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According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, no human being shall be persecuted or subjected to arbitrary surveillance. In recent times, on the contrary, various European countries including Belgium and the United Kingdom have introduced laws that seem to violate this fundamental right. Of course, it is necessary or even compelling, to combat terrorism, but does this authorise us to curtail, even if only temporarily, civil liberties we have spent so many years in winning? After all, does it not mean justifying those who threaten our democracies and would so much like to see a regime of terror and tyranny installed in them? Nothing can in fact prevent some fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, the protection of private life and of journalistic sources, the right to a fair trial and freedom of assembly, from being gradually placed in question, under the pretext of protecting our security. In Belgium, for example, a law that authorises the police services to use “particular methods of investigation” was voted onto the statute book on 23 December, despite the numerous criticisms expressed about it. On the basis of this law, the police forces, even at the mere request of the Public Prosecutor, can perform “discreet visual controls” in private places (excepting residences) both by day and by night and without the knowledge of the persons involved, if necessary. The law also incorporates other police techniques, such as the infiltration of various groups or the recourse to informers, who may if necessary be authorised to commit offences. Of course, the fight against terrorism, conflicts that still remain open (such as that in Chechnya) and security measures enforced for political ends often involve practices and forms of legislation that suppress civil liberties. But ought we therefore to resign ourselves to this type of demand? Is it not time to recall that the level of civilization and the quality of a society are measured by the state of health of its system of justice and by respect for its fundamental liberties? The Europe of Human Rights seems to have forgotten this. But now is the time for Europe to regain control over itself.
