A United Nations panel called yesterday on the British government to prosecute Gen Augusto Pinochet under English law if the House of Lords rules that the former Chilean dictator should not be extradited to Spain.
In a strongly-worded recommendation, the UN Committee Against Torture, which periodically reviews the UK's civil liberties record, said that if the Pinochet case was not considered by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Britain could be in violation of international treaties.
The committee, made up of 10 independent legal experts who monitor compliance with the 1984 Convention Against Torture, issued its recommendation after considering a report presented by the British government.
The House of Lords is due to rule next Wednesday on last month's High Court decision that the 82-year-old general is entitled to immunity from arrest for offences committed while he was Chile's president. The Spanish authorities are calling for his extradition on charges of genocide, torture and terrorism.
Under the 1984 convention, to which the UK became a signatory in 1988, a country must "take such measures as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction" against anybody suspected of carrying out acts of torture.
Mr John Morris, the Attorney General, has already turned down one request to launch a private prosecution against the general. He said there was "insufficient admissible evidence under English law of an offence", although he has yet to give full reasons.
A spokesman for Amnesty International said yesterday the UN recommendation mirrored its repeated appeals to the government "to respect the principles of international law by trying or extraditing all people suspected of crimes against humanity".
Assessing the UK's overall civil liberties record, the UN panel meeting in Geneva praised the removal of corporal punishment in several overseas dependent territories. The government's decision to incorporate the European Human Rights Convention was also hailed as a "positive step".
But the committee was concerned by the number of deaths in police custody and the apparent failure to provide an effective investigative mechanism to deal with allegations of police and prison authorities abuse.
The report also criticised the housing of asylum-seekers in prisons. At present there are between three and four hundred asylum-seekers housed in Britain's prisons.
Reuters adds: Germany's federal court said yesterday Gen Pinochet was probably not entitled to immunity from assault charges and ordered a state court in Dusseldorf to begin proceedings against him.
Germany's highest court, the Bundesgerichtshof in Karlsruhe, ruled in favour of three German citizens who have filed charges of assault and false imprisonment against Gen Pinochet.
The court said it did not believe he should receive immunity, a ruling which a lawyer for two of the plaintiffs said should influence next week's British court decision.
The state prosecutor's office in Dusseldorf will investigate the charges and decide whether to ask the German government to request his extradition.
"It could take several weeks or even longer," she said. The German Justice Minister, Ms Hertha Daubler-Gmelin, has already said she would support an extradition request.