IAEA criticizes UK ministers’ ‘hostility’ to human rights | human rights

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A European investigation has found that the UK government has an “increasingly hostile attitude” towards human rights that is weakening rather than strengthening protections for the public.

According to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, the inflammatory language used by MPs and officials to describe lawyers could endanger their safety.

She said the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act will have a chilling effect on the right to peaceful assembly, which will be exacerbated if the Public Order Bill is adopted.

Mijatović said that plans to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a Bill of Rights would weaken the rights of individuals in the UK.

The findings were published in a 47-page report after a four-day visit to the UK in June and July by Mijatović’s team.

They come as Downing Street and Home Secretary Soella Braverman lay out plans to ban people who come from certain countries from seeking asylum in the UK, and amid reports that Number 10 could delay Justice Minister Dominic Raab’s Bill of Rights over the timetable. restrictions.

The Council of Europe report examined the UK’s legislative proposals and concluded that the changes “were difficult to disentangle from the perceived political focus on so-called ‘culture wars’ issues.”

It found that professionals who support human rights issues have been described by government officials and parliamentarians as “politically motivated” or “activist lawyers”.

“While physical attacks on human rights workers are rare in the UK, there are concerns that inflammatory language against lawyers could put them at risk,” the report says.

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Provisions in the PCSC Act that de facto criminalize Roma, Roma and nomadic communities for living a nomadic lifestyle should be repealed.

There is a “high level of concern among stakeholders” about the protection of human rights in the UK, in light of the significant impact of recent and proposed legislation.

The UK’s policies towards refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants undermine their rights. Proposals criticized by the report include newly introduced inadmissibility rules for asylum, the possibility of deporting people to Rwanda, and criminalizing asylum seekers who arrive illegally.

The emergence of harsh political and public rhetoric against transgender people in the UK is having a negative impact on their rights.

The UK government should consider withdrawing the old bill, which offered conditional amnesty to people accused of murder and other trouble-related offences.

Mijatović and her team met four ministers on their visit to the UK: Raab, Foreign Minister Tarik Ahmed, Tom Borsglof, then Minister for Immigration, and Northern Ireland Minister Jonathan Keen.

The public order bill, which is now in the committee stage in Parliament, has drawn criticism from MPs and activists. The government introduced the bill to tackle disruptive protests, which have escalated in recent months and are said to be straining police resources.

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It is understood that Braverman is creating legislation for the new year to make it easier to reject and deport asylum seekers who come from Albania. More than 12,000 people have arrived from the Balkan country via small boats this year, making up about a quarter of all channel crossings.

Raab’s bill of rights has been criticized by former lawyers and judges, whom they say would undermine the UK’s standing as a legal center and risk causing friction with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Last month, Raab told MPs: “I think we have a big bill here.”

Reports have claimed that the bill could be delayed because Rishi Sunak wants to focus on passing legislation on small boat access. “There is some concern about bandwidth and so it may be suspended for that reason,” said a source in Whitehall.

A government spokesperson said: “The government is committed to protecting human rights and will continue to advocate for them both internationally and at home.

“The Bill of Rights will advance human rights such as freedom of expression, while police and crime law, sentencing and courts will improve the balance between the right to protest and the rights of others to go about their business.”

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