A. AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
75
the chances of recruitment among them by extremists. However, the
Government have not placed before the Court any evidence to suggest that
British Muslims were significantly more likely to react negatively to the
detention without charge of national rather than foreign Muslims reasonably
suspected of links to al-Qaeda. In this respect the Court notes that the
system of control orders, put in place by the Prevention of Terrorism Act
2005, does not discriminate between national and non-national suspects.
189. The second allegedly new ground relied on by the Government was
that the State could better respond to the terrorist threat if it were able to
detain its most serious source, namely non-nationals. In this connection,
again the Court has not been provided with any evidence which could
persuade it to overturn the conclusion of the House of Lords that the
difference in treatment was unjustified. Indeed, the Court notes that the
national courts, including SIAC, which saw both the open and the closed
material, were not convinced that the threat from non-nationals was more
serious than that from nationals.
190. In conclusion, therefore, the Court, like the House of Lords, and
contrary to the Government’s contention, finds that the derogating measures
were disproportionate in that they discriminated unjustifiably between
nationals and non-nationals. It follows that there has been a violation of
Article 5 § 1 in respect of the first, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth,
tenth and eleventh applicants.
III. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 1 OF THE
CONVENTION TAKEN IN CONJUNCTION WITH ARTICLE 14
191. The applicants complained that it was discriminatory, and in breach
of Article 14 of the Convention, to detain them when United Kingdom
nationals suspected of involvement with al-Qaeda were left at liberty.
Article 14 provides:
“The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Convention shall be
secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a
national minority, property, birth or other status.”
192. In the light of its above reasoning and conclusion in relation to
Article 5 § 1 taken alone, the Court does not consider it necessary to
examine these complaints separately.
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