Victims of terror
attacks welcome the UN's call for greater recognition, but remain sceptical
over compensation terms
A report by drawn up
by UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson, details of which have been obtained by The Observer, proposes wide-ranging improvements in the legal
treatment of those injured in terrorist attacks around the world, including an
automatic right to compensation. (...)
Pamela Dix, Executive Director of
Disaster Action, supporting those caught up in terrorism or disaster, began
campaigning after her brother Peter died aboard Pan Am flight over Lockerbie in
1988. "If you had suggested 23 years ago that I would still be fighting
the government on all fronts for appropriate recognition, trying to get
politicians to deliver on promises, I would never have believed it. You don't
realise the limitations of the system until you find yourself in that
position." She welcomed a recognition of the right to form groups.
Ben Emmerson, who wrote the report, said victims' stories
should be at the core of anti-terrorism strategies. "Over the past decade,
international human rights law has undergone a crisis of public and political
confidence. By making it clear that the law is there to protect the victims,
and not just those who are suspected of terrorism, the international community
can start to restore those basic principles of human rights law that have taken
such a battering," he said.
[A further article in The Observer giving more details of the
content of the UN report can be read here.]
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