Haroon Siddique

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Haroon Siddique

The UK must impose sanctions on the Israeli government and its ministers and also consider suspending it from the UN to meet its “fundamental international legal obligations”, more than 800 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges, including former supreme court justices, have said. In a letter to the prime minister, they welcome Keir Starmer’s joint statement last week with the leaders of France and Canada warning that they were prepared to take “concrete actions” against Israel.

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Haroon Siddique

The UK Border Force is in effect under military command, reflecting a wider increase of “hyper-militarisation” in policing, according to a new report on international law enforcement. A report by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s death, says the 21st century has seen the emergence of paramilitary and “political” policing across Europe, employed at borders, during civil unrest and against public protest.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Haroon Siddique

Two women who brought an 11th-hour legal challenge to try to stop the UK transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius have accused the government of betrayal. British Chagossians Bertrice Pompe, 54, and Bernadette Dugasse, 68, who were both born on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, vowed to keep fighting to try to realise their dream of returning to their place of birth.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Haroon Siddique

The miscarriage of justice watchdog for England, Wales and Northern Ireland has continually failed to learn from its mistakes and its chief executive should follow the organisation’s chair out the door, MPs have said. In a damning report on the leadership of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the House of Commons justice committee said Karen Kneller had provided it with unpersuasive evidence and her position was no longer tenable.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Haroon Siddique

Former prisoners and hostages wrongly held abroad have urged the UK prime minister to urgently secure the release of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai before he dies in a Hong Kong jail. The 77-year-old media mogul, who is a British citizen, has been held in solitary confinement for 1,602 days and his family fears he might not survive another summer in Hong Kong, where temperatures can reach 40C (104F).