UN Tells Britain No Deportations -- Britain Tells UN Stop "simply focusing all the time on the terrorist".
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- Date: 24 Aug 2005 06:58:16 -0700
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Updated --24 August 2005 (IZ)
UN Tells Britain No Deportations -- Britain to UN Stop "simply focusing
all the time on the terrorist".
Charles Clarke, the British Home Secretary wants the United Nations to
stop "simply focusing all the time on the terrorist". Clarke's comments
were made as he unveiled new tougher guidelines that will be used in
Britain to determine "unacceptable behavior" and serve as grounds for
deportation.
Mr Clarke said "The terrorist threat facing the UK remains real and
significant and it is right that the Government and law enforcement
agencies do everything possible to counter it. "Individuals who seek to
create fear, distrust and division in order to stir up terrorist
activity will not be tolerated by the Government or by our
communities."
The new regulation, covers any non-UK citizen whether in the UK or
abroad who uses any medium - including distributing material, preaching
or running a website - to express views which:
* foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of
particular beliefs;
* seek to provoke others to terrorist acts;
* foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others
to serious criminal acts; or
* foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the
UK.
Manfred Nowak, a United Nations human rights expert calls on Great
Britain not to deport anybody under its new anti-terrorism law to a
country where there is a risk of torture or ill-treatment, warning that
the proposed assurances it would seek were not an adequate guarantee
and circumvented its treaty obligations. Nowak's comments come on the
heels of comments by British Prime Minister Tony Blair who said, on
August 5, 2005, "Let no-one be in any doubt, the rules of the game are
changing."
Manfred Howak
Blair's government is planning new stiffer rules designed to combat
extremism. "Deportation is a decision taken by the Home Secretary under
statute," stated Blair. "The new grounds will include fostering hatred,
advocating violence to further a person's beliefs, or justifying or
validating such violence. These grounds will be subject to a short
consultation period which will finish this month. Even under existing
grounds, however, we are today signalling a new approach to deportation
orders," stated the British Prime Minister.
This move worries the United Nations Human Rights Commission. "The fact
that such assurances are sought shows in itself that the sending
country perceives a serious risk of the deportee being subjected to
torture or ill treatment upon arrival in the receiving country," the UN
Commission on Human Rights's special rapporteur on questions relevant
to torture, Manfred Nowak, declared in a statement.
Nowak is calling on governments to refrain from seeking diplomatic
assurances and the conclusion of memoranda of understanding in order to
circumvent their international obligation not to deport anybody if
there is a serious risk of torture or ill treatment. "Diplomatic
assurances are not an appropriate tool to eradicate this risk," stated
Nowak, citing British Prime Minister Tony Blair's statement of 5 August
indicating that the United Kingdom would deport persons to their home
countries even in cases where these countries have been found to
violate the absolute prohibition of torture.
.
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