The rights of alleged terrorists within the frameworks of human rights in the pre-trial stage

Abstract

The two most internationally renowned concepts are the rule of law and the fundamental human rights, both of which ensure the fair and equal treatment of all the nations’ citizens. In an instant, an act of terrorism breaks a diverse amount of the core values of a nation’s rights at both a national and international level. For instance, it puts the right to freedom of an individual in grave jeopardy, it goes against the peaceful resolution of conflict and it may even cause a collapse in the state’s democratic system, etc. In this particular dissertation, the focus is on the basic fundamental human rights each and every citizen in a nation is entitled to, whether suspected of committing a crime or not. Also, falling under this category of nations’ rights is the collapse of the democratic system of a state. This has resulted in a warped state of thinking on behalf of the State governments, as they have been put in the challenging position where they believe that they have the possibility to choose between preserving the national security and protecting the rights of the alleged terrorists. This study is restricted to the initial stages of pre-trial detention. It illustrates and discusses the possible challenges alleged terrorists may come across and provides the remedies they ought to have, on the condition that there is a breach of their rights held under Article 3 and 5 ECHR. This is shown through a dissection and analysis of a sample of cases limited to those occurring within the European, Euro-Mediterranean and UK regions. This study then concludes with a criticism of the manner in which these alleged terrorists are treated and suggests possible ideas for further in-depth investigations on the topic.