Human Rights in face of terror?

By Ritam Banati

Human Rights - The word speaks for itself. Any threat to humanity is but of course a violation of Human Rights. Terrorism that represents a major peril to the world most certainly gravely infringes these rights.

Some or the other form of carnage is prevalent today everywhere. For instance civil war strife, dowry deaths, sexual abuse or for that matter even female foeticide. The list actually can go on and on.

The theme of this year’s International Human Rights Day is "Dignity and justice for all of us". The absence of terror is a basic pre-requisite to a life of dignity and justice. Against the backdrop of the recent attack on Mumbai, the focus is brought back on terrorism.

To mark International Human Rights Day, let us briefly study the worst terror attacks of this century- 9/11 attack and 11/26.

On September 11, 2001, four aeroplanes were hijacked by fanatics and crashed into a US county, the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Thousands of lives were lost and there was massive destruction of property.

On November 26, 2008, a terror assault struck India’s commercial capital Mumbai when 12 serial attacks sent shivers down the spine. This included major offensives on its five star hotels-Trident Oberoi and the Taj Mahal. Over 175 people lost their lives and there was immense damage to property.

Investigations that resulted in the aftermath of 9/11 discovered that breach of airport security caused the entry of the hijackers. Also authorities were apparently forewarned about an impending al Qaeda attack. Ex-CIA Director George Tenet testified to the 9/11 Commission that he had apprised US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of the same in July 2001.

Despite this terrorists had managed to succesfully prove their might and render vulnerable a superpower.

Authorities in India too had prior warnings of the 11/26 Mumbai attack yet they could not avert the strike. Couple this with the fact that false inputs received from the terrorists diverted the attention of the security forces and facilitated their easy entry through the sea route to Mumbai. They had also studied the structure of the buildings in advance and at the time of the ghastly incident used both sign language and sophisticated satellite phones to communicate. The well-planned Target 5000 offensive killed around 200 people.

Here too, stringent preventive action was not taken even after forewarning. The needed security was not put in place. This caused the easy execution of the terror attack. Reports also state that food preparations were made in advance in Mumbai’s Nariman House to take care of the needs of the attackers before they entered the building.

It is evident that the terrorists come with their homework done. And here what we do is witness a spate of resignations in the aftermath of the attack. Let this not disguise the truth that they won’t lead to protecting the right to life. Similarly post-9/11, the creation of the post of a National Intelligence Director, the revamping of border security, upgradation in the airport security system and immigration policy changes won’t ensure dignity and justice in the face of terror.

All this is inadequate as terror game plan keeps changing. It merits mention though that there has been no major attack on the US since then. Keeping in mind the unpredictability of the terrorists and also focusing on the fact that Human Rights here are the biggest concern, the need is to hit the nail on the head.

This is only possible by firstly blocking the path of terror funding; secondly, by defeating indoctrination techniques as a part of preventive mechanism; thirdly, ensuring strong internal defences including working out local connivance and lastly by strictly punishing the perpetrators.

The need is also to remember that often anti-terror strategies create legal extremism. The police interrogation techniques are torturous -be they in Indian jails or in US Naval base Guantanamo Bay. Even within the confines of practicality, the dictum “Innocent till proved guilty” can take care of Human Rights in the context of the chain of events that follow after a terror attack.

On the 60th year of International Human Rights Day in the wake of the present century’s terror attacks, the need is also to protect Human Rights of the layman that can easily be swept off in the desperation to bring to book the culprits.

The need is also to first accept that the attacks are continuing because somewhere we are soft on terror; and then to identify and act on the same.

And last but the most important is to redefine Human Rights. Human Rights cannot be universal anymore. An inhuman terrorist cannot and most definitely should not possess “human” rights.