Commentary on the 2001 Memorandum on Human Rights Policy

The AIV is pleased that the government commissioned the 2001 Memorandum on Human Rights Policy, which attempts to set out a human rights policy that responds to developments that have taken place since the publication of the 1979 Policy Document and the subsequent progress reports. At the same time, however, the AIV does not regard the Memorandum as an unmitigated success. Its principal objection is that the government has missed an important opportunity to put a number of relatively vague and loosely defined policy plans into practice and make arrangements to assess their implementation effectively.