Human Rights Report Major Setback For Government's Civil Liberties Erosion

2.02.05pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 8th Jun 2005

In a report out today European Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil Robles has criticised the UK Terrorism laws saying control orders violate basic rights.

Control orders were brought in after law lords ruled that the previous system of indefinite detention for suspects breached human rights laws.

A Liberal Democrat Member of the Human Rights Committee in the European Parliament Liz Lynne MEP said that unless the government comes up with alternatives to control orders they could face legal challenges.

"Their difficulty on anti-terrorism legislation is of their own making. Firstly, they ignored the opinions of legal experts who said they could not lock people up without trial at Belmarsh. Then when the Law Lords ruled against them they introduced control orders as a panic measure. They must not ignore this warning or they will face the same legal challenges that led to rushed legislation earlier this year.

"This report should be a major blow to the government's attempts to use the fear of terrorism to erode civil liberties in the UK. Of course we must protect people from terrorist attacks, but we must also guard against bringing in draconian laws. We must always stand up for the principles of justice, however attractive it might be to get revenge. If we fail to protect our ideals of justice, the terrorists will have won."

ENDS