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CND in the News
CND in the News: 8-14 October 2005
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1 Blair urged to rethink terror law
12 October 2005
http://icsouthlondon.icnetwork.co.uk
A former Labour Cabinet minister and an Anglican bishop were among a broad
range of religious and political figures urging Prime Minister Tony Blair
to think again about his anti-terrorism proposals. Around 500 campaigners
attended a rally at Central Hall in Westminster to voice concern about
the Terrorism Bill, published on Wednesday morning. The meeting, called
by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, brought together a coalition including
members of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party,
trade unions, civil rights campaigners, Church of England clergy and Muslim
groups.
They heard former Health Secretary Frank Dobson denounce as "unacceptable"
plans to detain terror suspects without charge for as long as 90 days.
And they heard the Bishop of Coventry, Colin Bennetts, speak of his "deep
concern" at the impact of the planned legislation on historic British
freedoms and present-day community relations.
Meanwhile, Kate Hudson, the chair of the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament, warned that clauses in the Bill would effectively
threaten life imprisonment to people involved in peaceful protest outside
nuclear sites like Faslane or Aldermaston.
Mr Dobson told the meeting that the aim of terrorists was to set one community
against another by inducing countries like Britain to give up their commitment
to the rule of law and civil liberties. "You don't prevent terrorism
by abandoning age-old freedoms, you don't do it by alienating large groups
of people who are law-abiding and sympathetic to the idea that we all
ought to be able to live together," he warned.
"You can't have people locked up on the say-so of the police or Government
ministers ... you can't have people interrogated for enormously long periods
without being charged with an offence." He added: "The thing
I fear most about what the Government is proposing today is that instead
of trying to attract people to the cause of preventing terrorism, what
they are doing will drive more and more people of a moderate, decent point
of view into not being part of the campaign to prevent terrorism. The
Prime Minister says the game has changed. Well, he had better change it
again, otherwise we will start losing it."
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2 UK Terror Bill Faces Wide Opposition
13 October 2005
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=20676
British politicians, activists, lecturers and Muslim leaders have mobilized
opposition to the UK government's controversial anti-terror bill published
in full on Wednesday, October 12.
A cross-party coalition said it backed steps to prevent bombings like
those in the capital on July 7, but opposed any measures that would trample
on political freedoms or alienate Muslims whose help is needed to combat
radical groups, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"We support measures to tackle terrorist attacks, such as those
on London on July 7, but we oppose measures which would exclude or criminalize
people who condemn such attacks and whose cooperation is indispensable
to the work of the police," London Mayor Ken Livingstone said. Livingstone
joined politicians from various parties, including Muslim leader Sir Iqbal
Sacranie and other campaigners at Westminster City Hall at 6:30 pm (1730
GMT) before lobbying MPs on the legislation. The mayor said any laws must
pass the "Nelson Mandela test." Earlier in the week, Livingstone
said such new measures could in theory have criminalized supporters of
Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress 20 years ago.
One of the main concerns, according to the coalition, is that the measures
are being directed at Britain's 1.8 million Muslim minority and in effect
are turning the country into a "police state." The coalition
also brings together major trade unions, civil rights groups, peace activists,
environmental organizations and many others, including the Black Police
Association.
The Terrorism Bill was published by the government in full for the first
time at 12:30 pm (1130 GMT) ahead of a debate on Thursday, October 13,
in the House of Commons, Britain's the Guardian newspaper reported. It
grants sweeping powers for British police, including detaining terror
suspects up to three months before charges are laid and closure places
of worship being used by alleged extremists.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has watered down the "glorification
of terror" offence in the new anti-terror package after harsh criticism
from the opposition and human rights activists. Under the proposals, people
will be charged with "glorifying terrorism" only if it can be
demonstrated they intended to encourage their audience to commit terrorist
attacks. The original bill says: "A person commits an offence if
he glorifies, exalts, or celebrates an act of terrorism whether in the
past or in the future."
Curtailing Freedoms
Kate Hudson from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, who was part of
the anti-measure campaign, said democratic freedoms should not be compromised,
reflecting fears the measures could curtail the right to peaceful protest
on issues such as nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
She recalled that terror laws had been used to eject a life-long government
Labour Party member, Walter Wolfgang, from the party's conference in September
for voicing his opposition to the war in Iraq. The incident, she said,
demonstrated "the serious threat that these laws will be used to
curtail the right to protest ... We must defend our democratic right to
protest."
MP Mark Oaten, a member of the opposition Liberal Democrats who is also
part of the campaign, warned that "the government must not hand the
terrorists a victory by taking away long held liberties and principles
of justice."
University lecturers also warned that the government's new terrorism
bill will restrict academic freedom and could force staff to fall foul
of the law if they teach or research controversial subjects. Academics
teaching on courses on contemporary politics, Islam, the Middle East or
Ireland are all potentially at risk because of proposals to make it an
offense to glorify terrorism or disseminate "extremism," the
Association of University Teachers (AUT) said in statements carried by
the Iranian news agency Wednesday. Fears are that science could also be
affected because the offence of "training for terrorism" outlaws
any instruction in the handling of noxious substances if a person "knows
or suspects" their student might use the skills for terrorism.
The Council of Europe said Tuesday that British plans to deport terror
suspects would clash with civil liberties enjoyed by Europeans under the
European Convention on Human Rights as their native countries were very
much expected to torture them. "The prohibition of torture and inhuman
or degrading treatment ... is absolute and nonnegotiable," said Council
of Europe chairman Terry Davis. "It is wrong to suggest that this
... has changed as a result of the recent terrorist threats."
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