LONDON: The Commonwealth’s combined population of 1.7 billion people make up 30 per cent of the world’s population. It should be a beacon for the protection of human rights in a globalizing world. The Commonwealth took a stand against apartheid in South Africa, and now is not the time to debase this precedent by turning a blind eye to the undermining of basic human rights in many member states.

The spiralling human rights crisis in suspended member Zimbabwe will grab most of the attention of Commonwealth leaders at the heads of government meeting in Nigeria this weekend. This is to be expected when there were more than a thousand reports of torture at the hands of the police and security services last year. President Mugabe must be sent a clear message that arbitrary detention, torture and systematic repression are at odds with the Commonwealth’s vision of democracy, the rule of law and good governance.

However, leaders must also look at how other members have trampled on basic freedoms in their rush to join the so-called “war on terror”, have attacked the right to seek asylum, and still permit cruel punishments and executions. Is it any wonder that Mugabe has got the message that human rights violations will not be challenged?

It is important that Commonwealth members do not use the “war on terror” as an excuse to erode human rights. Unfortunately, many have introduced legislation allowing them to arrest suspects and detain them without charge, and to deport those they deem a threat. The right to a fair trial has been undermined.

In India, the Prevention of Terrorism Act has granted the police much wider powers of arrest than previously, and allows them to detain “political suspects” for up to six months without charge or trial. Police in Gujarat are using the legislation to arbitrarily arrest and imprison men from the Muslim community. Almost 400 men were detained between March and May, and there are reports of Muslims being held incommunicado, with incontrovertible evidence of torture. The legislation has provided a convenient vehicle for discrimination and persecution.

Our own government made the UK the only country in Europe to derogate from the European convention on human rights in order to rush through the 2001 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act. It has used it to imprison 14 foreign nationals for up to two years without charging them or bringing them to trial. They face the prospect of remaining in detention indefinitely on the basis of secret evidence that they have not been allowed to see and therefore cannot challenge. These “security measures” are undermining the credibility and viability of basic legal safeguards.

The clampdown on the right to asylum has seen the Australian government’s “Pacific solution” set of policies enable it to hold for months scores of people, who have been recognized as refugees, in detention centres — a policy branded by a UN delegation as “offensive to human dignity”. Similarly, the new asylum bill in the UK threatens to criminalize those seeking asylum.

Despite all Commonwealth members’ theoretical commitment to protect individuals’ human rights, member states including Jamaica and the Bahamas hand down death sentences, while Nigeria permits punishments that include stoning and flogging. When I was in Uganda in October, where torture is endemic, I heard about a worrying increase in the use of torture. A commitment to protecting individuals’ rights would see President Museveni using the same leadership to eliminate torture as he has been recognized for showing in tackling the AIDS epidemic.

The heads of government meeting in Abuja must deal honestly with these human rights questions.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.