o be non-discriminatory; and
o take into consideration rights to privacy, family and correspondence.
• There may be justification for restricting the right to privacy in light of the threat to
national security posed by terrorism. Any information gathering powers, including the
power to apply for interception warrants, must, however, be clearly defined and subject to
judicial oversight. They must also be necessary and proportional to the threat to national
security and be non-discriminatory.
(viii) The international human rights standards relevant to determining the penalties that
can be imposed for committing acts associated with ‘terrorism’
• Penalties can only be imposed after a fair trial in accordance with law and by a competent,
duly constituted and impartial tribunal.
• The Conventions on Terrorism require, for the crimes covered by those conventions, the
imposition of appropriate penalties which take into account the grave nature of the
offences.
• All penalties should be appropriate, reasonable and proportionate to the crime.
• International law prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. International law
does not specifically prohibit the death penalty. However, there is an evolving and
growing international trend against the death penalty and the Advisory Council of Jurists,
in its Report of December 2000, urged States to move towards its abolition.
• Where States have not abolished the death penalty it should only be imposed for the most
serious crimes, for example those that have led to large-scale loss of life.
• The death penalty must not be imposed on those who were children at the time of an
offence and must not be carried out on pregnant women.
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