Overview of Human Rights in United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. Citizens participate in free and fair elections to pick their representatives. Government procedures are considered to be transparent and democratic. The human rights of the citizens of the United Kingdom are generally respected and the country has a very good record of human rights.

When occasional abuses are reported, the law provides effective means for addressing them. Police are known to occasionally abuse detainees and others in custody. Overcrowding, high rates of self-inflicted deaths, and inadequate prison conditions continue to be areas of concern. Acts of violence and discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, as well as children, are societal concerns. Human trafficking is also a problem. 

Note:  Several thousands of British troops are stationed in Iraq. Allegations have arisen that some of these troops have participated in unlawful killings, torture and ill-treatment of Iraqi civilians. In March 2008, the British military acknowledged that it violated the human rights of an Iraqi man in its custody who ultimately died; it also admitted violations against other detained Iraqis. As well, following terror attacks on London's underground train system, a Brazilian national was killed by police erroneously.  His killing appeared to have been the result of overly-zealous police action, aimed at preventing further terror attacks.  The same criticisms of over-zealous police action has been used periodically to criticize the United Kingdom for its treatment of people suspected of links with Irish nationalists.  

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank: 18th out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.