2.4. Discussion points.

1. Think of the factors that may be justifiable excuses for the government curbing an individual’s freedom.

2. Why do you think Britain still has no legal document codifying the human rights and liberties of the citizenry and the state’s commitments to honour and uphold them?

3. What is privacy?

4. Continue the statements: people should have unconditional and unrestricted access to weapons of any sort because… people under no circumstances should be allowed to buy and own guns because….

5. If a person accused of a grievous felony has been arrested by the police, he should be kept in detention and not released till the law enforcement agencies make sure he or she will spend the rest of his life in prison.

6. Do you agree that burning of the national flag is symbolic speech? Why (not)? Can you think of any other forms of symbolic protest?

7. Artists should be allowed to say whatever they feel inclined to say in their works for no other reason that they are artists, people voicing the epoch.

2.5. Using the italicized parts, summarize the articles to follow.

New terror laws “should be scrapped”

Amnesty International is calling for anti-terrorism laws introduced to the UK in the wake of September 11 to be scrapped. The charity says the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act, passed in November 2001, contravened fundamental human rights. It also claims the UK was the only country to breach basic human liberties in the wake of the attacks. Amnesty has called for an immediate repeal of section 4, which empowers the Home Secretary to detain foreign nationals indefinitely, without charge or trial, if they pose a risk to national security. It also demands the release of terrorist suspects being held by the US at Camp X-ray in Cuba unless they were charged and tried. “Such detention is inconsistent with the right to liberty and security as guaranteed under Article 5(1) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights”, the report stated. “The UK is the only country that has derogated from the ECHR in the aftermath of the events of September 11”, it added. According to the report, detainees under the Act suffered “cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment” as a result of their imprisonment. The seven UK nationals held at Camp X-ray are, according to the report, routinely denied the right to counsel, have had limited communications with their families, face potential trial by military commission with the power to pass death sentences, and the prospect of indefinite detention without charge or trial. The report calls for the Government to ensure their rights are restored and that, if charged, they be tried by an independent and impartial court without threat of the death penalty.

Ananova.com, 5th September 2002

Nigerian government silent on stoning appeal

The Nigerian government has remained silent over an Islamic court ruling that a single mother should be stoned to death. The government has come under growing international pressure to overturn the sentence. A spokesman for President Olusegun Obasanjo declined to comment on the verdict -- or the resulting protests from governments and human rights groups. An Islamic court in the northern town of Funtua rejected an appeal by Amina Lawal against the death sentence for having sex outside marriage. The woman's lawyers said they will appeal to a higher court. Human rights groups said the sentence violated international conventions and called on Obasanjo's government to stop it. “The death penalty is never an appropriate punishment for a crime, and, in this instance, the very nature of the crime is in doubt”, said LaShawn Jefferson of the New York-based Human Rights Watch. London-based Amnesty International said stoning people to death was “the ultimate form of torture” and that the “sentence should not be carried out”. EU spokesman Michael Curtis said: “We are concerned about this case. Our opposition to the death penalty is clear”, he said. Lawal, 30, was first sentenced in March after giving birth to a daughter more than nine months after divorcing.

Ananova.com, 21st August 2002

Former East Timor police chief cleared by court

Indonesia's last police chief in East Timor has been acquitted of allowing massacres of civilians in the province. The deaths came during its bloody break with Indonesia in 1999. Relatives and fellow officers burst into cheers as the verdict against Brigadier General Timbul Silaen was read out in the Jakarta court. Five more defendants were cleared just hours after Silaen was acquitted. The acquittals of the majors and colonels appeared to mark the collapse of efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators of the violence. Human rights groups and former independence fighters insist Silaen is a war criminal. Prosecutors claimed he had failed to stop anti-independence militiamen and police from storming a church in Liquica, 20 miles west of the capital Dili, and killing at least 18 people. He was also linked to deadly attacks on a United Nations office, a church diocese office and the homes of two pro-independence leaders. The trials of 18 former officials in East Timor, including Silaen, have been widely criticised for failing to portray adequately the role of the Indonesian security forces in the violence. The UN and foreign governments say the security forces orchestrated the atrocities. The province's former governor -- Abilio Soares -- has been sentenced to three years in jail for his part in the bloodshed. It was the first verdict in the series of trials.

Ananova.com 15th August 2002

Military court approves expulsion of three Palestinian relatives

Human rights groups say they'll contest a decision by an Israeli military court to expel three relatives of suspected Palestinian attackers from the West Bank to Gaza. The decision is a precedent -- the first time a court has ruled that relatives of suspected bombers and other attackers can be punished. However, the real legal precedent is expected in the appeals process, when the case reaches Israel's highest court. In its attempts to put a stop to Palestinian suicide bombings, Israel's government is targeting the families of potential bombers and other attackers. The Israelis hope militants will realise their families will suffer as the result of attacks and have second thoughts. In a statement, the Israeli military says it will carry out the expulsions “in the framework of the struggle against suicide terrorism and its supporting environment”. The military court delayed implementation of the expulsions to allow an appeal to Israeli civilian courts. The Moked human rights group, representing the three, says it will appeal. Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein ruled that only relatives who were directly connected to the attacks could be punished.

Ananova.com 13th August 2002