Indefinite detention

Most civilized states and human rights groups have a negative attitude towards indefinite detention.

Australia

In 1994, indefinite detention began to apply in Australia , when new legislation removed the 273-day limit for Vietnamese, Chinese and Cambodian refugees; previous laws also allowed indefinite detention of these people. ^[2] In 2004, the High Court of Australia in Al-Kateba v. Godwin determined that indefinite detention of stateless persons was lawful.

All states and territories (with the exception of New South Wales ) allow indefinite detention of violent or sexual offenders who are believed to be able to repeat their crimes. ^[2]

UK

In November 2001, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , the United Kingdom passed the Law on the Suppression of Terrorism, Crime and Security . It provided for the possibility of extrajudicial indefinite imprisonment of foreign citizens on suspicion of involvement in terrorism if they could not be deported to their homeland because of the threat of torture there. Based on this provision, in 2001-2003, 16 people were extrajudicially detained in Belmarsh prison .

Nine of them appealed their imprisonment in British courts and in 2004 the case came to the House of Lords , which ruled that indefinite detention violates the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights ^[1] .

After that, the Law on the Prevention of Terrorism was adopted , which replaced the extrajudicial detention for foreign citizens on suspicion of involvement in terrorism with the so-called control orders providing various restrictions for such persons. This law also extended to British citizens suspected of involvement in terrorism.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, until 2012, the Internal Security Act (ISA) was enacted in 1960, which allowed indefinite detention without trial for 2 years and longer as necessary ^[3] . In 1965, a large group of leaders and activists of the Popular Socialist Front, including Abdul Aziz Ishaq , was arrested. Only during the so-called Operation Lalang On October 27, 1987, 106 people were arrested under this law and licenses to issue two daily newspapers (Star and Esin Chiu Jit Po) and two weekly newspapers (Sandy Star and Vatan) were revoked. The reason for this was the opposition's disagreement with government policies regarding Chinese schools. ^[4] . Recently, in connection with the activization of the opposition in the country in the ruling circles of Malaysia, voices are again being heard in favor of the development of a law that would allow preventive detention ^[5] . The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, also supports this idea. ^[6]

Singapore

In Singapore , the Internal Security Act allows the government to arrest and indefinitely detain individuals who pose a threat to national security. ^[7] On February 1, 1963, based on this law, 107 left-wing political and trade unionists were arrested in Singapore, including journalist and President of the People’s Party of Singapore, Said Zahari , who spent 17 years in prison. ^[eight]

USA

In the United States, indefinite detention is used to hold terror suspects . This highly controversial practice is currently under review. ^[10] According to the American Civil Liberties Union , Section 412 of the US Patriotic Act allows immigrants to be held indefinitely; ^{[11] The} case of José Padilla , held in jail for more than three years, was widely publicized, ^[12] whose subsequent prosecution and conviction in the United States was highly controversial. ^{[13] The} International Committee of the Red Cross criticized the indefinite detention of detainees in Guantanamo . ^[14]

On November 29, 2011, the US Senate rejected the proposed amendment to the National Defense Act for fiscal year 2012, which would prohibit the US government from indefinitely detaining its own citizens; ^[9] This led to criticism that the habeas corps in the United States was undermined. ^{[15] [16]} Congress and the Senate approved the National Defense Act in December 2011 and President Barack Obama signed it on December 31, 2011. ^[17] A new provision in the law of indefinite detention was condemned as "a historic attack on American freedom." ^{[18] The} American Civil Liberties Union stated that “President Obama’s act today is a stain on him because he will always be known as the president who has legalized indefinite detention without trial.” ^[nineteen]