The Paradigm of " War on Terror" and Human Dignity

When people across the world saw two jet airliners hit the Twin Towers of New York on September 11, 2001, it never occurred to them that the officials of the United States might be working out a new global paradigm to fill the security gap. Only a few hours after the September 11 attacks, US President George W. Bush spoke of a new watershed in international law. Five years later, the new offspring reached its maturity inthe form of the law of military commissions. New foundations were laid in the paradigm of “War on Terror” and in the struggle between security and human dignity, wherein the latter lost. Under this paradigm, new entities named “unlawful enemy combatants” were created, which had no rights and dignity whatsoever. Torture, as the strongest lever against human and humanitarian rights, was allowed against them. Loud voices were raised by the civil society against such violations to remind the international community of the huge cost of their widespread use. But these failed to have an impact. Consequently, only diplomatic approaches and emphasis on lawsrespecting human and humanitarian rights could be effective in guiding aberrant governments back to the legal fold.