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radiofree.asia 

Category: UK news

  • Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s family fear he may be being force-fed in Egyptian prison

    Sister says they need ‘proof of life’ amid concern for activist’s wellbeing and worries UK government not doing enough

    The family of jailed British-Egyptian hunger-striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah have voiced fears that Egyptian officials may be torturing him behind closed doors through force-feeding.

    On the sidelines of the Cop27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, reportedly told French president, Emmanuel Macron, that he was “committed” to ensuring the democracy activist’s health “is preserved,” and that “the next few weeks and months will bring results”.

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  • An intervention from Rishi Sunak today is all that stands between my brother and death | Sanaa Seif

    My brother Alaa Abd el-Fattah is on hunger strike in an Egyptian prison and is now refusing water. The prime minister is his last hope

    At 10am on Sunday morning my brother Alaa drank his last sip of water in an Egyptian prison. He has been on hunger strike for more than 200 days and now, as world leaders arrive for Cop27, he has stopped drinking water.

    He’s been in prison for nine years. He’s not doing this now because he wants to die, but because it’s the only way he might get to live again. He’s been in prison for all but one year of his son’s life for his writings about democracy and technology, and his anti-authoritarian stance. The whole world is watching what happens in Sharm el-Sheikh, where I write this from, and he is staking his life on a belief that the world will today stand with him.

    Sanaa Seif is a film-maker, activist and sister of the imprisoned writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UN poverty envoy tells Britain it is ‘worst time’ to bring in austerity

    Exclusive: Olivier de Schutter says cuts could violate human rights laws, calling instead for higher taxes on rich

    The United Nations’ poverty envoy has warned Rishi Sunak that unleashing a new wave of austerity in this month’s budget could violate the UK’s international human rights obligations and increase hunger and malnutrition.

    Olivier de Schutter, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, said he was “extremely troubled” by likely multibillion-pound spending cuts – including possible real-terms reductions in welfare payments to millions of the nation’s poorest families.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • The Guardian view on China’s response to dissent: repression, at home and away

    There are growing concerns over Beijing’s attempts to restrict political expression overseas

    Xi Jinping’s leadership of China is now indefinite. No one doubts what his third term will bring: more rigid political controls. The party demands obedience at home. It asserts itself more confidently abroad. A senior official told reporters that Chinese diplomacy would maintain its “fighting spirit”.

    That remark came days after Manchester police said that they were investigating the assault of a Hong Kong activist who had been dragged into the Chinese consulate’s grounds when men from the building disrupted a protest on the street outside. Asked about footage of him pulling the man’s hair the consul general, Zheng Xiyuan, denied attacking anyone but also said it was his “duty”. Police have now said they are investigating the full circumstances, and footage shows another man, apparently from the consulate, also being assaulted. What is beyond question is that the protest was peaceful until the officials came out and tore down a poster, and that China’s chargé d’affaires in London has warned that “[providing] shelter to the Hong Kong independence elements will in the end only bring disaster to Britain”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Birdsong is music to my ears again | Brief letters

    Bird encounters | Thérèse Coffey | Cop or Copout? | Open University | Boycotting Qatar

    Now I’m in my late 60s, I have started using a hearing aid, and on a recent autumnal walk was delighted to discover that the birds still sang at this time of year (Bird and birdsong encounters improve mental health, study finds, 27 October). I had become so used to hearing only the occasional twitter of a bird when almost within arm’s reach that this experience was like discovering the joy of being outdoors for the first time. I now wait for spring, when I hope to hear the cuckoo once again.
    Sue Hunter
    Brockenhurst, Hampshire

    • Thérèse Coffey has said Cop27 is “just a gathering of people”, so hardly worth the prime minister attending (Report, 28 October). Her arrogance and lack of moral concern are amazing. The only good thing about her move to the environment job is that she won’t be wrecking the NHS.
    Peter Brooker
    West Wickham, London

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK police use of live facial recognition unlawful and unethical, report finds

    Study says deployment of technology in public by Met and South Wales police failed to meet standards

    Police should be banned from using live facial recognition technology in all public spaces because they are breaking ethical standards and human rights laws, a study has concluded.

