The Duty to Comply with Human Rights while countering terrorism

Terrorism and Human Rights
Total wordcount: 7921

COUNTER-TERRORISM & HUMAN RIGHTS
The duty to comply with Human Rights while countering terrorism

Introduction

Since the end of the Second World War, and the Cold War, terrorism has been one of the main issues of the international community. Not only has terrorism been perceived as a threat to the peace and the security, but also, an aggression of the fundamental rights and to the democracy.

Following the 9/11 attacks, which have shaken the civilized world to its core foundations, the fight against terrorism became even more significant. The Security Council, in 2001, has adopted the Resolution 13731 (which is indicative of the importance of this issue). This resolution constitutes a general framework of the international campaign against terrorism, by defining all the measures that can actually be done to fight against it and by declaring the necessity to fight against terrorism by all “legal” mean. Therefore, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee has also been established2. De facto, with a general framework and an institutional framework, nothing could possibly prevent States in fighting terrorism under the aegis of the United Nations. However, if the Resolution claims to fight against terrorism, it does not define it, which is not surprising knowing that before the resolution, over 12 different conventions about terrorism, have not been able to give a definition. The international community has never solved that issue, and nobody succeed in getting everyone agreed on the legal definition of “terrorism”.

The Human Rights culture is also another important concern for the international community. Indeed, the relationship between terrorism and human rights became more important since 9/11. The importance of the debate between Human Rights and the fight against terrorism is a great concern for democratic states. Democracy means that Human Rights and the fundamental

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