Reacting to reports today of the Government's determination to allow police to hold terrorist suspects without charge for up to 90 days under the Terrorism Bill, Amnesty International NI Programme Director Patrick Corrigan said:

"Northern Ireland's MPs must refuse to engage in political horse-trading of people's liberty and must stand firm against any further erosion of our liberties. "The right to be promptly charged is the dividing line between liberty and internment - local MPs must teach their colleagues in Westminster the lessons of Northern Ireland's recent, sad history. Of course the government needs to protect people from terrorist attacks. But taking away fundamental liberties is not the way to go about it. "Measures in the Terrorism Bill are vague, sweeping and in places draconian. Taken together with the government's attempts to deport people to countries which use torture, and even to accept torture evidence in UK courts, this amounts to an assault on human rights in the UK."

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