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The EU Directive on combating terrorism adopted today by the EU Council runs the risk of undermining fundamental rights and having a disproportionate and discriminatory impact on ethnic and religious communities.

Recent security measures recently adopted in some EU countries, through criminal law, administrative measures or police powers, have already led to serious human rights violations. Hasty measures grounded in emotional policy-making rather than evidence of efficiency can lead to discriminatory application, notably against migrants and Muslims.

An overall climate of suspicion against certain groups based on their ethnic or religious belonging also brings concerns for the measures put forward in the new EU law, as well as its overly broad scope and definitions. Although a general human rights safeguard clause has been included, the directive opens the door to criminalisation of behaviour instead of intent, that may have no direct link to violent terrorist acts. Broad definitions, for instance of ‘glorification’ of terrorism and ‘travelling for terrorist purposes’, could lead to human rights restrictions in a context of increased securitisation.

For instance in France, since the state of emergency was declared after the November 2015 Paris attacks, human rights NGOs have reported 3,594 raids on houses, mosques and prayer halls as well as house arrests, resulting in 6 criminal investigations for terrorism and only one ongoing trial. In the United Kingdom, surveillance cameras are placed in so-called Muslim areas and social workers are required to denounce ‘radical’ behaviour. Many innocent Muslims are targeted mainly on the basis of their religious practice, with no evidence pointing to their involvement in any criminal act.

In addition, the legislative process for adopting the directive was extremely problematic. It was rushed through behind closed doors without any human rights impact assessment or any consideration for civil society’s input.

It is now crucial that EU Member States ensure that implementation of the Directive in national law includes additional human rights safeguards, including the prevention of discriminatory practices such as ethnic profiling.

European Network Against Racism (ENAR) Chair Amel Yacef said: “Everybody, including minorities, is the potential target of violent attacks. Everybody, including minorities, demands security and the right to enjoy a peaceful life. Being lenient about the protection of the rights of some for the purported benefits of ‘a’ majority is a blatant distortion of our human rights based values and will never cater for peace, reconciliation and inclusion.”

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