Court quashes Britain's anti-terrorism orders [View All]

Court quashes Britain's anti-terrorism orders

By Peter Graff
Reuters
Wednesday, June 28, 2006; 10:50 AM

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's High Court ruled on Wednesday that "control orders"
confining six terrorism suspects to partial house arrest breached their human rights,
throwing out a key plank of Prime Minister Tony Blair's security policy.

Under the orders, terrorism suspects who have not been charged with a crime have
been electronically tagged, confined to their houses for most of the day and banned
from using computers and phones or meeting people without permission.

"The six control orders are incompatible with the respondents' right to liberty under
article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights," said Justice Jeremy Sullivan.

Blair rushed the new powers through parliament last year after courts rejected post-
September 11, 2001 emergency measures that had allowed police to confine foreign
suspected terrorists to high security prison indefinitely without trial.