U.N. hits out at UK 'anti-terror' laws

The United Nations human rights committee said on Thursday Britain should ease back on tough "anti-terror" measures and take firm action to combat "negative public attitudes" towards Muslims.

In separate comment, the 9-member body, composed of legal experts from a range of countries, also called on Ireland to open up its largely Catholic primary school system to secular education, and to moderate tough abortion laws.

The strictures were issued in summary observations by the committee on reports presented by both countries earlier this month on how they were carrying out obligations under the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Expressing strong concern over government plans to extend pre-trial detention of terrorist suspects from 28 to 42 days, the committee said suspects should be brought to court "within a reasonable period of time, or released".

People suspected of being involved in terrorism and subject to control orders and curfews limiting their movements should be "promptly charged with a criminal offence" and their lawyers given access to the evidence against them, it added.

The body, whose members are expected to be independent of their governments, said it was concerned "negative public attitudes towards Muslim members of society" continued to develop in Britain.

The government "should take energetic measures to eliminate this phenomenon and ensure that authors of such acts of discrimination on the basis of religion are adequately deterred and sanctioned".

It said the government should conduct prompt and independent investigations into all allegations of suspicious deaths, torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment inflicted by its personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Britain "should ensure that those responsible are prosecuted and punished in accordance with the gravity of the crime," said the committee, which has members from Australia, Benin, Britain, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ireland, Mauritius and Sweden.

In comments on the Irish government report, it said Dublin "should take measures to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies so that they do not have to resort to illegal or unsafe abortions."

It also expressed concern "that the vast majority of Ireland's primary schools are privately-run denominational schools" with religion integrated into the curriculum, "thus depriving many parents and children who so wish to have access to secular primary education".

The committee told Ireland it should amend its constitution to drop a compulsory religious oath for judges and allow them to make a non-religious declaration instead.