Fair, Proportionate and Effective Penalties There are heightened penalties attached to terror-related crimes in many states (including mandatory penalties in some) due to the gravity of terrorism offences.142 General presumptions as to the gravity of FTF-related offences may not, however, be appropriate in light of the expanded reach of such offences and the fact that they sometimes also embrace minor forms of contribution without clear criminal intent. Furthermore, if the conduct in question is unconnected or very remote from eventual or planned terrorist acts, heightened sentences may not be proportionate to the gravity of the offence. States must ensure that punishment is commensurate not only with the crime, but also with the individual‘s role in the crime.143 Courts must take into account all of the circumstances in assessing appropriate and proportionate penalties.144 The diverse profiles of FTFs, and examples of vulnerability on account of age, mental health or intellectual ability, speak to the importance of careful consideration of not only whether to prosecute at all, but if so, how to punish. The use of individual risk assessments of FTFs, which are usually provided to courts by probation services to assist judges when sentencing, has been identified as a good practice by Eurojust – the EU’s judicial co-operation agency – in shaping appropriate penalties.145 Punishment must not be inhumane,146 conditions and treatment in detention of individuals accused or convicted of FTF-related offences must be humane and respect the inherent dignity of the human person,147 and interference with private and family life, for example, must meet the necessity and proportionality test.148 Legitimate efforts should be made to ensure prisons are not environments in which violent extremism spreads, but this must not lead to unnecessary separation from other prisoners, solitary confinement or other excessively restrictive detention regimes.149 Conditions of detention for women accused or convicted of FTF-related offences must take into account the heightened 142  Some examples of penalties include 17-18 years of imprisonment for contributing to recruitment (“Albania Jails Nine Jihadi Recruiters”, BalkanInsight, 4 May 2016, <www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/heavy-sentences-spelled-for-albania-jihadi-recruiters-05-04-2016>). Laws in the United Kingdom provide for up to seven years of imprisonment for “encouragement to terrorism” (Terrorism Act (2006), Section 1 (7)). See also “‘Foreign Terrorist Fighter’ Laws, Human Rights Rollbacks Under UN Security Council Resolution 2178”, Human Rights Watch, op. cit., note 130. 143  In accordance with the principle of individual guilt (nulla poena sine culpa); see: European Parliament, EU Approach to Criminal Law, op. cit., note 108; and Article 25 (individual criminal responsibility) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). 144  International human rights law requires a balanced assessment of appropriate punishment not automatic penalties. For examples of court approaches see, for example, Eurojust Report 2016, p. 13, op. cit., note 132. 145  “Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Eurojust’s Views on the Phenomenon and the Criminal Justice Response, Fourth Eurojust Report, Summary of Main Findings”, Eurojust, 19 April 2017, p. 5. 146  Article 7 ICCPR. 147  Article 10 ICCPR. This also applies when special security measures are imposed in detention. 148  Article 17 ICCPR. This also applies in detention, for example, when individuals accused or convicted of FTFrelated offences are moved further from their social group or subjected to restrictions to receive family visits on security grounds. 149  For a more comprehensive analysis of those and other related issues see the forthcoming ODIHR and Penal Reform International (PRI) guide for detention monitors on the protection of human rights in preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that leads to terrorism (VERLT) in the prison context. 44 Guidelines for Addressing the Threats and Challenges of “Foreign Terrorist Fighters”