Ensuring counterterrorism strategies and tactics are ethical
Counterterrorism is by necessity a collective responsibility, involving the police, military and intelligence agencies, alongside non-security actors. It is riddled with difficult ethical questions, such as how to save lives without infringing human rights. Efforts routinely raise questions about not only which strategies and tactics are effective, but also which are consistent with the values of liberal democracies and permissible within their legal frameworks. The GTCMR project, supported by the European Research Council, has helped develop the relatively nascent field of counterterrorism ethics, by introducing ethical analyses. “Our research enabled us to elaborate the conditions under which certain counterterrorist tactics may infringe rights but are ethically justified,” explains principal investigator Seumas Miller. “Crucially, we also outlined the importance of having mechanisms for accountability, to maintain oversight of these decisions.”
Designing-in-ethics methodology
GTCMR was the first to apply the designing-in-ethics methodology to counterterrorism issues. Usually applied to new technology, the methodology asks developers to consider the consequences of their decisions related to issues of design, application and access. As these questions become routine and embedded in daily practice, so working cultures change over time. Ethical analysis of the issues involved, underpinned by empirical information, enables guidelines to be formulated that give ethical direction to policymakers and practitioners. The range of ethically controversial antiterrorism tactics GTCMR reviewed included: targeted killing; preventive detention; censorship of disinformation and online content; response to weapons of mass destruction and terrorist attacks; DNA collection and storage; biometric identification, such as facial recognition; and the application of artificial intelligence. GTCMR based their research on both the empirical studies of other scholars, augmented by their own research. This consisted chiefly of in-depth interviews with a variety of stakeholders, including those able to influence policy and practice, such as past and present heads of security agencies, including former directors of the CIA. “We found that each counterterrorist tactic considered could be said to infringe ethical, and typically legal, rights, such as the right to: life; to freedom of movement; to freedom of communication; and to privacy,” says Miller. “Nevertheless, each of these tactics could still be justified ethically under certain limited conditions.” Taking the example of ‘capture or kill policies’, Miller says they might be morally justified if stringent conditions are met. These could be near certainty of the identity and location of a high-value target and close to zero risk to innocent civilians – absolute certainty and zero risk being unrealistic. Miller cites the killing of Osama bin Laden as an exemplar of this. “But while you can generate ethical guidelines, that doesn’t address the issue of who ought to be the decision makers or how they are held to account by independent bodies for their decisions, to determine if they were within the guidelines. Mechanisms of accountability are critical,” adds Miller.
Further contributions to the debate
GTCMR has generated a number of open access books, including one focused specifically on national security intelligence ethics. Previously there had been little published on this area outside of a small number of specialist textbooks. Another significant contribution related to counterterrorism measures in cyberspace, in particular how to best combat online propaganda whilst preserving freedom of political expression. Miller recommended the reduction of online anonymity, and elimination of the use of fake accounts by bots, requiring social media account holders to be registered with an independent statutory authority, after identity checks. Miller now leads a newly established research group on counterterrorism and other national security issues, at Charles Sturt University, Australia.
Keywords
GTCMR, ethical, security, counterterrorism, propaganda, military, police, intelligence, rights, cyberspace