Entitled to be a Radical? Counter-Terrorism and Travesty of Human Rights in the Case of Babar Ahmad

Notes

1. It is true that Abu Qatada was detained for a somewhat longer amount of time, in total, before he was extradited to Jordan in 2013, where in fact he was eventually acquitted of terrorism charges. This incarceration was not continuous, however, since Abu Qatada was released, as mandated by courts, albeit for brief periods and under control orders.

2. Though this article only has space to deal with “the Ahmad case”, we should at least note here the case of his co-defendant in the US trial, and co-appellant to the European Court of Human Rights, against extradition to the US: that of British poet Syed Talha Ahsan. His treatment, and in particular the threatened virtually indefinite solitary confinement, is made even more egregious by the fact of his suffering from Asperger syndrome. Much more was made of the injustice of such circumstances in the public advocacy over the far higher profile case of (white) British citizen, Gary McKinnon.