STRASBOURG, France, May 19 (UPI) -- Britain's human rights record has been criticized by an EU report calling on London to sign up to key international agreements before lecturing other nations.
The European Parliament's annual human rights review singled out the British government for failing to ratify international commitments on efforts to curb human trafficking, on the protection of migrant workers and concerning child soldiers.
The criticism comes at a time when the government is considering amending its Human Rights Act to enable it to deport criminals and terror suspects regardless of threats to their safety in their home countries.
Richard Howitt, a Labor member of the European Parliament and author of the human rights report, said the debate in Britain could undermine criticism of foreign regimes practising torture and oppression. He said: "It is time to say that threats may change, but rights are inviolable."
Speaking in the European Parliament Thursday night, where the report was approved by 522 members, he said: "Those responsible for terrorism, violent crime and child abuse may have committed morally repugnant acts, but our own morality is questioned unless we accord them a fair trial, proper conditions of imprisonment and protection on release."
The report also criticizes the European Union for instigating measures against illegal immigration that curb the human rights of asylum seekers, and for failing to take a stand against human rights violations by powerful nations, such as abuses perpetrated by the Russian government and military in Chechnya. It suggests that "the EU has one rule for small countries and applies a different one for large countries."
The document calls for a unified EU human rights report identifying an annual list of countries of concern and a sliding scale of sanctions against nations that abuse human rights, agreed without national vetoes.
