UK Government Effectiveness on Terrorism - Essay Example

Does the UK government deal correctly with the threat of terrorism?(Is UK legislation on terrorism effective?)How do other countries deal with potential terrorists?(Compare UK terrorism provisions with other countries). Introduction This study intends to test the hypothesis that in many ways the actions of the UK Government have become too extreme when dealing with the threat of terrorism. In order to do this it will be necessary to examine the statistics with regard to the number of arrests compared with the number of successful convictions. The study will also consider the motive of the Government for introducing such extreme measures and try to reach a conclusion as to whether the reaction of the Government is proportionate to the threat or whether the Government are using legislation as a tool to target minority sectors. The study will necessarily involve an analysis behind the circumstances of the arrests of suspects and offer an opinion as to whether the way in which the suspect was detained was necessary or whether the measures used were too extreme. This will involve an analysis of newspaper reports in relation to the manner of the arrest and will look at the outcome following the arrest. This will be particularly important in relation to those that are subsequently released without charge. This study will consider whether the Government has adopted the correct approach to the threat of terrorism or whether their actions could be regarded as too extreme. Chapter one will look at the definition of terrorism and will attempt to define acts that ought to be considered as acts of terrorism. Within this framework the study will consider the arrests of terrorist suspects and the circumstances behind these arrests. It is anticipated that this might reveal that in many cases the Government reaction to the threat of terrorism is too extreme. Chapter 2 will look at the reason for legislation in this area. This will involve an analysis of the 9/11 attack in the United States of America and the 7/7 attack in the United Kingdom. The research will then expand to examine the powers that have been given to the police through this legislation and will examine the legality of arrests that have occurred since the changes that have been introduced through legislation. In chapter 3 the study will examine the human rights aspect of the legislation and will pose the question as to whether the present legislation offends against the principles of the Human Rights Act. This will necessarily involve considering whether the fear of a terrorist attack is sufficient reason for the Government to take such a stance, or whether the Government are using the fear of such attacks to target minority groups. Within this chapter consideration will also be given to the public perspective with regard to whether the members of the public consider the actions to be too extreme. As the killing of De Menezes is topical this research will further consider whether the recent adaptations in legislations are a significant factor in his death. In this area consideration will be given to the extra powers conferred on the police through legislation as well as the fear of terrorism that the changes have wrought. This section will also challenge whether there is a significant danger that an innocent person could be killed in the future as a direct result of the powers of the police in this area. Chapter 4 will examine the legislation in other countries with regard to the terrorist threat and will also examine the ways in which this legislation has been used. This will involve looking at the number of arrests that have been made as well as the treatment of those that have been arrested. This will naturally progress to a discussion with regard to the number of suspects that are subsequently released without charge in the UK as well as other countries. From this it is hoped that it will be possible to determine whether the legislation in this area is proportionate to the threat involved or whether the actions of the respective Governments can be regarded as too extreme. By comparing the UK with other countries it should be possible to determine whether the UK Government has a softer approach then other countries or a harsher approach. Some of the key resources are listed below. This is not a definitive list and it is anticipated that several other sources will be used in the final piece. Specific cases have also not been included in this proposal, however, there has been a sufficient amount of successful prosecutions in relation to terrorist activities. The study will examine those cases that have been dealt with and will explore the number of successful prosecutions compared to the number of cases were the accused is acquitted. Within the research a variety of sources will be used. For completeness the literature used will include those that are for the tougher approach to handling the threat of terrorism as well as opponents of the legislative changes. The study will consider alternative ways in which the matter could be addressed and offer suggestions as to how the Government could to tackle the problem. These suggestions will come from personal feelings with regard to the treatment of terrorist suspects as well as academic opinion from journals, text books and articles. The sources listed below will be used to explore the different approaches to terrorism throughout the world, but it is anticipated that the original list quoted below will be considerably longer by the time the piece is completed. The research will take a qualitative approach. In order to determine whether the approach to terrorism is too extreme the public perspective could be obtained through the compilation of a questionnaire where members of the general public are asked for their opinion as to whether the actions of the police are too extreme. The best results for this would be achieved through the questioning of a cross section of society. The sample group should include people from different ethnic origins as well as be divided into age groups. Questions should include the fear factor that has been hyped by the Government and subjects should be asked if their fear is fuelled by the media or by actually instances of terrorism. It is important to determine how frightened members of the public are of terrorist