Human Rights in the 'War on Terror'

This book reviews the war on terror since 9/11 from a human rights perspective.

Richard Ashby Wilson (Edited by)

9780521853194, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 October 2005

366 pages, 10 tables
23 x 15.4 x 2.6 cm, 0.6 kg

'This volume makes a convincing case that it is not only possible but necessary to reconnect rights and security. … Human Rights in the 'War on Terror' is an exceptionally useful and inspirational consideration of how countries under attack from terrorists might meet these assaults without betraying the fundamental values that make our liberal democracies worth fighting for in the first place.' Democratiya

This book asks whether human rights, since the 9/11 attacks and the 'war on terror,' are a luxury we can no longer afford, or rights that must always remain a fundamental part of democratic politics, in order to determine the boundary between individual freedom and government tyranny. This volume brings together leading international lawyers, policy-makers, scholars and activists in the field of human rights to evaluate the impact of the 'war on terror' on human rights, as well as to develop a counter-terror strategy which takes human rights seriously. While some contributors argue that war is necessary in defense of liberal democracy, others assert that it is time to move away from the war model towards a new paradigm based upon respect for human rights, an internationally-coordinated anti-terror justice strategy, and a long-term political vision that can reduce the global tensions that generate a political constituency for terrorists.

Introduction Richard Ashby Wilson
1. Order, rights, and threats: terrorism and global justice Michael Freeman
2. Liberal security Fernando Tesón
3. The human rights case for the war in Iraq: a consequentialist view Thomas Cushman
4. Human rights as an ethics of power John Wallach
5. How not to promote democracy and human rights Aryeh Neier
6. War in Iraq: not a humanitarian intervention Kenneth Roth
7. The tension between combating terrorism and protecting civil liberties Richard Goldstone
8. Fair trials for terrorists? Geoffrey Robertson
9. Nationalizing the lcoal: comparative notes on the recent restructuring of political space Carol J. Greenhouse
10. The impact of counter terror on the promotion and protection of human rights: a global perspective Neil Hicks
11. Human rights: a descending spiral Richard Falk
12. Eight fallacies about liberty and security David Luban
13. Our privacy, ourselves in the age of technological intrusions Peter Galison and Martha Minow
14. Are human rights universal in the age of terrorism? Wiktor Osiatynski
15. Connecting human rights, human development and human security Mary Robinson
16. Human rights and civil society in a new age of American exceptionalism Julie Mertus.

Subject Areas: International humanitarian law [LBBS], International human rights law [LBBR], International law [LB]