STRASBOURG, Nov 29 (AFP) -- Three leading international organisations warned jointly Thursday [29 November] that the international fight against terrorism should not be a pretext for the violation of human rights. The Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said they were responding to recent "worrying developments" in some countries regarding human rights following the September 11 attacks. "While we recognize that the threat of terrorism requires specific measures, we call on all governments to refrain from any excessive steps which would violate fundamental freedoms and undermine legitimate dissent," a joint statement issued in Strasbourg, Geneva and Warsaw said. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said it was essential "that states strictly adhere to their international obligations to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the fight against terrorism. Robinson, a particularly critical voice in guarding against human rights abuses in the wake of the September 11 attacks, said Wednesday the war on terrorism was taking a heavy toll on civil liberties. The statement comes two days after the British House of Commons passed emergency legislation allowing the detention of terrorist suspects without trial, and the killing of hundreds of Taliban inmates in a prison uprising in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan earlier this week. The killings prompted a call by London-based rights group Amnesty International for an inquiry into the affair. All three groups said it was essential that governments strike a balance between "legitimate national security concerns and fundamental freedoms that is fully consistent with their international law commitments." The statement listed what it said were essential rights that could not be hollowed out because of the fight against terrorism. These were: the right to life, freedom of expression and religion and freedom from torture, while it also urged that the retroactive imposition of more severe penalties for crimes be avoided. The United States earlier this week hinted it may expand its war against terrorism beyond Afghanistan to Iraq, bringing swift criticism from both Germany and France, who called for restraint in the future of the military campaign.