// SECURITY: TERRORISM
I n the quarter century since the terrorist attacks on the United States took place on 11 September 2001, the global threat of terrorism persists, with thousands killed in 57 countries in the past year. Africa, particularly the Sahel, remains the hardest hit, followed by South Asia and the Middle East. But no region is immune. Most countries have taken extensive measures to prevent terrorism, including by implementing United Nations Security Council resolutions. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the UN General Assem- bly’s Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which commits all countries to a balanced response that combines law enforcement with respect for human rights and the rule of law. The Global Strategy also urges coun- tries to address the “conditions conducive to terrorism”, which include poverty, polit- ical exclusion, human rights violations and protracted unresolved conflict. Yet, despite these promises, the world has lately been plunged into a new dark age of abuses and impunity. Wars of ille- gal aggression on the pretext of countering terrorism have been launched in Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Venezuela, shatter- ing the basic rules of the UN Charter that have underpinned the international order since 1945. A dramatic decline in respect for inter- national humanitarian law has marred these and other counterterrorism cam- paigns, with fundamental rules on protecting civilians being broken in Gaza and beyond. ‘Wars on terror’ with cata- strophic human consequences have been enabled by states with influence that fail to use that influence to ensure respect for international law by others or, worse, have assisted atrocities through arms and munitions, intelligence or political cover. EXPANDING POWERS, DIMINISHING SAFEGUARDS There has been a collective failure by the international community to prevent ille- gal wars and international crimes, and to ensure remedies and accountability for victims. The Security Council has repeat- edly proved paralysed in the face of law breaking. Impunity for violators has conta- giously stoked more law breaking. Other trends are alarming. A phoney war on ‘narco-terrorism’ has taken hold in the Ben Saul, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism
Counterterrorism without compromises: reasserting human rights in a fractured order
Expansive counterterrorism measures, often justified by persistent threats, have undermined international law and civic space. For the G7, restoring credibility depends on rebalancing security with fundamental rights
Americas, resulting in hundreds of unlaw- ful killings on the high seas, summary deportations and mass imprisonment in inhumane conditions. Globally, new counterterrorism technologies, including artificial intelligence, are making har- assing civil society cheaper and easier. Transnational repression, physical and legal, is an alarming growth industry. Traditional abuses in countering ter- rorism remain rife, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, tor- ture, arbitrary detention, unfair trials and misuse of the death penalty. Abuses are enabled by vague and overbroad defi- nitions of terrorism and offences, and excessive law enforcement and intel- ligence powers. The designation of
individuals and groups as ‘terrorist’ or ‘extremist’ is a growing source of abuse. Overbroad counterterrorism sanctions and terrorist financing and support offences continue to undermine legit- imate humanitarian activities, target non-profit organisations and erode civic space. These are hard times for human rights, when even the pretence of respect for international law is being stripped away. Despite these challenges, United Nations human rights mechanisms and their civil society partners continue to diligently document violations, to advocate pri- vately and publicly for accountability for perpetrators and remedies for victims, to inform the public, and to build new coa-
30 // G7 FRANCE: THE ÉVIAN SUMMIT 2026
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