Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE ‘WAR ON TERROR’
- Introduction
- 1 Order, Rights and Threats: Terrorism and Global Justice
- 2 Liberal Security
- 3 The Human Rights Case for the War in Iraq: A Consequentialist View
- 4 Human Rights as an Ethics of Power
- 5 How Not to Promote Democracy and Human Rights
- 6 War in Iraq: Not a Humanitarian Intervention
- 7 The Tension between Combating Terrorism and Protecting Civil Liberties
- 8 Fair Trials for Terrorists?
- 9 Nationalizing the Local: Comparative Notes on the Recent Restructuring of Political Space
- 10 The Impact of Counter Terror on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: A Global Perspective
- 11 Human Rights: A Descending Spiral
- 12 Eight Fallacies About Liberty and Security
- 13 Our Privacy, Ourselves in the Age of Technological Intrusions
- 14 Are Human Rights Universal in an Age of Terrorism?
- 15 Connecting Human Rights, Human Development, and Human Security
- 16 Human Rights and Civil Society in a New Age of American Exceptionalism
- Index
- References
7 - The Tension between Combating Terrorism and Protecting Civil Liberties
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE ‘WAR ON TERROR’
- Introduction
- 1 Order, Rights and Threats: Terrorism and Global Justice
- 2 Liberal Security
- 3 The Human Rights Case for the War in Iraq: A Consequentialist View
- 4 Human Rights as an Ethics of Power
- 5 How Not to Promote Democracy and Human Rights
- 6 War in Iraq: Not a Humanitarian Intervention
- 7 The Tension between Combating Terrorism and Protecting Civil Liberties
- 8 Fair Trials for Terrorists?
- 9 Nationalizing the Local: Comparative Notes on the Recent Restructuring of Political Space
- 10 The Impact of Counter Terror on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: A Global Perspective
- 11 Human Rights: A Descending Spiral
- 12 Eight Fallacies About Liberty and Security
- 13 Our Privacy, Ourselves in the Age of Technological Intrusions
- 14 Are Human Rights Universal in an Age of Terrorism?
- 15 Connecting Human Rights, Human Development, and Human Security
- 16 Human Rights and Civil Society in a New Age of American Exceptionalism
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
The tragic and previously unimaginable events of 9/11 have changed the United States and indeed the world in ways that are still emerging and difficult to comprehend. Leaders in many countries are struggling to find appropriate policies to deal with the new reality that this level of terrorism presents.
This is not a new problem and has been a challenge in many countries for many years. Governments combating terrorism in democracies have an additional burden. They are required to balance efficient law enforcement with respect for the civil liberties of their citizens. There is a consensus that all lawful means must be used to prevent such terrible crimes. The problem relates to the legitimacy, and sometimes the lawfulness, of those means. In particular, to what extent can civil liberties be curtailed and normal legal processes circumvented?
I do not share the pessimism of some human rights activists who suggest that the age of human rights has come and gone. Too much momentum has been gathered during the past sixty years to allow the recognition and implementation of human rights to be derailed. At the same time there is danger in complacency, and the setbacks to the human rights movement since 9/11 must be acknowledged and recognised as a challenge.
The Development of Human Rights since 1945
It is as well to consider briefly the huge advances made in the area of human rights and humanitarian law since the end of World War II. I will devote disproportionate attention to the role of the United States, as it was crucial to these advances.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Human Rights in the 'War on Terror' , pp. 157 - 168Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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