 Up to 20 foreigners were in custody in Britain awaiting deportation to countries that have a record of torturing or abusing detainees, the prime minister said yesterday, but Blair defended his efforts to counter extremism.
| Fergawdsake, just dump 'em and quit yapping about it! |
Civil rights activists have condemned Tony Blairâs efforts to deport people to several North African and Middle Eastern countries with questionable human rights records.
| Civil rights activists would condemn efforts to feed the hungry, comfort the sick, and be kind to cute little puppies if it was Blair or Bush doing it. |
But Blair insisted his government had a duty to protect Britainâs security, and needed new powers to counter the threat of international terrorism.
| If the government isn't there to protect the citizenry from krazed killers, what the hell is it there for? |
| To provide George Galloway with a bully pulpit and a guaranteed pension, naturally. |
âWe have got to be able to make sure we return people if they are a threat to the security of this country,â Blair told a House of Commons committee.
| Thank you for today's statement of the obvious. |
The government is trying to sign agreements with several nations guaranteeing that foreign nationals returned there will not be mistreated. So-called memoranda of understanding have already been signed with Jordan and Libya and the government is seeking similar deals with eight other countries, including Algeria, Lebanon and Tunisia. Civil rights activists and the UN special envoy on torture have warned, however, that such assurances have no weight in international law and would not sufficiently protect the deportees.
| Too bad. Blair's priority should be protecting Brits, not protecting the deportees. |
Britain cannot deport people to countries where they may face torture or mistreatment because it is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. âI donât intend on returning anyone, incidentally, unless we can get assurances from that other government,â the prime ministeradded. âAnd by and large we believe ... that governments who give us such an assurance will abide by that.â
| "If they don't it's no skin of my fore." |
Blair told the committee that the threat of international terrorism would be âwith us for some time.â He said extremism found its roots in a âperversion of Islamâ that was difficult to tackle. âIt is going to take a long time to eradicate in this country and elsewhere,â he added.
| It didn't take very long to arise, and it'll probably take about the same amount of time to eradicate it, if you're not lily-handed. If you put off the unpleasant inevitable, it'll take longer, and more people will be killed on both sides. |
The prime minister, whose proposed anti-terror legislation has been watered down by lawmakers in the House of Commons, insisted new powers were needed to tackle âmass casualty terrorism.â| The Departures lounge at Heathrow is still bloody empty, Tony. Stop defending and start deporting. It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission. |
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