Amnesty International Report 2006 - United Kingdom

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, and by enacting and seeking to enact legislation inconsistent with domestic and international human rights law. Nonetheless, it lost its legal battle to reverse the ban on the admissibility in judicial proceedings of information obtained through torture as evidence. In July, 52 people were killed and hundreds wounded as a result of bomb attacks on the London transport system. Measures purporting to counter terrorism led to serious human rights violations, and concern was widespread about the impact of these measures on Muslims and other minority communities. Public judicial inquiries into cases of alleged state collusion in past killings in Northern Ireland began, but the government continued to fail to establish an inquiry into the killing of Patrick Finucane. Proposed legislation that would impact on past human rights abuses in Northern Ireland gave rise to serious concern.

'Anti-terrorism' measures

Serious human rights violations continued, including the persecution of men labelled by the government as "suspected international terrorists" on the basis of secret intelligence. Proposed and enacted measures involved punishment of people whom the authorities deemed a threat but against whom they said there was insufficient evidence to present to a court.

In the aftermath of the December 2004 ruling of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords (the Law Lords) that indefinite detention was incompatible with the right to liberty and the prohibition of discrimination, the government failed to provide prompt redress to the victims. Instead, it waited until March for the relevant legislative provision to lapse. Simultaneously, the government passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (PTA), which was inconsistent with the spirit of the Law Lords' ruling and allowed for violations of a wide range of human rights. The PTA gave a government minister unprecedented powers to issue "control orders" to restrict the liberty, movement and activities of people purportedly suspected of involvement in terrorism, again on the basis of secret intelligence. The imposition of "control orders" was tantamount to the executive "charging", "trying" and "sentencing" a person without the fair trial guarantees required in criminal cases.

In March the government imposed "control orders" on people interned under the previous legislation, subjecting them to severe restrictions and violating their human rights. "Control orders" were later imposed on other people, including at least one UK national.

In June the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published a report on its March 2004 visit. It found that detention under the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 had caused mental disorders in most of those interned, and that detention had been even more detrimental to their health because of its indefinite character and the lack of knowledge about the evidence against them. The CPT considered that the situation of some of them at the time of the visit amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment.

Also in June the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe published a report of his November 2004 visit. This expressed concern about the PTA; the admission, as evidence, of information obtained through torture in judicial proceedings; prison conditions; the treatment of asylum-seekers; the low age of criminal responsibility; discrimination; and the need to set up public inquiries capable of establishing the full circumstances surrounding cases of alleged state collusion in killings in Northern Ireland.

In August the Prime Minister proposed new measures to counter terrorism. Most of them were inconsistent with the UK's obligations under domestic and international human rights law and many targeted non-UK citizens.

The government concluded Memorandums of Understanding with Jordan, Libya and Lebanon. It asserted that the "diplomatic assurances" featured in these memorandums could be relied on to relieve the UK of its domestic and international obligation not to send anyone to a country where they would be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

In August, most of the former internees were rearrested and, together with others newly arrested, were imprisoned under immigration legislation pending deportation on national security grounds. The government maintained it could forcibly remove the men, relying on the Memorandums of Understanding. The detainees were held in prisons far from their families, lawyers and doctors. Some of those detained had recently been acquitted by a UK court of terrorism-related charges. In October, partly as a result of their seriously deteriorating mental and physical health, a number of former internees were granted bail on conditions amounting to house arrest.

In October, a new Terrorism Bill was published. It contained sweeping and vague provisions that, if enacted, would undermine the rights to freedom of expression, association, liberty and fair trial. In November the Bill's proposal to extend the maximum period of police detention without charge from 14 to 90 days was rejected in parliament; a provision of 28 days was agreed. The Bill underwent further parliamentary scrutiny.

In December the government faced mounting accusations that it had allowed the USA to use UK territory in the context of secret transfers of individuals without any judicial process ("renditions") to countries where they were reportedly tortured and to various US detention centres around the world.

Police shootings

• In July, after police shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes, an unarmed Brazilian man on his way to work in London, there were crucial delays in initiating an independent investigation into the killing. Evidence emerged giving rise to suspicion of an early attempt at a cover-up by the police.

• In October the prosecuting authorities declined to bring charges against the police officers involved in shooting dead an unarmed man, Harry Stanley, as he was walking down a street in London in 1999.

Torture 'evidence'

In December, seven Law Lords unanimously confirmed the inadmissibility as evidence in judicial proceedings of information extracted under torture. They also ruled that there was a duty to investigate whether torture had taken place, and to exclude any evidence if the conclusion was that, on the balance of probabilities, it had been obtained through torture. AI coordinated a coalition of 14 organizations that jointly intervened in the case.

The case had been brought by 10 foreign nationals against being labelled "suspected international terrorists" by the UK authorities. As a result of the judgment, their cases were to be referred back to the court of first instance for its reconsideration of the "evidence".

