View source for Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights

{{More citations needed|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox political party
|name         = Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights
|logo         = 
|leader             = [[Albert Risso]]<br />[[Joshua Hassan]]<br />[[Adolfo Canepa]]
|founded            = {{start date and age|1942}}
|dissolved          = {{end date and age|1991}}
|ideology           = [[Civil rights]]<br />[[Liberalism]]<br />[[Civic nationalism]]<br />[[Populism]]<ref>[https://www.economist.com/obituary/1997/07/10/sir-joshua-hassan Sir Joshua Hassan] The Economist, 10 July 1997</ref>
|position           = [[Centre left]]{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}
|international      = 
|european           = 
|europarl           = 
|colours            = 
|headquarters       = 
|website            = 
|country            = Gibraltar
|colorcode          = {{party color|Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights}}
}}{{Politics of Gibraltar}}

The '''Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights''' (AACR) was a [[political party]] in [[Gibraltar]].

==History==
The AACR was established in 1942 by [[Joshua Hassan]] and [[Albert Risso]], and sought to protect the interests of families evacuated during [[World War II]].<ref name=VM>Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, p323 {{ISBN|0-313-23804-9}}</ref> At the time, most of the [[Military history of Gibraltar during World War II|Gibraltar population had been evacuated]] and only a small number of Gibraltarians remained on [[Rock of Gibraltar|The Rock]]. Consequently, the colony was crowded with British soldiers, sailors and airmen. They received wide support from the [[Governor of Gibraltar|Governor]], [[Noel Mason-Macfarlane|General Mason-MacFarlane]] (later a Labour MP in the United Kingdom), who allowed them to fulfil the representative role that the [[Committee of the Exchange and the Commercial Library]] used to fill. The Governor also left the AACR with the responsibility of managing the leave scheme that allowed the Gibraltarians who remained on the Rock to visit their families in Britain. They also took a leading role in the repatriation of the Gibraltarian evacuees.

[[Image:Joshua Hassan.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Joshua Hassan]], longest running leader of the AACR and [[Chief Minister of Gibraltar]] for 18 years.]]

In 1945 the AACR became a political party, advocating improved pay and working conditions and the introduction of a democratic constitution.<ref name=VM/> In August 1945, the first City Council elections since the war were held and the AACR won all the elected seats in the Council, with Hassan became its chairman. In the [[1950 Gibraltar general election|first elections]] to the new legislature in 1950, it won three of the five seats and was able to form a government.<ref name=V1>McHale, pp326–327</ref> The party won successive elections in [[1953 Gibraltar general election|1953]] and [[1956 Gibraltar general election|1956]]. The [[1959 Gibraltar general election|1959 elections]] saw it win only three of the seven seats, but with the other four held by independents, it was able to continue in government.<ref name=V1/> This was repeated after the [[1964 Gibraltar general election|1964 elections]], but the results of the [[1969 Gibraltar general election|1969 elections]] (when it added "Gibraltar Labour Party" to its name)<ref name=V2/> saw two new parties, the [[Integration with Britain Party]] and [[Isola Group]] win eight of the 15 seats between them, allowing them to form a government.<ref name=V1/>

After a member of the Isola Group defected in 1972, [[1972 Gibraltar general election|early elections]] were called, which saw the AACR win eight of the 15 seats and return to government.<ref name=V1/> The party won subsequent elections in [[1976 Gibraltar general election|1976]] and [[1980 Gibraltar general election|1980]].

After victory in the [[1984 Gibraltar general election|1984 elections]] Hassan resigned without completing his term as Chief Minister in 1987 after an [[:s:Gibraltar Airport Agreement|agreement]] on the shared use of [[Gibraltar Airport]] was signed by [[Spain]] and the United Kingdom, citing personal reasons. He was succeeded by the then Deputy Chief Minister, [[Adolfo Canepa]]. However, Canepa lost the [[1988 Gibraltar general election|1988 election]] to [[Joe Bossano]] of the [[Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party]] (GSLP), winning only seven seats and forming the opposition in 1988. In [[1992 Gibraltar general election|1992]] they failed to return to power and were effectively dissolved thereafter. The last election with an AACR candidate was the 1998 by-election following the death of [[Robert Mor]] of the GSLP. The AACR candidate [[John Piris]] received only 337 votes and was defeated by [[Joseph Garcia (Gibraltarian politician)|Joseph Garcia]] of the [[Liberal Party of Gibraltar]] (LPG), backed by the GSLP.

==Ideology==
Until the 1960s the party was linked with the [[Gibraltar Confederation of Labour]], which it had founded. However, the links with unions began to weaken thereafter.<ref name=V2/> The party had a pragmatic and progressive policy platform,<ref name=VM/> and aimed to strengthen relations with Britain, but also give the territory freedom. This was reflected in its campaign slogan "With Britain, but not under Britain".<ref name=V2>McHale, p324</ref>

Like all other major Gibraltar political parties, it opposed transfer of [[sovereignty]] over Gibraltar from the [[United Kingdom]] to [[Spain]].

==Gibraltar Award==
On 10 December 2007 the [[Self Determination for Gibraltar Group]] awarded the founding fathers of the AACR with the [[Gibraltar Award]] in recognition of their contribution to the political development, democratisation and emancipation of Gibraltar. The award was presented to [[Adolfo Canepa]], the last AACR [[Chief Minister of Gibraltar|Chief Minister]] to hold office, in [[John Mackintosh Square]] on the 59th anniversary of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]].<ref>[http://www.chronicle.gi/readarticle.php?id=000012548&title=The%20Gibraltar%20Chronicle The Gibraltar Chronicle - Fourth SDGG Gibraltar Award for the Founding Fathers of the AACR]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web|first=Thomas James |last=Finlayson |authorlink=Tommy Finlayson |url=http://www.chronicle.gi/Features/tommy%20finlayson.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040428105456/http://www.chronicle.gi/Features/tommy%20finlayson.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2004-04-28 |title=The Struggle for Democracy |publisher=[[Gibraltar Chronicle]] |accessdate=2008-10-21 }}

{{Gibraltar political parties}}

[[Category:Gibraltarian nationalism]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Gibraltar]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1942]]
[[Category:1942 establishments in Gibraltar]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1991]]