    LFR involves linking cameras to databases containing photos of people. Images from the cameras can then be checked against those photos to see if they match.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Migrant centre in Kent ‘catastrophically overcrowded’, unions say

    Manston processing site ‘gummed up’ as more than 100,000 asylum claims waiting to be decided, says select committee chair

    A migrant processing centre in Kent is “catastrophically overcrowded”, with people waiting for their asylum applications to be processed kept in inhumane conditions and guards not being trained properly, a union leader says.

    Criticism of the government’s handling of the facility is mounting, with the chair of a parliamentary select committee saying a “crisis” was brewing given the backlog of more than 100,000 cases.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Christmas TV ad boom goes cold over cost of living and Qatar concerns

    Advertisers trim budgets amid jitters over World Cup host’s human rights record and appearing ‘tone-deaf’ to austerity

    There will be no Christmas TV advertising boom this year as jitters over associating with the World Cup host Qatar’s human rights record and the cost of living crisis put paid to the annual battle of the big-budget extravaganzas that traditionally bombard the public over the festive season.

    UK companies will still spend a record £9.5bn in the run-up to Christmas, known as the “golden quarter”, when many retailers make the lion’s share of their annual profits and sales, but the amount targeted at traditional TV, newspaper and radio outlets will decline this year.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Troubles ‘legacy’ bill risks breaching human rights law, UK warned

    Effective amnesty for those accused of killing or maiming people may not comply with ECHR, says committee

    Proposed UK government legislation to deal with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s Troubles risks widespread breaches of human rights law, a parliamentary committee has found.

    The joint committee on human rights found that the so-called “legacy” bill had the intention of addressing “a complex situation with no easy solutions”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Failure to investigate UK imports linked to forced Uyghur labour unlawful, court told

    World Uyghur Forum brings high court challenge against government agencies over Xinjiang cotton imports

    UK government agencies have broken the law by not investigating the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced Uyghur labourers in China, the high court has heard.

    The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is challenging the home secretary, HM Revenue and Customs and the National Crime Agency (NCA), claiming a failure or refusal to investigate imports from Xinjiang, allegedly home to 380 internment camps, was unlawful.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Peter Tatchell stopped in Qatar while staging LGBT+ rights protest

    Incident outside National Museum in Doha comes less than a month before start of men’s football World Cup

    The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has been stopped by police in Qatar while staging a protest against the Gulf state’s criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people.

    Tatchell’s protest outside the National Museum of Qatar in the capital, Doha, comes less than a month before the start of the Fifa World Cup, which is expected to attract 1.2 million visitors from around the world.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Rishi Sunak urged to scrap ‘undemocratic’ proposals to axe 2,400 laws

    Charities and trade unions among those calling on new PM to shelve bill that would scrap EU-era legislation protecting workers’ rights and the environment

    Employers, trade unions, lawyers and environmentalists are calling on Rishi Sunak to scrap Jacob Rees-Mogg’s legislation that would sweep away 2,400 laws derived from the EU.

    The retained EU law (revocation and reform) bill is due for its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday, which would scrap protections including the ban on animal testing for cosmetics, workers’ rights and environmental measures.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK accused of putting Tamil refugees at risk in Indian Ocean

    MoD escorted refugees including children away from Diego Garcia without ensuring boats were seaworthy, lawyers say

    Lawyers have accused the UK of facilitating dangerous onward boat journeys by Tamil refugees who had arrived at the British-claimed territory of Diego Garcia in distress.

    Fishing boats that fled Sri Lanka were escorted to the Indian Ocean island after getting into difficulty but were later permitted to leave on the same vessels without basic safety equipment, putting passengers – including children – at “grave risk”, lawyers have claimed.

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  • Migrant students in Scotland win equal right to free tuition in landmark case

    Court of session rules criteria that meant Ola Jasmin missed out by 58 days breached her human rights

    Students from migrant families in Scotland will have the same right to free university tuition as their peers, after a landmark court judgment which legal experts say highlights the positive impact of human rights legislation.

    The court of session in Edinburgh found that Iraq-born Ola Jasim, who has lived in Scotland for nine years but missed out on the criteria for free tuition fees by 58 days, had her human rights breached.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘It’s a revolution’: Iranian women in UK believe protests will bring freedom

    Women who fled regime are working hard to expose abuses in Iran and say this time real change is possible

    Iranian and Kurdish women living in the UK believe the prospect of freedom for millions of women in their home country has never been greater following protests after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested in Tehran for not wearing her headscarf correctly.

