Global Issues: Terrorism ~  Counter Terrorism Measures v Human Rights

Excellent article in the Telegraph by Dominc Raab, some random MP, on “Sacrificing our liberties won’t win the war against terror” in which he argues ‘Use the justice system against terror suspects – don’t corrupt it by criminalising us all’ and concldes ‘It is time to draw a line in the sand. Sacrificing British liberties will not protect us. It just plays into the hands of the terrorists. The justice system is not the problem. It is part of the solution. We can fight terror – and defend freedom’ . The article ties in with the launch of civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch’s new publication ‘Fight Terror, Defend Freedom’ by Dominic Raab MP.

This ties in perfectly with the Global Issues paper Terrorism module with regard to the balance of counter terrorism measures and preserving civil liberties. The article is well worth reading in full - here is how it starts:

Terrorists follow tried and tested tactics. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu counselled: “If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them.” Russian revolutionary Sergei Nechayev – the first self-styled “terrorist” – wanted to provoke a state reaction “intensifying the evils and miseries of the people until… they are driven to a general uprising”. Urban Marxist guerrilla Marighella vowed to give the state “no alternative except to intensify repression”, while the IRA’s Green Book pledged to make Northern Ireland “ungovernable except by colonial military rule”. Al-Qaeda is following precedent.

The good news, according to Professor Audrey Cronin at the US National War College, is that terrorist campaigns always end. The only questions are when and how. The answers hinge on government policy. After the 2005 London bombings, Tony Blair proclaimed: “Let no one be in any doubt, the rules of the game are changing.” Ministers proposed waves of authoritarian measures, including incursions on free speech, control orders, ID cards and extensions to detention without charge that one former chief constable labelled a “propaganda coup for Al-Qaeda”. If Al-Qaeda was looking for a repressive reaction, they got it. But, was it effective?

Also might be worth cross referencing with an earlier post: ‘The Ticking Bomb’ - Torture, Jack Bauer and Binyam Mohamed