ARTICLE 19 welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur. Overbroad and vague terrorism laws have had devastating impacts on civic space for many years.
Imprecision is the tool of choice for authoritarian governments to suppress the right to freedom of expression – the broader and vaguer the definition of terrorism, the more power they have to convert any criticism or dissent into a crime. Journalists, human rights defenders and other civil society actors have been arbitrarily detained, tortured and killed based on terrorism laws when lawfully exercising their right to freedom of expression.
The use of sweeping laws on terrorism and other national security grounds is increasingly facilitating transnational repression, with politically motivated charges against civil society actors in exile in the pursuit of their extradition, often leading to arbitrary arrests, travel restrictions, and other impacts on their work.
We reiterate that human rights belong at the heart of all counter terrorism efforts, or these efforts risk exacerbating the very conditions conducive to terrorism or becoming sources of rights violations themselves.
We stand with the Special Rapporteur in calling for a clear, narrow definition of terrorism in full compliance with international human rights law. We also call on all States to undertake human rights assessments of current and proposed terrorism definitions and offences to ensure full compliance with international human rights law.