07 Jun 2007

The human rights group Liberty expressed grave concern that proposals to detain terror suspects for more than four weeks before they are charged will amount to internment and could act as a recruiting force for terrorists as the Home Secretary announced a new anti-terror consultation today.

Liberty warned the Government not to seek exceptional legal powers which would effectively punish terror suspects without trial and instead fully implement less controversial actions such as using phone-tap evidence.

However, Liberty welcomed the less partisan approach suggested by the Government.

Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti said:

“The Bush Blair War on Terror has left us with a raft of bad laws making us less free and less safe. Liberty will always propose and support policies to deal with terrorism within the Rule of Law and oppose those who play politics with other people’s lives. Consensus begins when, like today, leaders refrain from calling others ‘soft on terror’.”

Additional proposals include:

• Reviewing the use of intercept evidence which Liberty has promoted for many years as an alternative to extending pre-charge detention periods. Liberty welcomes the Privy Council review.

• Creating a Terror offenders’ list. Based on the initial proposals Liberty believes this should be either a bail condition or decided by a sentencing judge.

• Allowing post-charge questioning which Liberty fully supports for some terror cases provided that the initial charge is legitimate and there is judicial oversight.

• Making involvement in terrorism an aggravating factor during sentencing which Liberty warns must be evidence-based and proportionate.

Liberty Press Office on 0207 378 3656 or 0797 3 831 128

Notes to editors:

1. Additional powers that Liberty suggests as an alternative to extending pre-charge detention for terror suspects include:

• Criminalising failure to disclose encryption keys: Begin to use existing powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) which enable a civil court to require an individual to hand over an encryption key (which unlocks data on seized computers). Anyone who fails to comply with such an order will be committing a serious criminal offence.

• Hiring more interpreters: Prioritise the hiring of more foreign language interpreters to expedite pre-charge questioning and other procedures.

• Adding resources: More resources for police and intelligence services.