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Preventive Detention In The Law Of Armed Conflict: Throwing Away The Key?, Diane Webber Jan 2012

Preventive Detention In The Law Of Armed Conflict: Throwing Away The Key?, Diane Webber

Diane Webber

More than ten years after 9/11, the “clear legal framework for handling alleged terrorists” promised by President Obama in 2009 is still undeveloped and “the country continues to hold suspects indefinitely, with no congressionally approved mechanism for regular judicial review.” Should terrorists be treated as criminals, involving traditional criminal law methods of detection, interrogation, arrest and trial? Or should they be treated as though they were involved in an armed conflict, which would involve detention and trial in accordance with a completely different set of rules and procedures? Neither model is a perfect fit to deal with twenty-first century terrorism. …


Can We Find And Stop The "Jihad Janes"?, Diane Webber Jan 2011

Can We Find And Stop The "Jihad Janes"?, Diane Webber

Diane Webber

Two female American citizens, Colleen LaRose, a.k.a. “Jihad Jane” and Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, whose appearance and passports allow them to blend into Western society, currently represent “one of the worst fears” of intelligence and FBI analysts who work to identify terrorist threats. On both sides of the Atlantic, similar problems exist of homegrown terrorism and radicalization, and the internet has a huge impact on these issues. This paper examines the tools available to the U.S. and the U.K. to find and stop potential homegrown terrorists from perpetrating catastrophic acts of terror. After assessing the differences between U.S. and U.K. law, I …


Education As A Counterterrorism Tool And The Curious Case Of The Texas School Book Resolution, Diane Webber Jan 2011

Education As A Counterterrorism Tool And The Curious Case Of The Texas School Book Resolution, Diane Webber

Diane Webber

As a case study, this paper reviews a resolution passed by the Texas State Board of Education on September 24, 2010. The resolution rejects certain Social Studies texts that contain what the Board determined were pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions…The resolution is itself doing what it complains about – it is showing “chronic partiality to one of the world’s great religions and animus against another.”…At a time when “reciprocal negative perceptions between the Western and Muslim worlds continue to escalate”, it is essential to acknowledge the important role of education to promote tolerance… The knowledge gained from religious tolerance education can then be …


Extreme Measures: Does The United States Need Preventive Detention To Combat Domestic Terrorism?, Diane Webber Nov 2010

Extreme Measures: Does The United States Need Preventive Detention To Combat Domestic Terrorism?, Diane Webber

Diane Webber

The paper examines current methods of preventive detention in the United States, that is the detaining of a suspect on home soil to prevent a terrorist attack. This paper looks at two recent events: the Fort Hood shootings and a preventive arrest in France, to consider problems in combating terrorist crimes on U.S. soil. I demonstrate that U.S. law as it now stands, with some limited exceptions, does not permit detention to forestall an anticipated domestic terrorist crime. After reviewing and evaluating the way in which France, Israel and the United Kingdom use forms of preventive detention to thwart possible …


The Case Of Binyam Mohamed: National Security Or National Embarrassment?, Diane Webber Oct 2009

The Case Of Binyam Mohamed: National Security Or National Embarrassment?, Diane Webber

Diane Webber

This paper reviews the case of Binyam Mohamed, a British resident and former Guantanamo detainee. Mohamed’s case generated litigation in four different places: 1) proceedings in the military commissions court in Guantanamo Bay to try him under terrorist charges; 2) federal proceedings under an application for habeas corpus in the US District Court in Washington D.C.; 3) an application in the High Court in London where Mohamed’s lawyers sought disclosure of exculpatory material that the US had refused to provide to his US attorneys; and 4) a civilian litigation action under the Alien Tort Statute action in California in which …