Guantánamo Bay

In January the last four remaining UK nationals were released from US detention in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. However, at least seven UK residents continued to be held there, including Bisher al-Rawi, an Iraqi national legally resident in the UK, and Jamil Al-Banna, a Jordanian national with refugee status in the UK. The UK authorities were implicated in their unlawful transfer to US custody, and continued to refuse to make representations on behalf of the UK residents to the US authorities.

• In December, a UK court ruled that David Hicks, an Australian national detained in Guantánamo Bay, was entitled to be registered as a UK citizen and therefore to receive assistance by UK authorities.

UK armed forces in Iraq

The UK breached international and domestic human rights law through its role in the internment without charge of at least 10,000 people in Iraq. UK officials sat, along with US and Iraqi officials, on the Joint Detention Review Board, which reviewed the cases of all those interned by members of the Multinational Force in Iraq (in most cases, by US troops). At the end of October, the UK was itself holding 33 "security internees" in Iraq without charge or trial.

• Hilal Abdul-Razzaq Ali Al-Jedda, a dual Iraqi-UK national who was arrested in October 2004, continued to be detained without charge in Iraq by UK forces.

• In December the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ruled in the case of Al-Skeini that the Human Rights Act 1998 in principle had extra-territorial effect, and that the system for investigating deaths at the hands of UK armed forces personnel was seriously deficient, including in its lack of independence from the commanding officer.

Refugees and asylum-seekers

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill continued to be discussed in parliament. Provisions in the Bill, if enacted, would undermine one of the core purposes of the UN Refugee Convention – to provide protection for people seeking asylum on grounds of political persecution.

An increasing number of people who sought asylum in the UK were detained under Immigration Act powers at the beginning and end of the asylum process. Those detained included families with children, torture survivors and other vulnerable people. They were held in grim prison-like establishments and some complained of racist and other verbal abuse in detention.

There was no maximum time limit to such detention, nor was there an automatic and regular review by a court or a similar competent body as to the lawfulness of the decision to detain. In most cases, detention was arbitrary and other measures short of detention would have sufficed.

Prisons

Martin Narey, the outgoing chief executive in charge of prison and probation services, criticized the record-breaking increase in the prison population, which had led to severe overcrowding. He also said it was "gross" that about 16,000 prisoners were held in conditions in which they had to share a toilet in a cell in which they also ate. The number of self-inflicted deaths continued to be high.

Inquiries Act 2005

The Inquiries Act 2005 came into force in June. It undermined the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and human rights protection. It therefore failed to provide for effective, independent, impartial or thorough public judicial inquiries into serious human rights violations. AI called for its repeal.

Northern Ireland

Direct rule continued. In December the prosecuting authorities dropped all charges in the criminal prosecution which, in October 2002, had precipitated the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the reintroduction of direct rule by the UK government. Shortly after, one of the people against whom charges had been dropped, a senior Sinn Féin politician, confessed publicly that he was a British agent.

Collusion and political killings

Three separate public judicial inquiries into allegations of state collusion in the killings of Robert Hamill, Billy Wright and Rosemary Nelson began under Northern Ireland legislation. However, in November the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland converted the Billy Wright Inquiry into an inquiry to be held under the Inquiries Act, a move opposed by AI.

The government stated that it was making arrangements to establish an inquiry into the 1989 killing of prominent human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane under the Inquiries Act. It added that it was likely that a large proportion of the evidence would be considered in private since it involved issues "at the heart of the national security infrastructure in Northern Ireland". AI denounced as a sham the prospect of a Finucane inquiry under the Inquiries Act.

Legacy of the past

The government took two initiatives described as moves to address the legacy of past human rights abuses. In April a Historical Enquiry Team (HET) was set up with the view to the Police Service of Northern Ireland investigating unresolved conflict-related deaths. This gave rise to concern about a lack of independence in the investigation. In November the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill was introduced in parliament which, if enacted, would sanction impunity for past human rights abuses committed by state agents and paramilitaries, and deprive victims of effective redress. In light of this, there was concern about the relevance of the HET's work.

Abuses by non-state actors

Abuses by members of paramilitary organizations, including killings, shootings and beatings, continued. Seven killings were attributed to members of Loyalist groups, two to members of Republican groups, and one pointed to Loyalist involvement.

• In January, Robert McCartney, a Catholic, was killed and another man seriously injured in the same attack. According to the police, the attack was carried out by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, although not sanctioned by the organization. In their search for justice, the McCartney family and their supporters were intimidated and threatened. In June, two people were charged in connection with the attack.

• In March, Stephen Nelson died as a result of injuries sustained during an assault in September 2004. The Independent Monitoring Commission attributed his death to members of the Ulster Defence Association, a Loyalist paramilitary organization.

Violence against women

An opinion poll commissioned by AIUK about attitudes towards sexual assault against women revealed widespread discriminatory and stereotypical views in the UK. Two women each week on average were killed by a partner or former partner. The UK continued to have very low conviction rates for the crime of rape with only 5.6 per cent of rapes reported to the police resulting in conviction.

AI country visits

AI delegates visited several immigration detention centres throughout the UK. AI delegates observed judicial hearings, including under counter-terrorism legislation.