    Many of those who fled the Iranian regime because of its attacks on human and women’s rights are working hard behind the scenes to support women in their home country to expose the abuses in the hope of encouraging the international community to act to bring about regime change.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • First British woman and her child repatriated to UK from Syrian camp

    Woman, said to have been trafficked, is only adult allowed back since end of Islamic State ground war

    A British woman and her child have been repatriated from a Syrian camp, the first time an adult has been allowed to come back to the UK from detention since the end of the ground war against Islamic State.

    The Foreign Office said that British policy to those held in Syria remained unchanged, and that it considered requests for help on “a case by case basis”, but campaigners said it was a significant first step.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Home Office reclassifies modern slavery as illegal immigration issue

    Exclusive: Charities working with victims say it should not be taken away from the safeguarding minister

    The Home Office has taken the modern slavery brief away from the minister responsible for safeguarding and classed it as an “illegal immigration and asylum” issue, updated online ministerial profiles show.

    The move is seen as a clear sign that the department is doubling down on Suella Braverman’s suggestion that people are “gaming” the modern slavery system and that victims of the crime are no longer being prioritised.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK firms using legal muscle to facilitate human rights and climate abuses – report

    Transform Trade charity says British-based companies are among main bringers of cases based on bilateral investment treaties

    UK companies operating overseas are afforded far greater legal protections than the citizens of the countries they invest in, leading to corporations getting away with human rights and climate change abuses, a report has found.

    The Transform Trade charity says the majority of UK bilateral investment treaties (BITs) contain no mention of climate change, the environment or human rights, meaning companies are not held accountable for violations.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Kwasi Kwarteng’s secret meetings with Saudi oil firms revealed

    Exclusive: Meetings while in Saudi Arabia undisclosed due to ‘administrative oversight’, says business department

    The chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, held undisclosed meetings with senior executives of Saudi Arabian firms when he was the business secretary, documents acquired by the Guardian show.

    The meetings occurred in January, when Kwarteng visited the kingdom for a two-day trip under his previous ministerial role.

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  • ‘Women, life, liberty’: Iranian civil rights protests spread worldwide

    Demonstrations in string of major cities in solidarity with protests sparked by death of Mahsa Amini in police custody

    Worldwide protests are being held in solidarity with the growing uprising in Iran demanding greater freedom and protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by Iranian morality police.

    Demonstrations under the slogan “Women, life, liberty” are taking place in many major cities, including Rome, Zurich, Paris, London, Seoul, Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, Stockholm and New York.

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  • ‘Painful’ Ofsted report in Herefordshire leads to calls for resignations

    General meeting was held to discuss failing children’s services after an inspection slated its social work as ‘inadequate’ in all areas

    Councillors called for heads to roll at an extraordinary general meeting held to discuss Herefordshire’s failing children’s services after an Ofsted inspection slated its social work as “inadequate” in all areas.

    After a slew of damning high court judgments since 2018 that detailed how Herefordshire social workers had breached children’s human rights, the criticisms in a recent Ofsted report were described by councillors as “painful”, “extremely upsetting”, and “harrowing”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK government faces court challenge in Nigerian rendition case

    Family of Nnamdi Kanu granted judicial review over failure of Britain to intervene after arrest last year

    The family of a British citizen who was allegedly taken to Nigeria in an act of extraordinary rendition has been granted a court hearing to challenge the UK government for not intervening in his case.

    Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), a prominent separatist movement proscribed in Nigeria, was arrested in Kenya in June last year before being transported against his will to Nigeria, where he has been held ever since.

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  • Colston four: protesters cannot rely on ‘human rights’ defence, top judge rules

    Acquittal of four who toppled statue unchanged but appeal court decision could affect future trials for ‘significant’ criminal damage

    Protesters accused of “significant” criminal damage cannot rely on human rights protections when on trial, the court of appeal has said.

    The ruling comes after the attorney general made a referral on a point of law following the acquittal of the Colston four. Suella Braverman, who is now home secretary, made the referral after Conservative MPs criticised the acquittal of protesters who toppled the Bristol statue of the slave trader Edward Colston.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Children as young as nine say they are ill from work recycling plastic in Turkey

    Human Rights Watch says failure to enforce laws worsens health impact at centres, amid steep rise in EU and UK waste exports

    Children as young as nine are working in plastic waste recycling centres in Turkey, putting them at risk of serious and lifelong health conditions, according to Human Rights Watch.

    Workers including children, and people living in homes located “dangerously close” to the centres, told researchers they were suffering from respiratory problems, severe headaches and skin ailments.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Liz Truss misled committee over Gulf human rights, MP claims

    Chris Bryant says Truss attempted to ‘pull wool over our eyes’ about raising rights with Gulf leaders

    The Labour MP Chris Bryant has accused Liz Truss of apparently misleading the Commons foreign affairs committee by saying she had personally raised human rights issues with Gulf leaders, but then not producing evidence of this when asked.

    Challenging Truss about an appearance before the committee in June, when she was still foreign secretary, Bryant said in a letter that it was “difficult not to conclude that you have deliberately misled the committee” rather than owning up to a mistake.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Madeleine McCann’s parents lose challenge over Portuguese libel case

    Couple sought redress from European court of human rights after libel case against detective was overturned

    The parents of Madeleine McCann have lost their European court of human rights challenge to the Portuguese supreme court’s decision to throw out their libel case against a former detective who implicated them in their daughter’s disappearance.

    Kate and Gerry McCann sued Gonçalo Amaral, who led the botched police search for Madeleine in 2007, over statements he made in a book, documentary and newspaper interview alleging that they were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance.

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  • Liz Truss halts Dominic Raab’s bill of rights plan

    New PM tells cabinet she will rethink how to deliver agenda, as source describes bill as ‘complete mess’

    Liz Truss has pulled plans to enact a new bill of rights in one of her first acts as prime minister, the Guardian understands, telling the cabinet her government would reassess ways to deliver its agenda.

    The bill was the flagship policy of the outgoing justice secretary, Dominic Raab, who was dismissed by Truss on Tuesday after backing her rival Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership election.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Our shameful betrayal of Shamima Begum | Letters

    The UK government has wholly failed in its duty towards her, say Flora Mackechnie and Nicola Bailey

    It should never have come to alleged espionage for us to notice that what happened to the Bethnal Green trio has been covered up from the very beginning (Shamima Begum’s is a story of trafficking, betrayal and now, it seems, a state cover-up, 2 September). I have been confounded by the equanimity that met the government’s decision to revoke Shamima Begum’s citizenship and the supreme court’s bizarre ruling, which accepted that she had limited access to a fair trial while not seeing fit to allow her return to the UK.

    Begum is the legal responsibility of the UK, and the rejection of this duty encapsulates the political abuse of the law and the unfathomable public acceptance of this. The irony of human rights is that they are popular on a superficial level, but where they are truly required, they are contentious and contradicted. If we make exceptions to rights for those who need them most, we simply do not have any rights.

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  • Boris Johnson broke all the rules, but history may be kind to him yet | Vernon Bogdanor

    From Brexit to Covid, there were some gleams of light – but the PM’s belief he was above the law did for him in the end

    Boris Johnson was chosen by the Conservatives, and the voters in the 2019 election, to break the parliamentary deadlock and get Brexit done. Brexit is now yesterday’s argument. We are out of the European Union.

    But the settlement leaves much for his successor to untangle. The Northern Ireland protocol, part of the withdrawal agreement, leaves Northern Ireland within the EU’s internal market and required to observe EU customs rules. This puts the union in question. If Northern Ireland is linked economically with Ireland, why, some ask, should it not be linked politically as well? Paradoxically, a unionist prime minister has put the union in doubt. Nor has he been able to persuade the Scots that he has their interests close to his heart.

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  • Kenyan tea pickers on Scottish-run farm to pursue health issues in UK court

    Prolonged bending to gather tea for James Finlay Kenya is argued to accelerate ageing of pickers’ backs by up to 20 years

    More than a 1,000 Kenyan tea pickers who say that harsh and exploitative working conditions on a Scottish-run tea farm have caused them crippling health complaints can now pursue their class action in an Edinburgh court.

    Lawyers acting for the tea pickers have won an order from the court of session, Scotland’s highest civil court, telling James Finlay Kenya Ltd (JFK) to abandon attempts to block the suit through the Kenyan courts.

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