How human rights and the rule of law can address terrorism

The report contends that securitised counter-terrorism efforts often violate human rights, perpetuating cycles of violence. It advocates for a shift toward criminal justice frameworks rooted in democratic values, emphasizing that functionality and accountability must be developed in tandem to avoid increasing risks to rights. The author calls for evidence-based methodologies, the meaningful inclusion of civil society in policymaking, and caution regarding 'Preventing Violent Extremism' (PVE) initiatives that may criminalise lawful behavior or ignore structural governance issues.

• Current global counter-terrorism strategies rely heavily on militarised force, which often results in human rights abuses and fails to provide long-term solutions, potentially facilitating further violent extremism.
• Sustainable solutions require a shift toward criminal justice-based approaches that ensure suspects are processed through public proceedings with due process, though this requires national regimes to possess both political will and operational capacity.
• There is a critical need to balance the strengthening of criminal justice capacity with accountability; increasing the technical ability of agencies to prosecute without equal focus on oversight increases the risk of rights violations.
• Capacity-building efforts in counter-terrorism often suffer from methodological weaknesses, such as a reliance on one-off training by external experts and a lack of attention to institutional culture or local ownership.
• The lack of universally accepted definitions for 'terrorism' and 'violent extremism' creates significant risks, as vague terms can be abused to criminalise lawful actions or target political opponents.
• Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) initiatives often focus too narrowly on community-level interventions and youth, neglecting the structural governance problems that contribute to extremism.
• Civil society organisations (CSOs) are frequently undervalued as mere implementers of state goals rather than essential political partners in the design and oversight of counter-terrorism policy.

APA

Frank, C. (2017). How human rights and the rule of law can address terrorism. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/aitwr-3.pdf

Chicago

Frank, Cheryl. How human rights and the rule of law can address terrorism. Institute for Security Studies, 2017. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/aitwr-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Frank |first1=Cheryl |title=How human rights and the rule of law can address terrorism |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=September 2017 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/aitwr-3.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{frank2017how, author = {Frank, Cheryl}, title = {{How human rights and the rule of law can address terrorism}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2017}, month = sep, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/aitwr-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }