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| February 22, 2010 | Pope says 'strip search' at airports breach of 'human dignity' | | London: Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out against the use of full body scanners across airports in UK insisting that 'human dignity must be preserved'. 'Every action, it is above all essential to protect and value the human person in their integrity... Respecting these principles can seem particularly
complex and difficult in the present context," the Telegraph quoted the Pope,
as saying. "The economic crisis has had problematic effects on the civil aviation
sector, the international terrorist threat which, precisely, has in its line of
fire airports and aircraft to realize its destructive schemes." "Even in this
situation, one must never forget that respecting the primacy of the human person
and attention to his or her needs does not make the service less efficient nor
penalize economic management," he added. Travelers at British airports are
subjected
to the full-body scan after Prime Minister Gordon Brown backed the system. Brown
has emphasized that the controversial technology, introduced at Heathrow and other
airports, is "essential" in tackling a new terrorist threat. The system was introduced
following the failed Christmas Day bombing in the US. Earlier, the Equality and
Human Rights Commission (EHRC) of UK had written to Home Secretary Alan
Johnson
raising concerns over the scanners, saying it feared the body scanners could breach
an individual's right to privacy as laid out in the Human Rights Act. The EHRC
said that the scanners were likely to have a negative impact on privacy, especially
in certain groups such as disabled people, the elderly, children and the transgender
community. "The commission fully accepts the Government's responsibility to protect
the safety and security of air travelers. However, the Government needs to ensure
that measures to protect this right also take into account the need to be proportionate
in its counter-terrorism proposals and ensure that they are justified by evidence
and effectiveness," said John Wadham, group director at the EHRC. | |
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