Curb hate speech after riots, UN committee urges Britain

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.N. committee urged Britain on Friday to pass measures to curb hate speech and xenophobic rhetoric which it said had played a direct role in fuelling summer riots.

Racist unrest involving far-right groups erupted at anti-immigration protests across Britain in August after false information circulated online that the suspect in a deadly attack on young girls was an Islamist migrant.

"(The Committee) is concerned about the persistence and in some cases sharp increase of hate crimes, hate speech and xenophobic incidents," the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in a press release following a review of Britain's record.

This included racist and xenophobic speech by politicians and public figures in print, broadcast and online media, it said.

The U.N. body did not name the politicians or media involved but Committee Member Gün Kut told journalists there was a direct link between xenophobic speeches and racial violence.

"There is an obvious concern about hate speech by prominent figures in the public," he told a Geneva press briefing.

The U.N. committee which reviews all countries' records every few years also referred to concerns about institutional racism in Britain's policing and justice system and urged Britain to set up a mechanism to investigate complaints.

There was no immediate comment from the UK government.

The former Conservative Party-led government said in documents sent to the U.N. that it was committed to building "a fairer Britain" and addressing "negative disparities". It said it taken steps since its last review to address disparities, such as the release of an Inclusive Britain strategy in 2022.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; additional reporting by William James in London, Editing by William Maclean)