Government Agents Directly Involved in Nearly All Highest-Profile Domestic Terrorism Plots

Government Agents Directly Involved in Nearly All Highest-Profile Domestic Terrorism Plots

July 21, 2014 | Posted in Articles, News, update | No comments

Kristan T. Harris | The Rundown live
The Human Rights Watch & Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute released a report raising concerns over the ethicality of government procedures when hunting domestic terrorists.
According to the Human Rights Watch website - The 214-page report, “Illusion of Justice: Human Rights Abuses in US Terrorism Prosecutions,” examines 27 federal terrorism cases from initiation of the investigations to sentencing and post-conviction conditions of confinement. It documents the significant human cost of certain counter terrorism practices, such as overly aggressive sting operations and unnecessarily restrictive conditions of confinement.
Since 9/11, almost all of the highest-profile domestic terrorism plots in the United States featured the “direct involvement” of government agents or informants, the document suggests.
The report raised concerns over borderline procedures that suggest,

“In some cases the FBI may have created terrorists out of law-abiding individuals by suggesting the idea of taking terrorist action or encouraging the target to act“

“Americans have been told that their government is keeping them safe by preventing and prosecuting terrorism inside the US,” said Andrea Prasow, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch and one of the authors of the report.

“But take a closer look and you realize that many of these people would never have committed a crime if not for law enforcement encouraging, pressuring, and sometimes paying them to commit terrorist acts.”

According to the UK Guardian - Some of the controversial “sting” operations “were proposed or led by informants“, bordering on entrapment by law enforcement. Yet the courtroom obstacles to proving entrapment are significant, one of the reasons the stings persist.

“Far from protecting Americans, including American Muslims, from the threat of terrorism, the policies documented in this report have diverted law enforcement from pursuing real threats,” Prasow said. “It is possible to protect people’s rights and also prosecute terrorists, which increases the chances of catching genuine criminals.”