole division working on Business and Human Rights, with which I work closely. Addressing corruption is an underlying focus of much of HRW’s work. Corruption often leads to increased social and economic inequality and reduces economic development.
This pattern is more prevalent in countries where respect for basic human rights is low – it is often an incentive for corrupt leaders to restrict basic rights in order to maintain their corrupt practices. Grand corruption also undermines economic and social rights by diverting resources from key areas like schools and hospitals. From a more positive perspective, the promotion of human rights especially in poorer countries can have a knock-on effect by empowering people often through knowledge and information, to demand an end to the corruption that so limits their own opportunities and those of their countries.
What should European countries do to guarantee human rights everywhere in the world?
Europe, and the European Union itself, are built on a common set of values that include the respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law. It’s important that these countries live up to these values at home to avoid being accused of double standards. There are, sadly, enough problems to tackle, including discrimination and intolerance, hate crimes and mistreatment of asylum seekers and irregular migrants.
In the international sphere, European countries have, on paper, committed themselves to upholding universal human rights standards. They have to make sure this happens in practice – even when other priorities such as the prospect of better economic relations or security interests might lead them to de-emphasise human rights, for example in relations with countries like China, or as part of international bodies such as the UN. European countries also have a vital role in giving concrete support to activists who fight for human rights, often under difficult, or even life threatening circumstances, such as in Russia, Uzbekistan or Turkey.
Where does the money come from, Human Rights Watch is working with?
HRW receives funds from the public and from foundations. We don’t accept any government funding, in order to maintain our independence. The organisation has grown significantly in recent years, through a process of internationalisation, through which a significant portion of the staff are now based outside our headquarters in New York.
In Germany our main focus is on lobbying the government and parliament to prioritise human rights in Germany’s foreign policies, in areas ranging from relations for example with Ukraine and Hungary to a greater focus on childrens’ and women’s rights. We also monitor human rights developments in Germany itself, and have active supporter groups, or ‘HRW committees’ in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich.
Die Fragen stellte Anke Martiny.
