To what extent have the policies and practices of counterterrorism undermined human rights in the 'War on Terror'?

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, University of Kent, language: English, abstract: This essay will discuss the impact that counterterrorism has had on human rights throughout the 'war on terror', focusing on the policies and practices of the U.S. after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, and using case studies such as Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. This essay will compare the use policies and practices of counterterrorism utilised by the Bush administration to that of the Obama administration, and how human rights have been undermined during both presidencies, as well as analysing how the U.S.'s methods of counterterrorism has led to other countries following suit in the disregard of human rights when fighting terrorism. Counterterrorism can be defined as action against known and suspected terrorist organisations in reaction to, or as a defence against terrorist attacks, and, according to Poynting and Whyte, 'seeks only to control the threat of terrorism and is devoid of any content other than security and protection.' (Poynting and Whyte, 2012: 6). After the tragic attack on 11th September 2001, when four planes were hijacked by Al-Qaida terrorists, the Bush administration declared a 'war on terror', determined to track down and punish those responsible for the attacks. In late January 2002, President Bush extended the war on terror to a wider 'axis of evil', those targeted composed of regimes that supported terrorism and pursued development of weapons of mass destruction (Rogers, 2013: 6). Most notably among the targets were Iran, North Korea, and, of course, Iraq. In basic terms, human rights are put in place to protect citizens from the state. And according to contemporary international human rights law, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva Conventions, the state has an obligation to implement internationally recognised human rights (Donnelly, 2004). However, sometimes a state will undermine these internationally recognised human rights; generally, trends show violations occurring after a security crisis, when human rights policies tend to be viewed as a lower priority to affected governments (Forsythe, 2004).