Counter-terrorism, Discrimination, and Freedom of Thought, Conscience, Religion, or Belief

Abstract

This article discusses the impact of religion-centric counter-terrorism trends on peoples’ enjoyment of freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief (FoRB). It underlines that everyone should be able to access this human right equally without discrimination, regardless of their convictions, but that this is not always the case. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) comprehensive security model, which considers human security alongside more conventional politico-military, environmental, and economic aspects, can be used to assess the quality and sustainability of security offered by contemporary counter-terrorism measures and provides a useful benchmark for state action in this area.