Plans by the US to fingerprint, photograph and register foreign visitors as part of their anti-terrorism drive has brought severe criticism from several quarters.
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Mrs Mary Robinson. Photo: Reuters - file
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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mrs Mary Robinson added her voice to American public representatives and rights groups who have raised concerns over the direction the US is taking in response to the September 11th attacks.
"I think there are worrying aspects, because it is grouping hundreds of thousands of people, the vast majority of whom are completely innocent ... I am glad that this has raised concerns within the United States," Mrs Robinson told BBC Radio.
Among the measures being introduced is periodic registration of aliens who stay in the United States 30 days or longer and "exit controls" to help remove those who overstay their visas.
"This system will expand substantially America's scrutiny of those foreign visitors who may pose a national security concern and enter our country. And it will provide a vital line of defence in the war against terrorism," US Attorney General John Ashcroft said.
Visitors subject to the increased scrutiny will be from countries considered by the United States to be sponsors of terrorism and other unspecified nations that critics said are likely to be Middle Eastern.
Mrs Robinson said stark and unacceptable material divisions in the world were partly to blame for the kind of security threats now faced and criticised the language being used by states when they describe post-September 11th security measures.
"The problem about a war on terror is that it puts the emphasis on the approach of war which means that you can sideline other concerns," she said.
US Congressman John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, denounced the system as employing racial and ethic profiling.
"Rather than helping to protect our citizens, these registration rules will only serve to further alienate the American Muslim community and our Muslim allies abroad, two crucial allies in our fight against terrorism," he said.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle expressed concern "about the long arm of the federal government when it comes to taking actions like this that may or may not be helpful and certainly may be invasive."
The plan "smacks of the sort of tactics" used by totalitarian regimes like Iraq, said Mr Frank Sharry, executive director of the US National Immigration Forum.