Govt defiant on control orders

The government has rejected MPs' and peers' demands for a time-limit on control orders.

It has dismissed the latest report on control orders from parliament's joint committee on human rights. The measures were introduced in 2005 after the House of Lords ruled the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects breached human rights legislation.

The report says seven of the 15 people subject to control orders at present have been in their present position for over two years, while two have been on control orders for nearly three years.

The committee is calling for a maximum length of time to which people should be subject to the measures, which restrict an individual's movement, to be included in an amendment to the counter-terrorism bill.

Its chairman, Andrew Dismore, warned against creating "Guantanamo martyrs on British soil".

"It is clearly inhumane to subject someone to a highly-restrictive control order for years on end, seemingly without any prospect of them being prosecuted or subject to another exit strategy," he said.

"A maximum limit would concentrate the minds of the investigatory and enforcement authorities on finding the evidence needed for prosecution within a reasonable time."

The Home Office insisted control orders were an important part of its efforts to protect the public from terrorism and rejected the report's key points, however.

A spokesperson said existing legislation "strikes the right balance between safeguarding society and safeguarding the rights of the individual".

"Last October's House of Lords judgments on control orders upheld the control orders regime.

"As such, parliament should recognise the importance of control orders and support the legislation's renewal for a further year."