Detainee Rights

I've blogged quite a bit about the erosion of our civil liberties by the UK government in Labour's Authoritaranism. Well, if Gordon Brown's recent promise to push for 90 day detention is anything to go by these erosions look set to continue apace. With all this in mind, I found this article comparing detainee rights in Israel with America particularly interesting. The article suggests that Israel, which is under constant terrorist threat appears to operate with a greater deference to human rights standards than the USA.

[...]

BEFORE ENACTING the ``Detainee Bill " (otherwise known as the Military Commissions Act) two weeks ago, Congress should have spent more time learning from the Israeli experience. Compared with Israel's security measures during a long and difficult experience with terrorism, the US Congress has gone too far in its willingness to compromise human rights and civil liberties. Security considerations, as legitimate and forceful as they are, do not justify such excessive measures, as the Israeli practice demonstrates.

[...]

The article compares the US Military Commissions Act and the Unlawful Combatants Law passed by the Knesset in 2002. Read it here.


(via TNR's blog The Spine)