The door of 10 Downing Street
THE government is seeking to water down an international human rights treaty, even though this could allow war criminals to go free, campaigners have warned.
Government officials from over 77 countries are meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia, this week to conclude negotiations and adopt the landmark treaty, which is commonly known as the Mutual Legal Assistance Convention.
It would require governments to investigate and, if sufficient evidence exists, prosecute suspected perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and other human rights abuses in their own domestic courts or to hand them over to another country or an international criminal tribunal.
Meanwhile, over 110 human rights organisations and trade unions demand the EU immediately suspend its trade agreement with Israel over its ‘egregious human rights abuses against Palestinians’
ANSELM ELDERGILL draws attention to a legal case on Tuesday in which a human rights group is challenging the government’s decision to allow the sale of weapons used against Palestinians
