Ministers seek to expel terrorism suspects

The EU’s largest member states are pushing for a Europe-wide agreement allowing the expulsion of foreign terrorism suspects to their home countries, including even Libya, Syria and Algeria.

Interior ministers of the EU’s six largest nations, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain and Poland, collectively known as the G6, discussed the counter-terrorism measure at a meeting in Poland last week (17-18 October) and agreed that the issue should be raised at EU level.

The G6 agreed that "in some legally regulated cases expulsion has proved an effective tool to protect people from non-nationals who pose a threat to national security".

"In relation to the EU, the governments will seek to build consensus on these issues through open discussion based on wider consideration of legal frameworks and policies," a joint declaration from the ministers said.

G6 senior officials meeting in Berlin late in November will discuss the matter further.

The issue is expected to reach EU level after the European Commission has published a package of proposals on counter-terrorism on 6 November. It will suggest ways of combating the radicalisation of EU residents and propose setting up a system for collecting information on airline passengers flying into the EU.

One EU diplomat said that an opportunity would arise "during the discussions on the new anti-terrorism package".

The declaration added: "The G6 governments will initiate and support continued exploration of the expulsion of terrorists and terrorist suspects, seeking assurances through diplomatic understandings, and other policies."

But the declaration acknowledges the controversial nature of the expulsions and refers to "obligations under human rights instruments". It wants the EU to help promote human rights standards in third countries to which suspects might be expelled.

Many countries across the EU have introduced deportations as a way of removing terrorist suspects or radical clerics where building a case for prosecution is too difficult.

The UK law requires "assurances" from third countries to which suspects are expelled that they will not be tortured. A UK court ruled in April that two Libyan terrorist suspects could not be sent back to Tripoli because of the risk of abuse there.

Other courts in the EU have quashed deportation orders following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in 1996 which struck down the proposed expulsion of Karamjit Singh Chahal, a Sikh militant who argued that he would be tortured in India if sent back from the UK.

Roger Smith of Justice, a UK-based human rights group, said that, based on such cases, it would be difficult for the EU to introduce legislation on expulsions. "The EU can’t override the European Court of Human Rights but it could be preparing the ground for a common position whereby it can collectively use its weight to force countries not to use torture," Smith said.

"If the EU is taking a position on that then that’s a good thing," he added.

Gilles de Kerchove, the EU’s new anti-terrorism co-ordinator, is examining the issue of expulsions and is seeking ways to overcome, on the one hand, the problems with prosecuting suspects and, on the other, sending them to countries where their human rights could be violated, said an EU official.

The EU’s largest member states are pushing for a Europe-wide agreement allowing the expulsion of foreign terrorism suspects to their home countries, including even Libya, Syria and Algeria.