Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention

Detention (imprisonment)

Detention is the process when a state, government or citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at that time. This can be due to criminal charges being raised against the individual as part of a prosecution or to protect a person or property...

 of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.

Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime (see prisoner of war

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

, Civilian Internee

Civilian Internee

Civilian Internee is a special status of a prisoner under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Civilian Internees are civilians who are detained by a party to a war for security reasons...

), detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states. Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...

 states that, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."

Writ of Habeas Corpus

In English speaking democracies, since the thirteenth century signing of the Magna Carta

Magna Carta

Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...

, captives were able to call upon the writ of habeas corpus

Habeas corpus

is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

 — literally "you have the body." This legal procedure required the state to show that there was a meaningful, legal justification for their detention.

Detention without charge by democratic countries

In recent decades some democratic countries have introduced limited mechanisms whereby individuals can be detained without being charged or convicted of a crime. See, for example, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Minister's Security Certificate.

See also

• Internment
  Internment
  Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
  
  
• Guantanamo Bay detention camp
• Black site
  Black site
  In military terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged black project is conducted. Recently, the term has gained notoriety in describing secret prisons operated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency , generally outside of U.S. territory and legal jurisdiction. It...
  
  
• Arbitrary arrest and detention
  Arbitrary arrest and detention
  Arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention are the arrest or detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law...
  
  
• Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States
  Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States
  Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States, in the context of the War on Terrorism, refers to foreign nationals the United States detains outside of the legal process required within United States legal jurisdiction. In this context, the U.S...
  
  

External links

• Guantanamo group of 47 'should be held indefinitely' BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  January 22, 2010
• Human Rights First: In Pursuit of Justice; Prosecuting Terrorism Cases in the Federal Courts (2009)
• Human Rights First; Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in Afghanistan in April 2009 (2009)