Rights groups warn against UK plans to weaken torture protections in ECHR

Exclusive: Ministers face pushback over potential changes to asylum seekers' rights before Council of Europe meeting

Human rights groups have warned UK ministers against weakening protections against torture or other mistreatment for asylum seekers before a crucial European summit this week on how to respond to migration.

David Lammy, the justice secretary, is expected to help lead arguments at the Council of Europe meeting on Wednesday on how the European convention on human rights (ECHR) could be reinterpreted to limit the scope of rights under article 3, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment".