UK: 42-Day Pre-Charge Detention Violates Rights

The House of Lords will begin debate on a counterterrorism bill on July 8, the day after the third anniversary of the July 2005 bomb attacks on Londons transport system. The bill includes 42-day pre-charge detention and other harmful proposals.

The third anniversary of the 2005 bombings in London reminds us that Britain faces a real terror threat, said Judith Sunderland, Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. But locking people up without charge for six weeks will not make the country safer. The Lords should take a principled stand against this dangerous and unnecessary proposal.

The 19-page briefing paper analyzes measures in the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008 that Human Rights Watch believes are incompatible with the UKs obligations under international human rights law.

Much of the debate around the bill has focused legitimately on the governments renewed effort to extend pre-charge detention beyond the already-excessive 28-day period, which Human Rights Watch believes should be rolled back rather than extended. But the bill contains other provisions that raise serious human rights concerns.

The problems with this bill dont begin and end with 42 days, said Sunderland. The Lords need to take a hard look at post-charge questioning, notification, and secret inquests, all of which raise serious human rights concerns.

Other key problems with the bill include:

• Post-charge questioning without effective safeguards against self-incrimination and oppressive police interviews. The bill allows the courts to draw negative inferences during the terrorism trial when a defendant exercises the right to remain silent after being charged, and fails to require explicitly the presence of a lawyer at all times when a defendant is questioned once charged.
• Blanket lifelong notification requirements. Persons convicted of terrorism offenses and sentenced for more than five years of imprisonment must let the police know their whereabouts for their entire lives after they are released from prison
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