March 30, 2013

Justice and the Islamist Terrorist: The Burlesque in Britain

By Michael Curtis
Commitment to the principle of human rights is now in collision with the ability of Western democratic countries to deal with and protect themselves from Islamic terrorists. On March 27, 2013, by decision of a senior judicial panel, the British government lost another attempt to deport the Islamist preacher Omar Othman, usually referred to as Abu Qatada, to Jordan, where he would be retried on criminal charges.  Understandingly, staunch advocates of human rights have applauded the decision of the judges.  Yet the sequence of events leading to this outcome is disappointing not only for British officials, who have wanted to remove him from the country.  It is even more disturbing that it prevents or delays what must be regarded as just and appropriate treatment for an individual whose preaching of radical hate and violent actions  make him a danger to national security and to civil society. On November 12, 2012, the British special immigration appeals commission...(Read Full Article)