Is Great Britain a Soft Touch for Terrorists?

Two al-Qaeda terrorists who were intercepted by the security services plotting to bomb targets in England have won an appeal against deportation to their home country of Pakistan. Their deportation was prohibited under the Human Rights Act despite them still being considered a security risk by the UK government. The reason given is that they are likely to be tortured of killed if returned to Pakistan.

What is your reaction to this? My first reaction was outrage. How can we keep these men in the Britain? Sure torture is wrong, but what about the security of my family? Douglas Murray from the Centre for Social Cohesion asks “do the rights of British people trump the rights of al-Qaeda terrorists?” This is a fair question and British people are right to ask it. Murray argues that a country wishing to survive should not behave like this. 

On reflection however I believe that the right decision has been made after all. Britain has consistently rejected the death penalty and torture over the years. It is therefore completely inconsistent with our legal system to send convicted offenders to another country where they will receive a punishment that our country is morally and democratically opposed too. Great Britain does not do torture, and therefore it must not send people to be tortured.

The Home Secretary Teresa May has rightly pointed out, this is not a battle between national security vs. civil liberties; rather our national security is dependent upon our human rights being universal in their application even for those who deserve it least. If we let go of what we stand for, what are we fighting against?

Part of having civil liberties is living with the ugly side of other people’s rights. When the actions of violent Jihadist’s cause us to lose sight of who we are and what we believe, we prove to them the weakness of our own values. Sure, the West is far from perfect; this is not simply about good vs. evil. But by offering rights to those who would take our rights away we demonstrate that freedom and democracy offer a better alternative to violent Islamism, and that our values remain impervious to random acts of violence. As one commentator recently put it: “if we don’t protect the human rights of even our enemies then we become a little bit more like them.”

Comments

[Ron]

Dan,
The terrorists who were intent on bombing British targets are from parkistan you say. I can only imagine their ultimate aim is to bring the values of their homeland to the west. Among those values would no doubt be shiria law and the barbaric practices associated with it. The recent press coverage about a female in Iran potentially facing being stoned to death for loving the wrong man illustrates the reality of this.
Are we right to force our western values on them? Democracy and freedom are not traditional values in their land of origin. Maybe we should give them what they would be more than happy to force on us. If their plan had succeeded they would have caused death and untold mental torture on many innocent people; let them face the harshness of their beliefs in a parkistan prison where that thing would be common place. Don't incarsurate them at our expense for years to come so that they can recruit others to their cause in our comfortable prisons. Many people have died defending our country and way of life throughtout history, let these two enjoy the benefits of a Pakistani jail. Them and any others who chose to follow in their footsteps.