Stop the War Coalition National Annual Conference 2006

The following resolution was passed

RESOLUTION 20 -Defence of Civil Liberties

Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC)

Conference abhors the acts of mass murder carried out in London last July, expresses its sympathy with all the victims of these attacks and condemns the government’s exploitation of these tragedies to renew its assault on civil liberties.

Conference believes that the London bombings were a direct consequence of the involvement of British forces in the invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq. Conference further believes that militarism overseas and repression at home are inseparable companions; that the assault on civil liberties will not end until British troops are brought home from the Middle East; and that resistance to this assault is an essential part of building mass opposition to the "War on Terror" and to racist and Islamophobic attitudes resulting from it.

We affirm our continued opposition to draconian police powers or special judicial procedures to deal with activities characterised as "terrorist"; to punishment without charge or trial; to offences based upon suspicion or association; to legislation that criminalises ordinary behaviour (such as the possession of ordinary items or the keeping of records or documents); to measures that have the effect of discriminating on the basis of ethnicity, faith or citizenship and to measures that threaten the right of people in Britain to discuss the international situation in a mature and straightforward way.

We are particularly concerned at the creation in the Terrorism Act 2006 of the new offence of "glorification" of "terrorism", and at the widely drawn and politicised definition of "terrorism" contained in the Terrorism Act 2000, upon which the new offence is built. We believe this assault on freedom of expression to be a direct attack on the antiwar movement.

Conference notes that the term "terrorism" has been used by repressive governments on many occasions as a cover for the suppression of dissent; that it is a notoriously difficult term to define, and that no international agreement on a definition has yet been achieved. Conference further notes that Lord Carlile is currently carrying out a review of the definition of "terrorism".

Conference resolves that the Stop The War Coalition should:

1. Encourage supporters to continue speak out in solidarity with people in the Middle East who stand against oppression and occupation.
2. Encourage supporters to break down the isolation imposed on persons subject to "control orders" under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, or detained pending deportation for supposed connections with "terrorism", by visiting them, writing to them and telephoning them.
3. Call upon Parliament to ensure that persons suspected of crimes connected with "terrorism" (however it is defined) are given all the legal safeguards and rights generally given to persons suspected of other crimes.
4. Call upon Parliament to ensure that any legislation directed against "terrorism" (however it is defined) incorporates explicit safeguards acknowledging and protecting rights to dissent and rights to struggle against oppression and for self-determination,and that these safeguards include as a minimum the provision made in Resolution 42/159 of the United Nations General Assembly (passed in December 1987), on measures to prevent international terrorism, which says that:
   …nothing in the present resolution could in any way prejudice the right to selfdetermination, freedom and independence, as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, of peoples forcibly deprived of that right referred to in the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, particularly peoples under colonial and racist regimes and foreign occupation or other forms of colonial domination, nor, in accordance with the principles of the Charter and in conformity with the above-mentioned Declaration, the right of these peoples to struggle to this end and to seek and receive support.