Human Rights and Non-discrimination in the 'War on Terror'

By: Daniel Moeckli

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Hardcover | 1 March 2008

At a Glance

Hardcover
300 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.39 x 15.6 x 1.75

Hardcover

$140.75

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In the post-September 11th era, liberal democracies face the question of whether, and if so to what extent, they should change the relationship between liberty and security. This book explores how three major liberal democratic states - the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany - have approached this challenge by analysing the human rights impacts of their anti-terrorism laws and practices. The analysis reveals that the most far-reaching restrictions of liberty have been imposed on minorities: foreign nationals and certain ''racial'', ethnic and religious groups.This Disparate treatment raises complex issues concerning the human right to non-discrimination. Differential treatment on the basis of nationality, national origin, ''race'' or religion is only compatible with the right to non-discrimination if there are objective and reasonable grounds for it. The author evaluates contemporary anti-terrorism efforts for their compliance with this requirement. Is there, in the context of the current ''war on terror'', sufficient justification for applying powers of preventive detention or trial by special tribunal only to foreign nationals? Are law enforcement methods or immigration policies that single out people for special scrutiny based on their national origin, or their ethnic or religious appearance, a suitable and proportionate means of countering terrorism? The concluding part of the book argues that, in the long term, discriminatory anti-terrorism measures will have impacts beyond their original scope and fundamentally reshape ordinary legal regimes and law enforcement methods.

Industry Reviews

`In sum, Moeckli's book deals soberly and sensibly with one of the fundamental challenges to human rights law brought by contemporary anti-terrorism laws. While open to accepting reasoned and proportionate measures which differentiate on the basis of group characteristics, Moeckli concludes that many recent measures justified by national security are ineffective, unnecessary and excessive, and more the product of political imperatives and a slide towards obsessive risk analysis by governments. His book is a plea for a return to formalism: a reassertion of the moral value of principles of equality and non-discrimination which are central to the rule of law and the legitimacy of governance.' Ben Saul, The Modern Law Review 72 (3) 2009 `...the book engages well with the burgeoning academic literature relating to the 'war on terror' and, in particular, the relationship between liberty and security. To that extent the book provides a very useful source of comment and debate on that literature and will be of use to students and practitioners as well as academics.' J. Craig Barker, University of Sussex, The British Yearbook of International Law, issue 79 `Moeckli's invaluable study demonstrates that discriminatory anti-terrorist laws, through stigmatizing a particular group as a suspect community outside the protection of international human rights law, pose a grave challenge to the very concept of the universality of human rights itself.' Toby King, European Commission

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