‘Be fair to terrorism suspects’

Nov 26, 2007

COUNTRIES in the Commonwealth should dispense justice to terrorism suspects fairly, an academic has said.<br>“Terrorism is a terrible matter and governments need to act, but the judiciary should avoid special regimes for terrorism suspects and operate within existing international regimes,” sai

By Milton Olupot

COUNTRIES in the Commonwealth should dispense justice to terrorism suspects fairly, an academic has said.
“Terrorism is a terrible matter and governments need to act, but the judiciary should avoid special regimes for terrorism suspects and operate within existing international regimes,” said Prof. Betrand Ramcharan of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.

“The executive should accept this. Courts should be willing entertain and supervise applications of terrorism fairly like any others,” he said, while responding to a question on whether terrorism suspects deserved fair treatment.

Ramcharan, while delivering a keynote address at deliberations of the National Human Rights Institutions at Hotel Africana on Tuesday, said many terrorism suspects are handled without due regard for their human rights.

He said national human rights institutions should be strengthened so that they are able to make governments accountable on matters of human rights protection and observation.

National human rights institutions, Ramcharan said, should partner with the judiciary to enhance their protection.
He observed that many governments were intolerant to people who challenge them.

“Protection of rights is not primarily to put governments on the defensive, but rather to help steer governments in the direction of protection and justice. A government attacked in public will almost invariably dig its heels in.

He told heads of human rights institutions that they stood to meet the wrath of governments but asked them to remain steadfast.

“It is worth recalling that if you are the chairperson of a national human rights commission facing the wrath of the government of the day, your position is a lonely one.

“We need to find ways of protecting human rights institutions even in the face of such adverse conditions.”
Uganda Human Rights commissioner Aliro Omara said inappropriate economic and social policies were responsible for failure in observation of human rights.

“Fundamental human rights and freedoms are well articulated at the international level, in covenants, conventions and treaties. However, these guarantees have remained largely normative although conveniently quoted in speeches.”

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