Practical Guidance Paper on Counter-terrorism and Human Rights

Human rights form an integral part of the EU and the UN strategies to fight terrorism. The strategies establish firmly that development, security and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, and that grave violations of human rights can create conditions conducive to terrorism. Furthermore, it is stressed that measures taken to counter terrorism must be in full compliance with human rights obligations.

The objective of this paper is twofold:

First, in part A, to introduce an assessment tool which can be used at the national level. The assessment tool can assist in identifying and addressing possible weaknesses or shortcomings in relation to fighting terrorism and complying with human rights obligations at the domestic level.

Second in part B, to provide input to easily accessible, practical and operational human rights guidelines in regard to counter-terrorism measures. This part is particularly aimed at police, security and military officers and any other law enforcement officials, including intelligence agents, involved in the different phases of countering terrorism. The idea behind directing the guidelines at this particular target group is that these guidelines should be a step towards ensuring that (1) law enforcement officials (and thus not just their superiors, political decision makers and other senior officers) are being provided with basic human rights knowledge in regard to the professional tasks they undertake and (2) human rights accordingly are taken into consideration at all levels, including the operational level and (3) that everyday practices respect individual human rights at all times. The guidelines can in particular be useful for officials in developing countries and in development cooperation projects.