Reacting to the Theresa May’s formal notification of the UK’s intent to leave the EU, René Cassin’s Director, Mia Hasenson-Gross said:

In her letter to the EU triggering Article 50, the Prime Minister said “Perhaps now, more than ever, the world needs the liberal democratic values of Europe”. We agree wholeheartedly with that view. Those values, she went on to say, “have succeeded in bringing together a continent blighted by war … and supported the transition of dictatorships to democracy”. 

Human rights – born in response to the horrors of the Second World War – are central to those values and have been vital in that successful transition. Mrs May’s letter stressed that economic and security concerns would be the focus of the UK’s approach to Brexit negotiations. We urge her to add human rights to that list. The lessons of the last century show that they are essential in building a peaceful and stable world in which a prosperous and free society can flourish.