Countering Terrorism through Communications Surveillance: A Human Rights Perspective

Terrorism, communications surveillance, and human rights are closely connected with one another in the sense that the presence of terrorism makes the use of communications surveillance somewhat necessary as a tool of countering it, and both of these affect the human rights of the people who are subjected to them. So, how do we proceed with something that, on the one hand, serves as an important tool for countering terrorism, but on the other, raises questions about upholding the human rights of the mass? This paper seeks to understand and analyze the system of communications surveillance by States for the purpose of countering terrorism and any other threats to the national peace and security of the country, while also discussing what it means for the rights of the people and to what extent the two can co-exist to achieve a world without terror and politically motivated and premeditated use of violence on large scales around the globe. It further emphasizes on the need for applying the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance, also known as the Necessary and Proportionate Principles.