Posted: September 9th, 2022

Anti-terrorism strategies

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Introduction
In recent years there has been much increase in terrorism activities. This rise in terrorism has led to many governments seeking to address the security threat through a number of strategies. Consequently, the government’s desire to address security matters has been received with mixed reactions as some of the strategies proposed to be used contravene human rights among other fundamental liberties. It is therefore the function of this paper to discuss the implications of such strategies on criminal justice system and in the future.
With the foregoing in mind, if at all, all the strategies proposed would be used, the consequences would be so detrimental to the ultimate goal of criminal justice system which is promotion of justice while protecting inter alia, human rights (Poelgeest Seminar 2007). Many states have resorted to denying terror suspects the very right to what the rule of law grants. The right to things such as being told what you are being arrested for, the right to be informed of the same in a language that you understand, the right to an attorney, the right to bond or bail and to a call are among the things that have been denied to such suspects.
Governments have also locked suspects for more than the acceptable timeframe thus raising so much concern over the governments respect for human rights. One of the core reasons given by the governments is that security of the nation comes than individual rights (Makokha & Murunga 2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer). To add on that, some officials have even tried to justify such contentious actions causing an uproar from both national and international human rights organisations. As these organisations argued that human rights and the rule of law ought to be respected, conflicts have always ensued (Makokha & Murunga 2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer). The government’s desire to protect its people has made them resort to inhuman means of getting information from suspects which include torture and longer than necessary detentions.

Relationship To Criminal Justice System
The role of the criminal justice system is to administer justice to both the government and the persons accused. To achieve this, there has to be the observance of all the necessary procedures by both the accuser and the accused. A good justice system seeks to ensure that the sovereign maintains social order through legally acceptable means and also to punish offenders according to the law (Poelgeest Seminar 2007). However, when the government seeks to prosecute people without following the right procedures, the role of courts would be to step in and do what is right in the quest for justice.
Courts have the mandate to promote justice through following the rule of the law and ensuring that governments do not use their power and resources to violate human rights in their efforts to protect the citizenry from terror groups. Such inhuman actions as detaining people longer than allowed, torturing suspects to get information, tapping into people phones to listen to people’s private conversations among others are the main concerns of the criminal justice system (Human Rights Watch,2003).
In no circumstance should peoples’ privacy rights be taken away just because of the governments’ desire to protect the masses. Rights to privacy have to be respected and courts ought to consider such violations in the administration of justice (Christie,2008 – Affordable Custom Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay from Pro Writers). Accordingly, courts ought to reject any other forms of torture, harassment and illegal acquisition of evidence by the governments and instead seek to protect the weaker party, the suspect in this case.
The main reason why courts need to adhere to this is because human rights supersede the governments thirst to curb terrorism. We acknowledge that terrorism is a menace and there is need to address this issue that is threatening global peace but it would lose its meaning if it gives citizens a reason to rise against the government through demonstrations against violation of human rights (Human Rights Council 2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer).
Impact On Society, Today And In Future
The continued abuse of human rights by governments in the name of fighting terrorism has negative impacts on the society. This is mostly detrimental where friends and family of a suspect lose their colleague because he is just a suspect. If a family member is tortured by the state officers yet there is no evidence linking the suspect to terror then that would create social problems. There would emerge a community of people who do not approve the governments method and as a result, either many people would join the terror groups to fight back the government or people would rise up against governments ill treatment (Bianchi & Keller, 2008 – Affordable Custom Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay from Pro Writers).
Further, if the courts move from the very principles guiding the administration of justice, that would create a more worse situation. People would lose faith in the criminal justice system and therefore make them to either device means to counter the violation of their rights or as said earlier, resort to other measures . Parliaments, while passing laws and policies to tame and curb terror ought to have in mind that the clauses do not target a specific group of people (Joseph,2004). Making a mistake as to who qualifies to be a terrorist, how that suspect would be treated even if unconstitutional, and many other controversial laws would lead to more retaliation from the society and hence more problems for the government (Bianchi & Keller, 2008 – Affordable Custom Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay from Pro Writers).
In summary, terror is real and threatens global peace and livelihood. It needs to be curbed by all means but the means ought to be judicially acceptable. By acceptable, I mean that anti-terrorism laws and policies need to show respect for human rights. If they fail to recognise and uphold human rights the consequences would be a lack of trust in the government and criminal justice system unless the later declares actions by the former as illegal. If someone has been suspected of terror, he or she should be arrested and told the reason, be told in a language he understands, be given an attorney, and not to be detained without reasonable cause. Unless that is done, we would be breeding governments that would continue to violate human rights in their quest to fight inter alia, terrorism.

References
Bianchi, A. & Keller, A.(2008 – Affordable Custom Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay from Pro Writers). Counterterrorism: Democracies Challenge. Portland OR., Hart
Christie, K. (2008 – Affordable Custom Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay from Pro Writers). Americas War On Terrorism: The Revival Of The Nation-State Versus Universal Human Rights. Lewiston. Edwin Mellen Press.
Human Rights Council (2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer). Counter-Terrorism And The Protection Of Human Rights. Berkeley. Cal.
Human Rights Watch. (2003). In The Name Of Counter Terrorism: Human Rights Abuse Worldwide. New York.: Human Rights Watch
Joseph, S. (2004). Australian Counter-Terrorism Legislation and the International Human Rights Framework. UNSWLJ 27(2), 428-438
Makokha, K. & Murunga G. G. (2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer). Upholding Human Rights In Counter-Terrorism. What Role For Non-State Actors? {Proceedings Of A Regional Conference Report Held In Nairobi, May,11-12- 2009). Nairobi: Muslim Human Rights Forum, Kenya Human Rights Institute
Poelgeest Seminar 2007. Counter Terrorism Strategies, Human Rights And International Law. Grotious Centre For International Legal Studies Of Leiden University

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