6:52am UK, Thursday September 05, 2002

Anti-terrorism laws introduced to the UK in the wake of September 11 are "inconsistent" with international human rights and should be scrapped, according to a new report.

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Camp X-ray prisoners

Amnesty International claimed that the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act (ATCSA), passed in November 2001, contravened fundamental human rights.

It also claims that the UK was the only country to breach basic human liberties in the wake of the atrocities.

The report calls for an immediate repeal of section 4, which empowers the Home Secretary to detain foreign nationals indefinitely, without charge or trial, if they pose a risk to national security.

Justice

It also demands the release of terrorist suspects being held by the US at Camp X-ray in Cuba unless they were charged and tried.

"Such detention is inconsistent with the right to liberty and security as guaranteed under Article 5(1) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights," stated the report.

"The ATCSA effectively created a shadow criminal justice system devoid of a number of crucial components and safeguards present in both the ordinary criminal justice system and national procedures for the determination of refugee status."

'Cruel'

According to the report, detainees under the Act suffer "cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment" as a result of their imprisonment.

Terrorist suspects are routinely classified as category A and taken to high security prisons, usually Belmarsh or Woodhill, where they are locked up in their cells for 22 hours a day.