UN slams UK Tory for planning to scrap Human Rights Act

UK ruling party’s plan to scrap the Human Rights Act has sparked harsh criticism from the UN arguing that the act would be disastrous for victims of abuses and ruin the UK’s commendable record.

 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said the threat by the UK’s Conservative government to replace the act with a British Bill of Rights would leave many people unable to remedy the abuses they suffer.

“If Britain, a key member of the human rights council, a founding member of the UN and a privileged, permanent member of the Security Council, is considering a move that will potentially weaken a vital regional institution upholding fundamental human rights guarantees, this would be profoundly regrettable,” he said.

He went on saying that the result of such move could prove “damaging for victims and human rights protection; and contrary to this country’s commendable history of global and regional engagement.”

 The UN official also warned that such a move may also hand a free pass to states with worse records than the UK to do as they wish.

“States where civil society is currently threatened may gleefully follow suit. Surely this is a legacy no British government would wish to inspire,” he said.

 Reports say, details of how an alternative bill would work are not yet clear, but Justice Secretary Michael Gove is due to announce the new measures during the autumn. The government will press ahead with their plan if renegotiation with European bodies including the European Court of Human Rights cannot be reached.

In reaction to the criticism, the Tory minister with responsibility for human rights, Dominic Raab, fired back, telling The Guardian newspaper that “a [British] bill of rights will strengthen, not weaken, human rights.”

 “Our reforms will protect our fundamental freedoms, prevent abuse of the system and restore proper democratic accountability, so the application of human rights commands greater public confidence,” he said.

 International Human Rights Lawyer, Arno Develay says the Tory is floating the term Bill of Rights since the UK never had one to begin with.

“We should keep in mind that when governments want to increase control over the population, they often resort to terms that the public opinion will not find threatening. As things currently stand, the UK is probably the country that exercises the most pervasive surveillance of its own population thanks to what is estimated to be over 2 million CCTV cameras,” he told Press TV. 

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