Shami Chakrabarti: We risk the values that make Britain worth defending
More than 50 years ago, with Britain as midwife, the European Convention on Human Rights was born of the ashes of the Second World War. Conceived by the generation who saw the horrors of the Holocaust, one of its non-negotiable articles is the complete prohibition on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Thirty-five years ago a British prime minister addressed Parliament and made clear that the military practice of hooding terrorist suspects was at an end. Even while staring terrorism in the face, democracies can never resort to torture.
These are great milestones in our democratic heritage. They reflect real consensus across the political spectrum which should span the ages. How tragic then is the story of the mistreatment of detainees in Iraq.
At the very least, what must come from this scandal is a firm commitment to train British troops in policing and detention functions.
We must not send young people into dangerous situations like Iraq with little more than a nod and a wink that mistreatment might be permitted. If we allow such behaviour by our forces, I firmly believe that we only jeopardise their safety in the hands of opponents. If we continue to argue that "the rules of the game" have changed since the twin-towers and London atrocities, we risk surrendering the values that make our country worth defending. I know this argument has had great currency in parts of the Government in recent times.
I note that during his brief spell as Defence Secretary, John Reid questioned whether the Geneva Conventions had kept pace with world events. Now in the dying days of his short term at the Home Office, he questions whether the Human Rights framework retains its relevance.
It is to be hoped that his gallop through the great offices of state is coming to an end.
I also look forward to a new prime minister dumping divisive rhetoric and re-building a security consensus inspired and sustained by the rule of law.
This consensus would remember that some values are universal and timeless. When the next chapter in our human rights history is written, there will be a special place for Lt-Col Nicholas Mercer and the many in the military and the law who think like him.
They know that there is no more important British value than the complete prohibition on torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. They know the human "wrongness" of hooding and beating detainees anywhere.If the Attorney General did not fight for this value in his advice, his place will be somewhat less attractive.
Shami Chakrabarti is director of Liberty
2 comments:
Above mentioned lady, Shamless Akrobati (Director of Liberty, an organisation "fighting" for human rights), never "fights" a cause outside Britain - or the West. She knows, fighting the horrible human right abuses in Somalia, Sudan, Algeria ... you name it, is very DANGEROUS and DOESN'T PAY well.
She then better fight the Gov... The worst thing that can happen to her is to be elected ambassador to XYZstan, world bank, EIBRD, UN or some other place well paid by tax money. I bet we see her there in 7 years time.
Above mentioned lady, Shamless Akrobati (Director of Liberty, an organisation "fighting" for human rights), never "fights" a cause outside Britain - or the West. She knows, fighting the horrible human right abuses in Somalia, Sudan, Algeria ... you name it, is very DANGEROUS and DOESN'T PAY well.
She then better fight the Gov... The worst thing that can happen to her is to be elected ambassador to XYZstan, world bank, EIBRD, UN or some other place well paid by tax money. I bet we see her there in 7 years time.
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