Lord David Alton of Liverpool has called upon the U.K. government to “mean what it says” and take measures to show “strength on the world stage.” He urged the government to stop facets of the country’s international trade from depending on dictatorships that use slave labor, and to support survivors of mass atrocities—including Christians—by legally classifying those experiences as genocide in international courts.
Alton, chair of the U.K. Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights, is widely known for championing the rights of persecuted Christians and other human rights causes. He has even been sanctioned by the “deadly quartet” of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea after publicly vocalizing his concerns over freedom issues.
The Genocide Determination Bill is a private member’s bill brought by Alton, with a debate tabled in the upper House of Lords in London on June 4. A complementary bill, called the Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill, is tabled for the same day.
Alton told Christian Daily International that his bill aims to provide an avenue for victims and survivors to petition the court to have a judicial consideration of potential risk, actual evidence, and formal determinations of genocide.
“Once such a court determination is made, the Secretary of State will then have to take decisive steps, including by engaging the International Court of Justice and the UN Security Council, among others,” Alton said.
“The avenue will be open to all potential victims and survivors of genocide, including Christians in countries where they may be subject to genocide or at risk thereof.”
Alton acknowledged that the chances of his private member’s bill becoming law are “low.” However, he pointed out that the bill is eighth in line for debate that day, meaning it should make definitive progress through the parliamentary process.
“Along the way, we will also learn whether it has enough support in both Houses,” Alton said.
Alton noted that details from the bill had been “overwhelmingly supported” in the House of Lords when previously included as an amendment to the Trade Bill 2021.
“However, the Tory government at the time would oppose it in the Commons,” Alton added. “As such, it is key to ensure greater engagement, including understanding what the Bill can and cannot do, and how it can support victims/survivors in their pursuit of justice.”
The bill puts victims and survivors at the center of the process, according to Alton who has previously tried to get legislative measures regarding genocide legalized via the House of Lords.
He first introduced an iteration of the Genocide Determination Bill during the 2016–2017 parliamentary session, launching it on June 13, 2016. He later reintroduced the bill on Feb. 5, 2020, again on June 8, 2022, and most recently on Dec. 4, 2023.
Alton has also closely supported the complementary Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill, championed alongside Baroness Helena Kennedy.
That bill advanced through the House of Lords in the spring of 2024, leading up to the renewed legislative push for both bills ahead of the debates scheduled for June 4, 2026.
Speaking in the Lords at the King’s Speech Debate on May 21, Alton urged the U.K. government to strengthen financial resilience away from supply chains dependent on slave labor in countries like China, pointing to a stark trade deficit of £43.5 billion (~$55 billion).
Alton also highlighted a recent parliamentary meeting with Thae Yong-ho, the former deputy North Korean ambassador to the UK, who defected in 2016 after “choosing democracy over dictatorship.” They discussed a United Nations commission of inquiry report documenting North Korea as a state with atrocities that do “not have any parallel in the contemporary world.”
“The report called for its crimes against humanity to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court,” Alton said. “It never has been. In its political prison camps, hundreds of thousands continue to perish.”
Open Doors, a charity supporting persecuted Christians, states that North Korea is arguably the most dangerous place on earth to follow Jesus.
“If someone is discovered to be a Christian, the consequences are unimaginably stark: either imprisonment in one of its notorious labor camps, with little hope of release, or immediate execution,” an Open Doors country profile states. “The same fate is likely to await other family members.”
Alton mentioned he has personally visited persecuted Christians in China, witnessed Buddhists being suppressed in Tibet, and “met Uyghur Muslims enduring genocide.” He called for wider support from policymakers for his forthcoming bill.
“A resilient democracy must bolster its citizens and its international alliances, acting confidently in promoting the rule of law and democratic values,” Alton said during the debate.
“To that end, the Government should accept, for instance, the JCHR [Joint Committee on Human Rights] recommendation to extend universal jurisdiction against perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes—an issue to which I will return in the balloted debate which I have secured for June 4 and through my Private Member's Bill on genocide determination."
“I hope that, when those measures come forward, the Government will demonstrate that they mean what they say when, in the words of the gracious Address, they will take measures which contribute to the UK's 'strength on the world stage’,” he said.
