GETTY - STOCK IMAGES The UN have blasted Trump and May for ‘undermining civil liberties’ of ISIS jihadists

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Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein also lambasted British Prime Minister Theresa May for threatening to change human rights laws if they got in the way of security operations, saying her words would give heart to authoritarian governments. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told an audience in London late on Monday that strident statements in the wake of attacks risked undermining international rights treaties. Mr Ra'ad al-Hussein said: "If other leaders start to follow the same rhetorical course, undermining the (U.N. Convention against Torture) with their words, the practice of torture is likely to broaden, and that would be fatal.

"The Convention would be scuttled, and a central load-bearing pillar of international law removed." Mr Trump said in late January that he thought the practice of waterboarding - a form of simulated drowning - worked as an intelligence-gathering tool. But he also said he would defer on the issue to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis who disagrees with him about the technique's usefulness.

GETTY The United Nations' top rights official accused US President Donald Trump of breaking taboos

Mr Ra'ad al-Hussein said he was worried by Mr Trump's "persistent flirtation" with a return to torture.

They are breaking long-held taboos Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein

There was little immediate danger of the US using torture, but that could change if there was an attack on American soil, he said. He said: "Mindful of how the American public has, over the last ten years, become far more accepting of torture, the balance could be tipped in favour of its practice." After deadly militant attacks on London and Manchester, Mrs May told The Sun newspaper this month: "If human rights laws get in the way of doing these things, we will change those laws to make sure we can do them."

GETTY Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein also lambasted British Prime Minister Theresa May

Mr Ra'ad al-Hussein said her remarks no doubt reflected real anger but also seemed "intended to strike a chord with a certain sector of the electorate and it is this expectation that truly worries me." He said: "Whatever the intention behind her remarks, they were highly regrettable, a gift from a major Western leader to every authoritarian figure around the world who shamelessly violates human rights under the pretext of fighting terrorism."

Dramatic images shows Russian navy launching six missile strikes at ISIS Fri, June 23, 2017 Russian naval vessels launched missile strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria's Hama province, destroying command posts and weapon and ammunition depots Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 7 A still image taken from a video footage shows a missile being fired from a Russian warship to hit Islamic State targets in Syria's Hama province, from the Mediterranean sea

Mr Ra'ad al-Hussein also rounded on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's rights record - police say almost 9,000 people, many small-time drug users and dealers, have been killed since he took office. He said: "The president of the Philippines has spoken openly about extra-judicial killings.

GETTY Mr Ra'ad al-Hussein also rounded on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's rights record