The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends.
In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law.
“The UK is deliberately destabilising the entire concept of universal human rights through its appalling domestic policies and politicking,” said Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive.
The damning Amnesty report said that with UK government policies targeting asylum seekers and other migrants, along with protesters, Britain had breached its international human rights commitments and curtailed protections at a particularly “perilous” time in global history. It said new legislation further eroded the freedom of assembly and expression.
The UK’s Illegal Migration Act, and government rhetoric around it, were in conflict with the UN refugee convention and the European convention on human rights, Amnesty said. The government had in effect ended the universal application of human rights by “switching off” protections for refugees. Both of these “carve outs” from protections ran contrary to the universal principles of human rights, it said.
The report also specifically condemns the UK for failing to use its leadership role within the UN to prevent human rights violations in Gaza and its weak support for the international criminal court (ICC) investigation into human rights violations in Israel and Palestine. It also highlights Britain’s involvement in arming Israel.
Deshmukh said of Israel: “We’ve got a very deep concern about the UK’s practice of supplying arms and significant components for arms.” About 15% of finished F-35 warplanes, used by Israel, are likely to contain UK parts or components, he said.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the UK will be judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza,” Deshmukh said.
The report also more widely criticises Israel’s allies for the failure to stop the “indescribable civilian bloodshed” in Gaza. In a stark warning to world leaders, the organisation said the world was reaping a harvest of “terrifying consequences” from escalating conflict and the near-breakdown of international law.
Referencing the development of international law and civilian protections after the second world war, Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s general secretary, said: “In 2023, we were plunged back into a future we don’t want, back to a future we were promised ‘never again’.”