Article 3 Breaking News
IN THE NEWS
BBC Radio 4 Today programme - Friday 15 May
Natasha Tsangarides, Associate Director of Advocacy at Freedom from Torture, spoke about the risks to the torture ban of chipping away at absolute protections Listen Now
The Guardian - Thursday 14 May:
“UK ministers accused of weakening legal protections for torture victims"
Council of Europe members plan to change interpretation of ECHR to make it easier to deport refused asylum seekers.
Kolbassia Haoussou, a director at the NGO Freedom from Torture and a torture survivor, said: “The UK has long prided itself on fairness, compassion and upholding the rule of law.
“Chipping away at article 3 would not just undermine that reputation but send a dangerous message to repressive regimes around the world that even the most fundamental protections can be bargained away.
“Every safeguard dismantled today will be a gift to those who seek to abuse power tomorrow.”
The UN Committee Against Torture last week expressed concerns that efforts to overhaul the convention were undermining the absolute nature of the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment.
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The Times - Thursday May 14
The UK and 45 European countries want to change the interpretation of human rights laws to give countries more control of their borders
Britain and 45 other European countries are poised to agree to changes to the way in which human rights laws are interpreted.
…Meanwhile, refugee and humanitarian charities have written a letter warning that they are “profoundly concerned” that the changes will undermine Britain’s global fight against torture by authoritarian regimes.
Six refugee and humanitarian charities warned that the changes would weaken efforts to eradicate torture elsewhere in the world as they warned against any dilution of Article 3.
The letter to David Lammy, the deputy prime minister who has led the government’s efforts to reform the ECHR, and signed by organisations including Amnesty UK, Liberty and Freedom from Torture, warned: “In recent years, human rights protections have come under attack in the UK — duplicitously reframed as a threat to security rather than the bedrock of a just and peaceful society. We urge you to resist advancing this agenda by chipping away at our most precious protections.”
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