Protect the innocent

Virtually everyday in the last couple weeks we have heard reports of terrorism around the world killing and/or injuring innocent people.

Governments do not need to reduce our right to privacy and human rights to address this situation, they need to enforce the rules that already exist and hold law enforcement personnel accountable.

Within 24 hours of terrorist attacks media around the world invariably reveal the name of the terrorists. Law enforcement in most cases confirm that the individual/s were known to them and/or that they were or had been under surveillance.

The election campaign in Britain was stalled twice by terrorist attacks, first in Manchester and then in London. That situation made for a nervous public eager to have “somebody” put a stop to it all and restore peace and normality.

The truth is peace and normality may not be possible but Theresa May, leader of the Conservatives in Britain on the campaign trail, gave the impression of being ready to do anything, even sacrifice “human rights” to restore peace and order as far as voters were concerned anyway. There were promises of tearing up the human rights law, if that was what it would take to stop terrorists, impose curfews and put bans on using computers.

That sounds a little bit like North Korea imposing new restrictions on law abiding citizens because we have terrorists terrifying innocent people and in some cases killing them. There were no reports in the media about May taking action against law enforcement staff who knew the terrorist that posed a threat but did nothing about it. There were no media reports of law enforcement officials at the highest levels explaining why they had not kept the terrorists they knew about under surveillance. These are the people who are paid to serve and protect and they failed. Hold them accountable first. Make adjustments there first.

One of the terrorists in Britain, Pakistan-born Khuram Butt was apparently hired to work on the London Underground after he appeared in a program about radical Islamists called “The Jihadi Next Door.” Soon after the Manchester bombing there was a report in a British paper that the bomber’s father worked at an international airport. You would think alarm bells should have been ringing.

It will not help to impose stricter rules for using the Internet and make it more difficult for people to fly internationally if those imposing the threat are not held under surveillance, arrested and/or deported.

There is a list of known terrorists who were ultimately allowed to remain in Britain after costly legal battles because they would be at risk if returned to their homeland. If someone is guilty of planning a terrorist attack, whether or not their country of origin is considered safe or not, should have nothing to do with whether they are deported.

A terrorist inflicts terror, harm, and death on innocent people. If you have done that to others you do not deserve to be protected from what may happen to you in the country of your birth.

Protect the innocent and law abiding citizens not terrorists.

(Gillian Slade is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions or call her at 403-528-8635.)