Abstract

Terrorism has an extremely real and direct repercussion on human rights, with catastrophic penalties for the people concerning enjoying their right to life, liberty, and physical integrity. Such activities can subvert governments, destabilize civil society, endanger harmony and security, and jeopardize the development of the society as well as the economy, in addition to these distinct prices that a nation and its government have to pay. All of these things combined substantially affect citizens’ ability to exercise their fundamental human rights. States must defend the human rights of their citizens and others by adopting proactive actions to safeguard them from the threat of terrorist attacks and bring those culpable to justice. These actions that seek to effectively combat terrorism are known as counter-terrorism methods. This research paper focuses on how these methods also end up violating human rights at a certain point. The secondary source of data or doctrinal research has been used for the formulation of this research paper. That being said, various published papers and articles have been referred to, acknowledged duly, that have collectively resulted in the successful completion of this research paper on “The Impact of Counter-Terrorism on International Human Rights”. In the course of the formulation of this paper, the research gap that has come to light is the recurring question that if both terrorism and actions against it curtail human rights, then what must be done to put an end to such heinous violence? Human rights and the rule of law must be the foundations of the struggle of all countries at large, against terrorism. This necessitates the formulation of national counter-terrorism plans aimed at preventing terrorist activities, prosecuting those responsible, and promoting and protecting human rights and the laws of the land. It entails actions to remedy the environment that is receptive to the propagation of terror attacks, such as a relative paucity of legal and human rights abuses, ethnocultural, federal, and religious marginalization, political repression, and socioeconomic exclusion; to encourage the direct engagement and governance of public life; to denounce violations of human rights, expressly forbid them in national legislation, evaluate and convict them swiftly, and help stop them; as well as to pay critical attention to terrorist activity.

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