Britain to get tough on terror
2004-11-21 17:27
London - Britain is considering sweeping new anti-terrorism laws including special courts to try terror suspects without a jury, home secretary David Blunkett said in an interview on Sunday.
Other measures, to be introduced only if Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party wins a general election expected in mid-2005, would include allowing evidence gained from telephone taps to be used in trials.
They were put forward as The Sunday Times reported that a British man detained at the US base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba - criticised by Britain for failing to protect legal rights of detainees - was considered an al-Qaeda terrorist by Washington.
Blunkett also said people who had not committed an offence but were suspected of planning terrorism acts could have their actions restricted by so-called "civil orders", similar to a system of anti-social behaviour orders introduced recently to target repeat criminals.
The proposals will most likely alarm civil liberties campaigners in Britain, some of whom view Blunkett as an authoritarian more concerned with pleasing tabloid newspapers than preserving individual freedoms.
Criticism
Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy accused the minister of "undermining" citizens' rights, saying the measure was a sign of the "illiberalism" of the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Blunkett, interviewed by ITV television, said special terrorism trials with judges sitting alone were also being considered.
There was "a very strong case" for copying similar no-jury tribunals used to hear some immigration cases, "and there's widespread support for looking at that", Blunkett said.
The civil orders would be used to prevent people, for example, from using certain banking systems linked to terrorism or using the Internet, with those breaching such orders being imprisoned.
However, this would all have to wait, Blunkett said: "It's not my intention to try and push a bill through this side of the general election whenever the prime minister calls it."
Information gained through wire taps could also become permitted as evidence in trials, Blunkett added, following discussions with security agencies.
The security services have previously opposed such a move, fearing that they could be force to disclose secret operations in court.
Guantanamo Bay
Blunkett's comments will underscore his reputation as someone unafraid to shock what he once dismissively labelled the "bleeding-heart liberals" of the civil rights lobby.
He has battled with rights groups previously over issues such as a law allowing foreign terrorism suspects to be detained indefinitely without trial.
His announcement coincided with the Sunday Times report that 24-year-old Feroz Abbasi, one of four Britons still held at Guantanamo Bay, was thought by US officials to have trained in terrorism camps in Afghanistan and fought with Islamic militants there.
Britain made a rare criticism of Guantanamo earlier this month in its annual human rights report, saying the four Britons should either "be tried fairly in accordance with international standards or returned to the UK".
It indicated it was currently not possible to get a fair trial by international standards at the military courts the US government has set up for "enemy combatants" at its offshore base in Cuba.
Britain, as a close ally of the United States both in Iraq and the "war on terrorism", is bracing itself for possible attacks by groups such as al-Qaeda, with the country's top policeman saying earlier this year that it was merely a matter of when, rather than if.