The victims of terrorism

Since 9/11, public and private security personnel and apparatus have multiplied, ¹ while terrorism incidents have continued apace, with a more than fivefold increase in deaths between 2000 and 2013. ² Following the 9/11 attacks, world expenditure on counter-terrorism is reckoned to have increased by around US$70 billion. ³ Despite indications that victims of terrorism need greater protection, they often seem to remain at the end of the line of counter-terrorism priorities. ⁴ Generally speaking, domestic frameworks remain piecemeal and inadequate. While there have been signs of growing interest in victims’ rights and greater attention to the question of redress in human rights circles at the international level, positive legislative and policy change at the domestic level have been more scarce. Terrorist victims’ concerns have become integrated into national security debates while the focus on the human rights of victims seems to have become weaker.