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Prevent violates human rights, says UN expert

Fionnuala Ni Aolain has said that Britain’s controversial counter-extremism programme violates human rights and should be scrapped in its current form.

Ní Aoláin, who is the UN Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, presented her latest report to the Human Rights Council, highlighting that prevention is an important and necessary tool, but warned that it ‘will only be effective when it is practised in a way that protects and affirms rights’.

Discussing the negative impacts that many global programmes have on human rights, she stressed that religious groups, minorities and civil society actors are victims of rights violations and are targeted under the guise of countering ‘extremism’. She also claimed that current approaches to prevent terrorism lack a consistent rule of law or human rights grounding.

Ní Aoláin said: “Large-scale violations of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities are being enabled by ‘deradicalisation’ policies and practice. The United Nations counter-terrorism architecture must do better in protecting human rights and the rule of law when they support and engage with national programmes.”

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