Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Unjust anti-terror law

Liberty | 10.10.2005 23:35 | Repression | Terror War

This week the Government is likely to bring forward a new Terrorism Bill which will have serious and frightening implications for free speech and allow for the detention of suspects for three months prior to charge.

Government’s New Anti-Terror Legislation- What you can do

* Come to the public discussion meeting in Westminster Central Hall. Wednesday 12 October.

* Sign the statement opposing counter productive measures in the new legislation at:
www.london.gov.uk/mayor/united-communities/support_form.jsp

* Write to your MP and urge them to oppose three month detention prior to charge and the undermining of free speech.

Background

This week the Government is likely to bring forward a new Terrorism Bill which will have serious and frightening implications for free speech and allow for the detention of suspects for three months prior to charge.

Liberty does believe that the Government must take appropriate steps to protect us all from terrorism. Security and freedom (as manifest in the right to life and freedoms of speech and against arbitrary detention) are best reconciled and advanced within the international human rights framework left to the world by the generation which survived the Holocaust and the Blitz. This framework pays considerable respect to questions of public safety, but rightly demands detailed and rigorous thinking from Governments and legislators who find themselves interfering with competing rights and freedoms.

Legislation of this kind should never be devised as a blunt tool for expressing political revulsion at terrifying acts. Statutes must be drafted with greater care than speeches. It is not sufficient that the passing of a new law would send tough signals to Britain’s enemies, nor that it somehow makes some of us feel safer. Each proposed interference with democratic rights and freedoms must be carefully weighed against its purported benefits. Such laws are likely to be with us for a very long time and we would respectfully remind Parliamentarians of previous British experiences of the unintended and counter-productive consequences of “exceptional” anti-terror legislation.

We are concerned that a number of measures in the Bill will do little to make us safer but will undermine free speech and protections against unjustified detention. As a consequence they will be counterproductive by undermining national unity in the face of the threat, and criminalising those who are not involved in terrorism.

Of particular concern:

· Proposals to create new offences of encouragement of terrorism, including statements which ‘glorify’ terrorist acts, and dissemination of terrorist publications are extremely broadly drafted. They do not require any intention to incite others to commit criminal acts. The Terrorism Act 2000 (TA) and existing common law means there is already very broad criminal law. Any difficulty in bringing prosecutions can be largely attributed to factors such as the self imposed ban on the admissibility of intercept evidence.

· Plans to allow three month detentions without charge will have a severe impact on community relations. This would allow for the equivalent of a six month custodial sentence. It is over twenty times the pre charge detention time limit for murder. If the police have genuine difficulties in gathering evidence we should look for more proportionate ways of dealing with the problem.

·Extension of the grounds for proscription under the TA will criminalise membership or support of non-violent political parties. It is not possible to overstate the implications of criminalising non-violent organisations on the basis of their opinions. This is an incredibly dangerous road for the Government of a democratic state to consider.

Events

Tuesday 11th October, Public Meeting

DEFEND OUR LIBERTIES! - NO TO THE POLITICS OF FEAR!
7-9pm, Grand Committee Room, House of Commons, London

Speakers include Mike Mansfield QC; Louise Christian; Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, author of “War on Truth”, Executive director of Institute of Policy Research and Development; Lord Rea; Mark Oaten MP; Judith Vidal-Hall, editor of Index on Censorship; Bill Bowring, barrister and professor of Human Rights and International Law, Director of HRSJ, London Metropolitan University; Doug Jewell, Liberty Campaigns Co-ordinator, Lindsey German, Stop The War Coalition: Ben Hayes, Statewatch; Lynne Featherstone MP; Saghir Hussain, Stop Political Terror

Wednesday 12th October, Public Discussion Meeting
The Governments New Anti-Terror Bill
Central Hall Westminster on 12 October 2005 from 6.30pm to 9.00pm.

Speakers include: • Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, • Mark Oaten MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, • Alec Salmond, Leader Scottish national Party, • Shami Chakrabarti, Liberty, • Frank Dobson MP, • Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Muslim Council of Britain, • Rt Revd Colin Bennetts, Bishop of Coventry, • Dr Azzam Tamimi, Muslim Association of Britain, • Barry Campfield, Assistant General Secretary TGWU, • Kate Hudson, Chair CND

The speakers are all signatories to the ‘Only united communities will defeat terrorism and protect civil liberties’ statement. To add your name go to www.london.gov.uk/mayor/united-communities/support_form.jsp

Wednesday 12th October, Public Meeting

IRAQ: The Unheard Voices; Raising awareness of alleged abuses in Iraq

Wednesday 12th October, Committee Room 10, House of Commons, Westminster.

Speakers: Phil Shiner, Public Interest Lawyers, Carla Ferstman, Director of Redress, Sadiq Khan MP, Clare SHORT MP and Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty

The Solicitors’ International Human Rights Group, with the support of Public Interest Lawyers, is holding a meeting to discuss the case of Al Skeini v Secretary of State for Defence to take place in the Court of Appeal on 10 and 11 October 2005, and all cases of alleged torture, abuse or ill treatment by UK armed forces in Iraq.

What Can You Do?

·Go to the Liberty website for the latest campaigns information at www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk

·Sign the United Communities statement at www.london.gov.uk/mayor/united-communities/support_form.jsp

·Write to your MP.

·Write to your local newspaper.

·Get your friends and neighbours to join Liberty. You can join online at www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/join/index.shtml

If you would like to be kept informed about the campaign against unjust anti-terror laws please contact Doug Jewell, the Campaigns Coordinator, at  dougj@liberty-human-rights.org.uk

Liberty

Comments

Display the following 9 comments

  1. Just another Shell Game — twilight
  2. What is wrong with fighting terrorism? — Concerned
  3. Liberty? — anti-imperialist
  4. ... — Hermes
  5. Ive finally figured concerned out — Not concerned about concerned anymore
  6. Nothing can ever justify terrorism and the murder of innocent people! — Concerned
  7. Concerned is right — what R u on
  8. ... — Hermes
  9. war, terrorism, yawn — anarchoteapot
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech