EU security and counter-terrorism policies and human rights

2020 ◽  
pp. 457-477
Author(s):  
Mikaela Heikkilä ◽  
Elina Pirjatanniemi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Judicial Cooperation ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
International Human

Numerous terrorist attacks both within and outside the European Union (EU or the Union) have prompted the Union to increasingly act in the field of counter-terrorism. Since the adoption of the Union’s counter-terrorism strategy in 2005, the Union’s action in relation to counter-terrorism has been based on four connected pillars: to prevent, to protect, to pursue, and to respond. A general trend in the Union’s counter-terrorism action has been a move towards a pre-emptive approach, where the focus lies on countering terrorism threats in advance. The aim of this chapter is to discuss whether the adoption of these pre-emptive measures strengthen the security landscape of the Union. The chapter thus takes a closer look at how the Union strives to detect persons planning or preparing terrorist offences, and to hinder actual attacks from taking place. In particular, attention is paid to the EU’s police and judicial cooperation, general surveillance, the criminalisation of preparatory terrorist offences, and cooperation with third states and international organisations. A central objective is also to assess how the various counter-terrorism measures concur with international human rights law, including the Union’s legal framework on data protection.

Between Boko Haram and the Joint Task Force: Assessing the Dilemma of Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights in Northern Nigeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Terwase Sampson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Task Force ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
National Human ◽  
Joint Task Force ◽  
International Human

AbstractThis article seeks to examine the paradox of Boko Haram terrorism and Nigeria's counter-terrorism efforts, personified by the Joint Task Force (JTF). While posing the challenge of human rights abuses by the JTF in its counter-Boko Haram operations, the article contends that, whereas the terrorists' activities violate the rights of victims, the JTF's actions have also resulted in significant human rights abuses against innocent civilians. It argues that, despite Nigeria's obligations under the plenitude of international human rights treaties, non-domestication of these treaties by Nigeria has rendered them insignificant. The article therefore recommends alternative approaches to this challenge. Nigeria should domesticate the catalogue of international human rights instruments to which it has acceded, enact rules of engagement for law enforcement operations by security forces, develop a counter-terrorism strategy that is subject to robust engagement with all stakeholders, and strengthen its existing human rights accountability mechanisms, such as the law courts, legislature and National Human Rights Commission.

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