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The Independent: Proposed terror laws could ‘violate human rights and infringe freedom of speech’, MPs tell government

New terror laws proposed by the government may violate human rights and undermine freedom of speech, MPs have warned. The Joint Committee on Human Rights called for three clauses of the controversial Counter Terrorism and Border Security Bill to be deleted and gave a total of 27 amendments. Peers and MPs said the first clause, which would make statements deemed supportive of a banned group illegal, restricted free speech and could criminalise “valid debates” on what organisations should be banned. Read more

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Treating ‘honour-based’ violence as terrorism will only harm more women and girls

On July 20, the death in Pakistan of Samia Shahid, a 28-year-old British woman from Bradford, was reported to Pakistani authorities in what is now believed to have been an “honour killing”. Her husband says she was tricked into going to Pakistan by her family. That same day, Theresa May gave her first prime minister’s questions and agreed with Nusrat Ghani MP that so-called “honour-based” violence should be re-categorised as an act of terror in the UK. This has caused consternation among campaigners who fear that certain crimes against women could now be treated as terror-related. Read more

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Measuring the risk of radicalisation – is it really possible?

Although assessment tools for measuring individual risks of radicalisation, extremism and terrorism have become increasingly central instruments in counter-terrorism work, academic study of such tools is still in its infancy. Senior Research Fellow Rita Augestad Knudsen (NUPI) has explored two such tools that are used in England and Wales: Extremism Risk Guidance (ERG22+) and the Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF). Read more