Restricting the Liberty of Terror Suspects - a joint IDI/ICRC Workshop

	Event Date(s): 12/13/2008
	Date Published: 10/25/2008	Last Updated: 10/30/2008
	Category: Events

On Sunday, December 14th, the Israel Democracy Institute together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, will host a workshop dealing with the restriction of rights of terror suspects.

Introduction

One of the common reactions of democracies to the growing threat of terror in the post 9/11 era has been the resort to measures found outside the ordinary criminal process, which are designed to limit the liberty of individuals suspected by the authorities of involvement in terror or other security related offences (utilizing, at times, pre-9/11 legal institutions, and relying, at other times, on new legislation). While there is little question that large scale terrorist threats could justify the imposition of certain limits on personal liberty, it is questionable whether some contemporary liberty restricting measures represent necessary and proportional responses or contain adequate safeguards against abuse.

The workshop will study four existing modalities for restricting the liberty of individuals suspected of committing terror or other security related offences - administrative or preventive detention, control orders, detention pending deportation, and incarceration as enemy combatants – and compare them to one another and to the ordinary criminal process. It will highlight the experiences of different legal systems in addressing real or putative security threats through restrictions on liberty, explain the decision to move away from the criminal process and discuss the compatibility of such measures with international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

Program

Session 1 – 9:30-11:00
Comparative Lessons 1
Prof. Clive Walker, Leeds, University – Restricting Liberty under UK Law and Practice
Prof. Andrew Lynch, University of New South Wales - Restricting Liberty under Australian Law and Practice

Session 2 – 11:30-13:00
Comparative Lessons 2
Prof. Stephen Schulhofer, New York University - Restricting Liberty under US Law and Practice
Mr. Gabor Rona, Human Rights First - The Treatment of Enemy Combatants in the US

Lunch – 13:00-14:00

Session 3 – 14:00-15:30
Restricting Liberty: The Israeli Experience
Col. (retired) Daniel Reisner – The Use of Administrative Detentions against Suspected Terrorists
Ms. Lila Margalit, Association for Civil Rights in Israel – The Israeli Unlawful Combatants Law
Mr. Amir Fouchs and Ms. Lina Saba, Israel Democracy Institute – The Israeli Criminal Law Framework for addressing Terror Suspects

Session 4 – 16:00-17:00
The International Perspective
Ms. Jelena Pejic, International Committee of the Red Cross – The International Standards Governing Detention of Terror Suspects

Session 5
17:15-18:15
Concluding discussion