GENEVA—A United Nations human rights investigator called on Britain on Tuesday to withdraw a controversial bill that would extend pre-charge detention, which he said could be copied by other countries.
The proposal in the counter-terrorism bill to extend detention to up to 42 days has provoked opposition in Britain, prompting speculation that Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour government will be defeated when the lower house of parliament votes on Wednesday.
The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Martin Scheinin, said in a statement that Britain had a long history of protecting human rights.
"However I am concerned that this counter-terrorism bill, if adopted, could prompt other states to copy the provision into their own counter-terrorism legislation, without reflecting on the importance of effective judicial review," he said.
The Finnish law professor called on the British government to withdraw the bill or postpone taking a final decision on it.
Scheinin said the bill lowered key standards, and called for the scope of judicial review to be broadened to secure the right of the accused to contest grounds for detention and a real possibility of release.
Brown, who is fighting for his political survival, faces a rebellion within his party over the bill.
International advocacy group Human Rights Watch said the British government's bid to detain terrorism suspects for up to six weeks without charge violated the fundamental right to liberty and risked undermining counter-terrorism efforts.
"Many experts, including senior police officers, agree that extending pre-charge detention is a bad idea," said Judith Sunderland, the New York-based group's Western Europe researcher. "(Members of parliament) should now take a principled stand against this dangerous and unnecessary proposal."
Britain's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said that London would accept the majority of recommendations made by other countries in a review in April of its human rights policies, including some referring to pre-trial detention.
"Further development of human rights is seldom an easy or straight-forward option for governments -- especially when, as in the United Kingdom, it is necessary to protect public safety and national security, whilst ensuring full respect for human rights," Peter Gooderham said in a statement.
Among the accepted recommendations was one from Russia calling on Britain to introduce strict time limits on the pre-charge detention of terrorism suspects.
A British government statement said strict limits of up to 28 days already applied, and the new proposal would not extend the limit but enable it to be extended in future if necessary.
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