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Natalie Samarasinghe calls for a measured debate on human rights

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Natalie Samarasinghe calls for a measured debate on human rights

Natalie Samarasinghe, UNA-UK's Acting Executive Director, has written a comment in response to an article in the Guardian claiming "Britain will have to withdraw from the UN … if it wants to deport terrorist suspects", arguing that "ratcheting up the stakes in this manner only increases confusion about human rights".

The article seeks to clarify the relationship of the UK's human rights obligations to the UN, and dispel some of the myths circulating the Human Rights Act and European Court of Human Rights.

It underscores the centrality of the UN to British influence and interests, and concludes that reducing the human rights debate to cases like Abu Qatada's will hurt us all in the long run.

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