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| CONTROL ORDERSControl orders enable the Home Secretary to impose an unlimited range of restrictions on any person he suspects of involvement in terrorism.
They were created by the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 ('PTA'), in response to the House of Lord’s ruling against the detention powers in Part IV of the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001.
The restrictions imposed by control orders amount to house arrest. They include controls on who a person can meet with or speak to; as well restrictions on when a person can leave their house and where they can go.
They have undermined the rights and freedoms of not only the men subject to them but also their families.
Control orders undermine the presumption of innocence - allowing Ministers to punish someone without requiring them to prove that they have committed any crime.
They undermine the separation of powers and the right to a fair trial - the decision to impose a control order is made by the Home Secretary and is based on secret evidence which the individual concerned is unable to see and powerless to dispute. Press ReleasesIn defiance of recent events, a poll released today by Liberty shows overwhelming support for human rights laws. Despite a week of the Government defending the unjust and unsafe control order system, the Metropolitan police accused of using “waterboarding” techniques with suspects and the BNP winning two European parliament seats, polling reveals that 97% think it is important that there is a law that protects rights and freedoms in the UK. 15.06.2009
Today the Law Lords will once more consider the Kafkaesque procedure for Control Orders. Meanwhile one controlee, Mahmoud Abu Rideh subject to punishment without trial for 7 ½ years, writes a desperate letter to the Prime Minister begging for release from a system that has driven him to mental instability and attempts at suicide. 10.06.2009
Parliament will tomorrow debate whether the controversial control orders system will be renewed. Control orders, established in 2005, allow terror suspects to be tagged, confined to their homes and banned from communicating with others indefinitely without charge or trial. 02.03.2009
| Write to the new Home Secretary, Alan Johnson MP, today asking him to reconsider the government’s control order policy. Download our template letter above (Word document). 3 page introduction, including the different types of order and how the scheme is supposed to work. March 05, PDF
Liberty’s Briefing on the draft Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005(Continuance in force
of sections 1 to 9) Order 2009, March 09 PDF. On the renewal of the PTA 2005. Feb 06 PDF By the solicitor for the former ATCSA detainees now subject to control orders. PDF This short briefing was for the final stages of the Prevention of Terrorism Bill, before it became law. March 05 PDF This briefing on the Prevention of Terrorism Bill details our main concerns with control orders. March 05 PDF
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