Detention Without Charge

Despite the government proposing an extension to the number of days a suspect can be detained (read imprisoned) without charge I'm coming to the conclusion that 28 days might actually be too long.

We already have by far the longest period of detention in the western world. Recent misinformation about the Italian system confused detention without charge (4 days) with detention before trial (possibly years), two very different things.

There are many arguments that can be made against excessive detention from a civil liberties perspective which I find convincing in themselves. But I want to suggest a reason why long periods of detention without charge are counter-productive in the fight against terrorism.

The most effective weapon against terrorism is intelligence. The most valuable source of information about potential Islamic terrorists is from within the Muslim community. We need Muslims to feel that if they suspect a member of their community may be involved in terrorism that they can go to the police and if that person is innocent they will not be responsible for ruining the suspect's life.

With a detention period of 28 days a suspect can have his life ruined without being guilty of any crime. A self employed man could have his business destroyed by being unable to work for 28 days, especially if the reason for his absence was to leak out.

Would you take your suspicions to the police if you thought you might be ruining a innocent person's life? No? Then why do we expect Muslims to do this to their fellow Muslims?

Detention is not the only reason why someone might be reluctant to voice their suspicions to the police. What if it was your conversation with the police that lead to the Forrest Gate raid where a innocent man was shot in his own home. Would you go to the police if you though it might lead to the man you suspected being injured, or possibly killed?

We need Muslims to believe that the criminal justice system is not going to punish innocent members of their community just for being suspects if we are to get the intelligence we need to fight Islamic terrorism.