Not closing legal loopholes allowing UK to become safe haven for evil: Report

London, Aug.12 (ANI): The Gordon Brown Government is doing too little to close legal loopholes, and this is making Britain "a safe haven for evil," MPs and peers have warned.

A report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the Government's failure to go some steps further meant that these loopholes would remain "impunity gaps for the world's worst criminals".

According to the Daily Mail, the report said the UK should copy the US and allow anyone "brought into or found in" the country to face prosecution for crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes in internal conflict.

That, it said would bring it more into line with other heinous offences such as war crimes in international conflicts, torture and hostage taking which have no "residency" requirement.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced last month that he would change the law to ensure suspected war criminals living in the UK could not escape prosecution.

A 10-year extension of the cut-off period to cover crimes committed as far back as 1991 was hailed as a victory for victims of the Rwandan genocide and other conflicts.

And the Government said it would also reconsider the definition of a UK "resident" amid warnings many serious criminals were able to visit and pass through the country with impunity.

Ministers, however, told the committee that the UK did not aim "to become a policeman for the world".

During its inquiry, the committee heard evidence that the UK Borders Agency had investigated 1,863 individuals in the UK for genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.

The committee also questioned why ministers had set the cut-off point for genocide and war crimes in internal conflicts at 1991, as well as crimes against humanity, when international law allowed alleged crimes committed in those two categories as far back as 1948 and 1949 to be prosecuted. (ANI)