By Abdullah Noor
GENEVA/London (Parliament Times) : The UN Human Rights Committee on Thursday issued its findings on United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ,Chile, Guyana, Indonesia, Namibia, Serbia and Somalia after examining the seven States parties in its latest session.
On United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland the Committee was particularly concerned about the conditional immunity under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 for people who had committed serious human rights violations.
The Committee also questioned the presumption against prosecution in favour of military personnel deployed overseas after five years, as stipulated in the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act 2021. It called upon the State party to repeal or amend its legislation, including the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act 2021 and the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, to ensure all past human rights violations committed by British officials and members of the armed forces are appropriately investigated and prosecuted, and duly sanctioned without time limits.
The Committee voiced its concern over legislative initiatives, such as the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which contains elements to limit access to rights for asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. The Committee regretted to see the State party’s arrangements with third countries, particularly Rwanda, to transfer asylum seekers, and its efforts to adopt the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill despite the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that the arrangement would not be compliant with international law, particularly the prohibition of refoulement. It urged the State party to swiftly repeal the discriminative legislative provisions within the Illegal Migration Act 2023, and to withdraw the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, or repeal the bill if passed.
