The British press expressed concern yesterday over new anti-terrorist measures to be put before parliament, including unlimited detention without trial.
Government plans to hold terrorist suspects without trial, an emergency power used and discredited in Northern Ireland 30 years ago, sparked a raft of criticism on Sunday.
Home Secretary David Blunkett was to ask parliament later yesterday for a derogation, or opt-out, from European human rights laws that enshrine the right to liberty and prohibits detention without trial.
"Think again, Mr Blunkett, before eroding our most fundamental rights," said the center-left daily The Independent, arguing that the plan "is a dangerous step."
Recalling that presumption of innocence was the cornerstone of the British judicial system, the paper said the government was following in the steps of the US, where more than 5,000 people have been held in the inquiries into the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings, some of them detained in secret.
"Parliament must force [Blunkett] to think again before we sleepwalk down this American road towards a police state," The Independent said.
The right-wing Daily Telegraph admitted: "It is true, as the home secretary contends, that the balance between liberty and security shifts when there is a threat to the state.
"But it is precisely at such times that we should be most vigilant about our civil rights," it went on.
"Most could be done within our existing legal framework. Instead, Mr. Blunkett has decided to pile on new laws. This is likely to leave us no safer, but less free."
The left-of-center Guardian said of the proposed measures: "There can be few more serious breaches to human rights.
"Judgements and the evidence upon which they are based will be secret, making them an ideal environment for prejudice and injustice," it went on.
The Home Office insists detention without trial would be under "very limited circumstances," and Blunkett said individuals would be able to challenge their detention by appealing to a special commission.
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