The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, has cautioned governments that measures to eradicate terrorism must not lead to excessive curbs on human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In an unprecedented move, Mrs Robinson, Mr Walter Schwimmer, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe and Mr Gerard Stoudmann, director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, issued a joint statement yesterday urging governments to strictly adhere to international obligations to uphold human rights. The heads of the human rights bodies insisted any measures restricting human rights in response to terrorism must strike a fair balance between legitimate national security concerns and fundamental freedoms. Mrs Robinson was in London yesterday to receive an award at the Royal Society.
Earlier the President, Mrs Mary McAleese, said Britain and Ireland must use every opportunity to nurture the emerging climate of reconciliation, mutual trust and respect in Northern Ireland.
In a speech to the Royal College of Physicians yesterday at the start of a two-day official visit to London , Mrs McAleese emphasised that "politics of inclusion and partnership" were beginning to take hold in Northern Ireland, and all communities must play their part in celebrating diversity.
Noting the British-Irish Council meeting in Dublin today, Mrs McAleese said: "With the advent of devolution and the new devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the traditional political landscape of relations between Ireland and Britain has been widened and enriched."