The Scottish Government has moved from being a world leader in human rights into the “slow lane,” the head of Amnesty International UK has warned.

Speaking to The Herald, Sacha Deshmukh, the charity’s Chief Executive, said there was now a “question mark” over whether the SNP administration’s commitment to human rights “remains as strong as it has been for well over a decade".

The stinging rebuke comes after John Swinney delayed plans for a Human Rights Bill.

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There was an expectation that the legislation — promised in the SNP’s 2021 manifesto — would be introduced to Parliament imminently.

However, there was no mention of a Bill in last month’s Programme for Government.

And then, in a letter to Holyrood’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, said the legislation would not be taken forward until after the 2026 election.

Speaking to The Herald ahead of a meeting with the First Minister, Mr Deshmukh said: “Our concern is that Scotland may be moving from being a leader to moving into the slow lane of human rights and I'm not sure that that is actually an intentional choice.“

He added: "If you look at the decision to delay the Human Rights Bill, if you look at the approach that the government is taking around policy towards Israel compared to some of the things that it said in relation to Russia, you know you're seeing just a number of things that together, I think, raise a question mark as to whether the Scottish Government's commitment around human rights remains as strong as it has been for well over a decade."

Mr Deshmukh — who has joined Amnesty in 2021 — said it was striking how many times international colleagues and foreign governments “would point to developments in Scotland in a positive, progressive way about some of the examples in that area".

“And then we saw that starting to pause,” he added, “and now we're starting to hear concerns about the commitments, and we have those concerns ourselves."

(Image: Amnesty)

The Human Rights Bill aimed to incorporate key international human rights treaties into Scots law.

It would uphold the right to food and adequate housing, access to education and culture, as well as covering international conventions on racial discrimination, discrimination against women and disabled people.

While some of those are devolved, some are reserved and in her letter to the committee, Ms Somerville said this was “undoubtedly a complex and far-ranging piece of legislation” and "the constraints on the devolution settlement" meant more time was necessary. 

Mr Deshmukh said this "does not really hold water".

He added: "The stated rationale being it would be better for this Bill to proceed after an election, because the Scottish Government can work more closely with the new UK Government in the intervening period.

"That actually is not, in my view, a robust justification for delaying the incorporation of these rights into Scottish law.

“Some people have raised the question, was the delay to the bill somehow driven by a cost-based argument? But that doesn't hold water either, because a Human Rights Bill incorporation may help you to direct some public resources to the areas where there is the greatest need, but it doesn't in and of itself, mean that you are some way forced to spend more than the public purse can afford. So that's not a robust argument either.

“So my fear is that it may well be just question of divisions and politics that has slimmed down the legislative agenda of the government.

“We all have to be realistic about politics. But this was the wrong thing to take off that agenda in my view."

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The Bill was discussed in Holyrood on Tuesday morning, with campaigners calling the delay “unjustifiable".

Emma Hutton, CEO of JustRight Scotland, said the decision “came out of the blue” and that they felt “blindsided” and “betrayed.”

Responding to Amnesty's criticism, Ms Somerville said: "Advancing human rights is central to the Scottish Government’s key missions – eradicating child poverty, tackling climate change and building excellent public services.

“We are firmly committed to bringing forward a Human Rights Bill that will embed further international standards into Scots law.

“We are pursuing engagement with the UK Government to strengthen proposals ahead of introduction and to address the challenges arising from the constraints of the devolution settlement, which were highlighted by the Supreme Court judgment on the Bill to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“We will continue to build on Scotland's national interests by remaining a progressive voice in the world on human rights.”