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Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (Continuance in force of sections 1 to 9) Order 2006

My Lords, I wish to make just a few remarks arising out of the report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights of which I am a member and which, thanks to the valiant efforts of the staff, was agreed late on Monday evening and published on Tuesday morning. I am glad that it is proving useful to so many noble Lords. I hope that eventually noble Lords will read the full report. I will confine myself to one aspect that particularly concerns me—the actual operation of the control orders and their effects on the people being controlled and on their family members. It appears from the report by the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, that most of the 18 people so far made subject to these orders have been put under what he has called ““extremely restrictive obligations””, which fall,"““not very far short of house arrest””," and,"““involve deprivation of much of normal life””." I remind noble Lords that the control order requirements include an 18-hour curfew; electronic tagging that is monitored twice a day by a private tagging company; a ban on the use of the garden; limitation on visitors and meetings to persons approved in advance by the Home Office; allowing the police to enter the house at any time to search and remove any item and to allow the installation of monitoring equipment; prohibitions on phones, mobile phones and Internet access; and restrictions on movement to within a defined area. The committee received evidence that has not been seen by the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, which bears out his conclusions about the severity of the control order regime and its problematic nature. We received evidence from a group of lawyers and civil liberty campaigners, CAMPACC, who are volunteers who visit people who are subject to control orders; although once they do visit such people it appears that they become classified as,"““a known associate of a terror suspect””." It said in evidence to our committee that it is almost impossible for people without a family home—that is, single people—to be released on a control order because no landlord will have them—I am sure that we find that understandable—and very few friends if any will take them in because the consequences for the friend are so extreme. There is probably more information available about the control order regime to which we do not have access. Here I am making a point about the visit of a delegation from the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In July 2005, they sent a delegation which included a lawyer and a psychiatrist on a five-day visit to the UK. According to its press release, the delegation,"““examined the practical operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 and met various persons served with control orders””." In November 2005, the same delegation came here again for six days. In addition to looking at the treatment and conditions of detention of certain people recently detained under the Immigration Act 1971, it also interviewed two persons under house arrest and met persons served with control orders under the Act that we are discussing today. In view of the importance of this evening’s discussions, it seems strange that the Government have not informed Parliament whether the Committee for the Prevention of Torture made any immediate observations at the end of its visits in July and November 2005 in pursuance of Article 8, paragraph 5 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture. Noble Lords will know that the Committee for the Prevention of Torture makes immediate observations when it considers that a member state needs to take urgent action to prevent inhuman and degrading treatment, so it should be noted that we are being asked to make a decision on the renewal of this order in the absence of information that could be very relevant to the view that the House may take. Finally, the Joint Committee on Human Rights made some comments on the implications of these orders for the human rights of family members of those who are controlled. I shall summarise them briefly. The wives and children of controlled persons—I understand they are all men—are also subject to interference in their right to respect for private family life and home because of frequent access to their premises by outsiders without notice. That can include affront to religious and cultural sensitivities, particularly for the women in the household. In one part of our evidence we read that the women always went to bed fully clothed in case there was a visit from a monitor late in the evening. They are subject to restrictions on their use of telephones and access to the Internet; they have difficulty maintaining family connections and friendships because their houses are under surveillance; and all visitors have to be approved beforehand. They are living under constant anxiety that their family member may break the terms of the order by mistake or be rearrested. I appreciate the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, that it is important for us to express our views on this and I hope that we shall be able to vote on the amendment.