UK: Terror laws must be repealed as UK faces yet more criticism

Currently the same former Belmarsh detainees are subject to control orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 - the same measures that were so roundly criticised by the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights only yesterday and for whose repeal Amnesty International and others have been campaigning since their enactment.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:

'Once again, the UK’s anti-terror measures are condemned by a leading international human rights body. How many times must the Government be told that its anti-terror regime is plain wrong?

'Surely the Government must now listen to these voices of reason. It a shameful state of affairs when the UK stands condemned for inhuman and degrading treatment.

'The Prevention of Terrorism Act, currently subjecting former Belmarsh detainees to virtual house arrest without trial, must be repealed.'

Amnesty International continues to call on the authorities to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 and to implement an absolute ban on the use of torture 'evidence'.

The organisation urges the Government, Parliament and the judiciary to use the opportunity provided by the publication of the two reports to draw up a detailed agenda for action, based on a firm commitment to human rights and with a time-table for the implementation of recommendations from both reports.