Liberty responds to emergency counter-terror legislation

Liberty, the human rights organisation, has responded to the proposed Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Bill 2019-20, which is being debated in the House of Commons today.

Rosalind Comyn, Policy and Campaigns Officer at Liberty, said: “This bill is a bid to make Ministers look tough on terror, while neatly hiding the fact their counter-terror strategy is failing.

“It is just the latest distraction technique from a Government that wants to shirk accountability.

“These changes will apply to people convicted of offences that shouldn’t even be criminalised in the first place – from clicking once on content deemed likely to be useful to a terrorist, to travelling overseas to anywhere the Home Secretary designates.

“Knee-jerk laws like these not only chip away at our civil liberties, they also don’t make us any safer. We need counter-terror measures that are evidence-based and designed with the freedom and safety of our communities at their heart.”

Contact the Liberty press office on 020 7378 3656 / 07973 831 128 or pressoffice@libertyhumanrights.org.uk