The UK and Ireland Human Rights Committee

The UK and Ireland Human Rights Committee (UKI HRC) is a collaboration between the Academy of Medical Sciences, British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society, the Learned Society of Wales, the Royal Irish Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 

It allows member Academies to address alerts issued by the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies. This international network is run by a group at the US National Academy of Sciences and identifies incidents where scientists and researchers worldwide are subjected to repression for having expressed human rights in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UKI HRC considers cases raised by the International Human Rights Network, and coordinates responses either from individual Academies or on behalf of all Academies where appropriate. It is the practice of the UKI HRC to act in cases where there is evidence that the human rights of an individual have been violated or denied because of their academic or scientific work. 

Professor Gene Feder OBE FRCGP FMedSci sits on the UKI HRC as our representative.