National Security and Human Rights

Following 9/11 and the rise of terrorism around the globe, one of the greatest challenges of States is how to balance national security interests with fundamental rights and freedoms. Allegations of mistreatment of detainees and extrajudicial killings have become a commonplace. Against this background, IPS has incorporated ‘National Security and Human Rights’ as one of its research themes. In particular, we have hosted a series of National Security Talks at the Blavatnik School of Government. The first discussion, chaired by IPS Executive Director Federica D’Alessandra, brought together Alka Pradhan and Air Force Captain Mark Andreu, both serving as the US Department of Defence’s appointed defence lawyers of Ammar Al Baluchi before the US military commissions last year. The second roundtable saw Mark Fallon discuss his new book will  Unjustifiable Means, as well as his experience serving the US intelligence community, where he held positions including NCIS Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and Senior Executive within the Department of Homeland Security. Stay tuned for our upcoming talks!