[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said Monday that the new UK Counterterrorism and Securities Bill [text] infringes on human rights [press release]. The bill, presented by Prime Mininster David Cameron [official profile] to Parliament [official website] last Wednesday [official website], proposes temporary restrictions on travel, exclusion from the UK for suspicion of involvement in terrorist activity and instructions for granting those who were excluded from the UK permission to return. HRW argues that these provisions effectively infringe on rights of “free movement, family life, free expression, and [could possibly] risk[] alienating specific communities.” The group criticized the UK for what they see as a haphazard attempt to rush to adopt counterterrorism laws. However, Home Secretary Theresa May stated that under section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998, in her “view the provisions of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill are compatible with the Convention rights.” The second reading and debate of the bill is scheduled for tomorrow.

Internationally, counterterrorism laws have sparked controversy. In February Amnesty International [advocacy website] criticized the Saudi Arabian antiterrorism law, claiming that it would entrench existing patterns of human rights violations [JURIST report]. HRW urged the Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz [official profile] to reject the law [JURIST report] on the grounds that its definition of terrorism was overly broad and would impose unfair restrictions on free speech and unduly criminalize any speech critical of the Saudi Arabian government or society. Last year UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism [official website] Ben Emmerson urged [press release] the Obama administration to provide more clarity on its counterterrorism policies, specifically calling for more information surrounding the drone policies to be released into the public domain [JURIST report].