LONDON, May 23 (UPI) -- Britain has eroded fundamental human rights by seeking to evade bans on torture, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
The human rights group's annual report criticizes the British government for attempting to deport individuals to countries which use torture and undermining the independence of the judiciary.
In its verdict on Britain's record in 2005, it says: "The government continued to erode fundamental human rights, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, including by persisting with attempts to undermine the ban on torture at home and abroad..."
Prime Minister Tony Blair recently said he would modify Britain's Human Rights Act to ensure foreign nationals with criminal records could be deported irrespective of threats to their safety; such deportations are prohibited under international law.
Speaking at the launch of the report in London, Amnesty Secretary-General Irene Khan defended the Human Rights Act was "a great achievement" of the Blair government. She raised concerns over the government's attempt to negotiate agreements with recipient nations that they would not mistreat returned individuals, saying these had little legal worth.
The report also cites some of the government's anti-terror measures as leading to serious human rights violations. However it welcomed the fact that much of this legislation -- such as the indefinite detention of terror suspects -- had been overturned by the courts.
Britain has broken human rights law through its role in the detention of 10,000 people without charge in Iraq, the report says.
Khan criticized many of the world's powerful nations for "duplicity and doublespeak" in the war on terror, which she said was creating a climate of tolerance for human rights violations.