attacks or whether the fear that the media suggest exists is in fact not as serious. For this particular research project a questionnaire will not be necessary as the public opinion can be gleaned from the media resources available. It is anticipated that ethnic minority groups are more likely to consider the legislation too extreme, however, in the light of the killing of innocent people such as De Menezes there is a strong possibility that non-ethnic groups would also consider the actions of the police to be too extreme. It is expected that the majority of research into public opinion will come primarily from the questionnaire but also to a large extent from the media. There have been many reported cases where persons of ethnic origin have been arrested and detained without charge for considerable periods of time, and then subsequently released without charge. This study will consider the legality of such detentions and whether imprisonment without charge is a breach of human rights. The study will challenge the attitude of the Government that imprisonment is essential to protect the security of the nation. Some researchers have suggested that the approach to suspected terrorist activity is the ‘thin end of the wedge’ and that allowing the Government to legislate in the manner opens up the potential for other persons or groups of people to be locked away without charge. This study will consider whether allowing the Government to legislate in this manner creates a ‘slippery slope’ whereby other innocent persons could fall foul of the system. In order for this project to be successful it will be necessary to ensure that the questionnaire targets a variety of different groups. Finding subjects willing to complete the questionnaire might prove problematic as many might not want to share their views for fear of appearing racist if they support the targeting of terrorist suspects. The simplest way of combating this problem would be to allow each participant to remain anonymous and to only be identifiable by the group they appear in. This will be important anyway as it should help in forming a conclusion as to which groups fear terrorist attacks most and which groups feel that the legislation targets certain sectors of society. One of the crucial elements of the research will be ascertaining the public opinion in respect of the treatment of terrorist suspects. Burkitt (2005) is likely to be useful for this area as this article looks at the opposition to the tactics used in tackling the terrorist problem. Furedi (2005) is also likely to prove beneficial to the study as this examines the ways in which the government populate the notion of fear of terrorist attacks to convince the public that such extreme measures are necessary for the sake of national security. When looking at the human rights element Gearty (1996) will be useful as this article considers the morality of detaining suspects without charge. Jenkins will also be important as this looks at the realm of fanaticism and encourages the reader to believe that ethnic minorities have fanatic tendencies. The purpose of this is to encourage the general public to call for these people to be locked up to prevent possible terrorist attacks. Extensive use will be made of the Home Office circulars on International Terrorism as these papers have been used to persuade the government to increase the powers of the police to deal with the terrorist threat. Quite a few of the books and articles listed below deal with the fear factor that the government has monopolised upon to persuade the general public of the need to deal swiftly with suspects and the importance of being able to lock such people away until they can be sure that these people do not pose a threat to society. These include Wilson (2003) and Soyonka (2004). It is hoped that from the research it will be possible to conclude whether the treatment of terrorism in the UK is proportionate as well as allowing the reader to make comparison with the treatment of suspects in other countries. Burkitt, I. (2005), ‘Powerful Emotions: Power, Government and Opposition in the War on Terror’, Sociology, 39: 679-95. Dean, M. (1997), ‘ Sociology After Society’ , in D. Owen, ed., Sociology After Postmodernism. London: Sage. Furedi, F (2005), ‘ Terrorism and the Politics of Fear’ , in C. Hale, K. Hayward, A. Wahidin and E. Wincup, eds, Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Garland, D. (1996), ‘ The Limits of the Sovereign State: Strategies of Crime Control in Contemporary Society’ , British Journal of Criminology, 36: 445-70. Gearty, C. (2002), ‘ Terrorism and Morality’ , European Human Rights Law Review, 4: 377 383. Hudson, B. (2003), Justice in the Risk Society. London: Sage Jenkins, P. (2003), Images of Terror: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction. New York: Oxford University Press. Kemshall, H (2006), ‘Crime and Risk’, in P. Taylor-Gooby and J. Zinn, eds, Risk in Social Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lesser, I., Hoffman, B., Arquilla, J., Ronfeldt, D., Zanini, M. and Jenkins, B. M. (1999), Countering the New Terrorism. California: RAND. Morris, N. (2004a), ‘ Muslim Anger at Stop and Search Statistics’ , The Independent, 3 July 2004. Morris, N. (2004b), ‘ The Politics of Fear’ , The Independent, 23 November 2004. Sassen, S. (2002), ‘ Governance Hotspots: Challenges We Must Confront in the Post-September 11 World’ , Theory, Culture and Society, 19: 233-44. Simon, J. (1997), ‘ Governing Through Crime’ , in L. Friedman and G. Fisher, eds, The Crime Conundrum: Issues in Criminal Justice. Boulder: Westview Press. Sontag, S. (2004), ‘ What Have We Done?’ The Guardian, 24 May 2004. Soyonka, W. (2004), Reith Lecture 1: The Changing Mask of Fear, available online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2004/lectures.shtml. Steinert, H. (2003), ‘ The Indispensable Metaphor of War: On Populist Politics and the Contradictions of the States Monopoly of Force’ , Theoretical Criminology, 7: 265-91 Welch, M. (2006), ‘Seeking a Safer Society: Americas Anxiety in the War on Terror’, Security Journal, 19: 93-109. Wilson, N. B. (2003), ‘ Bibliographical Essay on Fear’ , The Hedgehog Review, 5: 119. Home Office, International Terrorism: The Governments Strategy, February 22, 2005, Home Office, International Terrorism: The Threat, February 22, 2005 Read More