The human rights organisation has accused the UK of weakening human rights protections nationally and internationally, condemning — among other things — the UK’s failure to use its leadership position within the UN and its weak support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into human rights violations in Israel and Palestine.

The report is also highly critical of the UK’s record on domestic human rights, in particular the government effectively ending the universal application of human rights by “switching off” Human Rights Act protections for refugees and prisoners.

The introduction of “carve outs” from human rights for people given custodial sentences or for people seeking asylum runs contrary to the fundamental universal principle of human rights, the group said.

Amnesty’s report also criticises the widely-opposed Northern Ireland Troubles Act, which denies truth, justice and reparations to victims of the Northern Ireland conflict.

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty’s UK chief executive, said: “There’s no doubt in my mind that the UK will be judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza.

“The very minimum that’s required from the government is an immediate halt to arms sales to Israel and a strident an unequivocal call for a permanent ceasefire by all sides alongside a huge scaling-up of humanitarian aid to help stem mass starvation.

“The wheels are coming off the rules-based system and countries like the UK have a particular responsibility to help set this right. Instead, the UK is deliberately destabilising the entire concept of universal human rights through its appalling domestic policies and politicking.

“The Illegal Migration Act and the Rwanda scheme are a complete betrayal of the rights of refugees and the principle of offering sanctuary to those in need, but they also represent the death knell for the universal application of human rights in the UK.

“We’re particularly alarmed at the dangerous precedent set by ‘switching off’ the human rights of certain groups as a political convenience.

“At a particularly perilous time in global history the UK has seemingly turned its back on its moral responsibilities and international human rights obligations.”