Government must rethink approach to tackling terrorism

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 1st Aug 2006

Commenting on the publication of the Report on Counter-Terrorism policy and Human Rights, focussing on prosecution and pre-charge detention, Liberal Democrat member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights Dr Evan Harris MP said:

"The message to the Government from this report is very clear - there is another way to prevent and tackle terrorism, without losing our fundamental liberties in the process. Ministers could do well to study what we suggest.

"Preventing terrorism is not easy, but our Report suggests some specific ways that the Government can overcome obstacles to prosecution and reduce the need for lengthy pre-charge detention, while at the same time potentially enhancing the effectiveness of its strategy against terrorism. These include greater use of intercept evidence, more focus on turning intelligence into evidence and reducing the threshold for charging and prosecution coupled with the enhanced ability to use post-charge questioning.

"If the Government, police and prosecution authorities invested as much time in alternative approaches to getting effective prosecutions as they did to seeking to extend pre-charge detention and house arrest of suspects who they do not bring to trial, then they would find they did not need these more dubious approaches at all"