You must be nicer to Muslims, Britain is told by UN human rights chiefs

Britain was told yesterday by a United Nations committee to take firm action to combat 'negative public attitudes' towards Muslims.

The nine-member human rights committee also criticised some of the UK's antiterror measures.

The body, which is composed of legal experts, said it was concerned ' negative public attitudes towards Muslim members of society' continued to develop in Britain.

Be nice: Britain has been told to take firm action and combat negative public attitudes towards Muslims

The Government 'should take energetic measures to eliminate this phenomenon and ensure that authors of such acts of discrimination on the basis of religion are adequately deterred and sanctioned'.



The committee expressed concern over the Government's plans to extend pre-trial detention of terrorist suspects from 28 to 42 days. Suspects should be brought to court 'within a reasonable period of time, or released'.



Those suspected of being involved in terrorism and subject to control orders and curfews limiting their movements should be 'promptly charged with a criminal offence' and their lawyers given access to the evidence against them, it added.

The committee also called on the Irish Republic to open up its largely Roman Catholic primary school system to secular-education. It said Dublin 'should take measures to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies so that they do not have to resort to illegal or unsafe abortions'.

The committee made its comments in response to reports from the UK and Ireland on how they were carrying out their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The committee has members from Britain, Ireland, Australia, Benin, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Mauritius and Sweden. They are expected to be independent of their governments.

