GENEVA,
March 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A debate opened up at
the U.N. Human Rights Commission Wednesday as the 53 member states
started to address the impact of anti-terrorism measures on basic
human rights.
Triggering
a debate that diplomats and human rights groups expect to run
throughout the six-week commission meeting in Geneva, U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson urged its members --
including major European countries, China, Russia, Pakistan and
India -- to lead efforts to prevent anti-terrorism measures
undermining human rights.
"I
am particularly concerned that counter-terrorism strategies pursued
after September 11 have sometimes undermined efforts to enhance
respect for human rights," Robinson said, quoted by Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
"It
is time for leadership on the basis of values," Robinson told
the commission.
"The
commission is being asked to affirm that the fair balances built
into human rights law should be at the center of the overall
counter-terrorism efforts."
She
invited the 53 states to set up an unspecified mechanism to examine
counter terrorism measures taken by states "from a human rights
perspective".
The
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) warned that the struggle
against terrorism had battered the rule of law and restricted civil
rights in the United States especially, and noted a recent upsurge
in attacks against Islam and its values.
OIC
also indicated that anti-terrorism efforts ran the risk of
countering legitimate struggle for self-determination or against
occupation.
"To
promote a common approach for combating terrorism, the OIC has
called for an International Conference on Terrorism under the
auspices of the U.N. to discuss it comprehensively with a view to
defining terrorism and its root causes," AFP quoted Pakistan's
Ambassador Munir Akram as saying on behalf of the OIC.
But
European countries were adamant they are safeguarding basic rights.
"There
is no trade-off between effective action and the protection of human
rights," Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh told the
commission.
|
| "To
promote a common approach for combating terrorism, the OIC has
called for an International Conference on Terrorism under the
auspices of the U.N.," Pakistan's Ambassador Munir Akram
said. |
"On
the contrary, respect for human rights, democracy and social justice
contribute to global stability and prevent acts of terrorism,"
she added.
However,
the powerful western group of countries did not back a special
one-day session on April 12 that would concentrate on human rights
and terrorism. Instead, they backed a Latin American proposal for a
session that would deal with issues of human rights and disability.
Human
rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW)
said they were concerned by measures taken by the United States,
Britain, China, India and Egypt, AFP reported.
"The challenge to states is not to promote security at the
expense of human rights, but rather to ensure full respect for human
rights for all, even in situations where national security is at
stake," Loubna Freih of HRW told the commission.
HRW
and Amnesty International listed indefinite detention without trial
in Britain, jail conditions in the United States, sweeping powers of
arrest in India, trials by military courts in Egypt and an increased
crackdown against Uighur separatists in China.
