The Measures of Governments to Counter-Terrorism and Their Effect on Human Rights - Essay Example

The people affected by the new legislation include ethnic minority groups which in turn undermines civil liberties and the basic human rights of the individuals involved. In 2000, counter-terror laws were passed which had serious drawbacks in relation to human rights. Some of the laws passed included indefinite detention without fair trial of any foreign nationals who for any reason were considered to have an involvement in terror activities. Another one included up to sixteen hours of house arrest without charge to individuals who the security organs considered a threat as far as terrorism was considered.

Pre-charge detention which was passed into law at that time also allowed fourteen-day detention of individuals in terrorism cases which compared to any law was the longest in detention of individuals before trial. The Terrorism Act 2000 had many contentious sections, especially the one which was later repealed that allowed stop and search on individuals without suspecting them. The laws set were found to be infringing on the rights of peaceful protestors and ethnic minority groups which should be allowed to hold their demonstrations in peace.

The definition of terrorism in counter-terror laws which includes individuals with religious, racial, or political causes that may be viewed as having or causing individuals to become radicals. For instance, the Islamic religion has been related to terror activities due to the involvement of some individuals found to be Muslims in terror activities. In countering terrorism, the speeches made by individuals that are purported to support terrorism were considered to be part of terrorism. This broad definition of terrorism has been found to be wrong since there are no strict measures put in place to categorize a piece of information as supporting terror.