Control orders set dangerous precedent
The following is the text of an unprinted letter from CASE to the London Evening Standard last week
Control orders set dangerous precedent
The Coalition Against Secret Evidence want control orders scrapped in their entirety, not just rebranded. They have set a dangerous precedent whereby individuals can be detained on the basis of intelligence that they have not been able to see or have tested in a court of law. Under habeus corpus, every citizen has the right to know of what he is accused and to defend him or herself against such accusation – those subjected to control orders do not have this right.
There have been a number of individuals held under various forms of detention, including control orders, since 2001. CASE has seen the debilitating effect this has had on the individuals concerned who see no light at the end of the tunnel. All they want is the right to have any charge against them heard before a court of law. Surely any democratic and just country cannot deny that right.
We hope that the Liberal Democrats will hold their nerve and deliver on their promise to end control orders. There were many Liberal Democrats, now ministers in the government (among them Sarah Teather, Lynne Featherstone, Nick Harvey and Chris Huhne), who 198 months ago signed a CASE early day motion 18 months ago (number 1308) calling for an end to the use of secret evidence as utilised under control orders. Now is the time for them to deliver on that promise and demonstrate the confidence of their convictions by abolishing control orders.
Paul Donovan, Adrienne Burrows
