The right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal is imperiled by resort to “special courts and administrative boards” that undermine international due-process standards, and have reportedly been used to prosecute FTF crimes in a range of states around the world.130 The 2018 UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) guidance to states stresses that the use of military courts to try civilians will only be legitimate if regular civilian courts are unavailable and recourse to military courts is unavoidable.131 Particular challenges also arise from trials in absentia, which have long been controversial as a matter of human rights law. Article 14 of the ICCPR entitles anyone accused of a criminal offence to be present during their trial. Both the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) have found that trials in absentia can be permitted only under very limited conditions. If individuals are tried and convicted when they are overseas, they should be granted the right to a retrial when they can be present.132 Non-disclosure of information and evidence is also invoked frequently in terrorism cases, including FTF-related ones. In any fair trial, the accused must have access to the evidence presented against them and a meaningful opportunity to refute it. It is impermissible under international human rights standards to withhold information that is exculpatory for the accused. Access to information must include all materials the prosecution plans to present in court against the accused.133 Only in exceptional circumstances may it be legitimate to withhold certain information, for example, to protect the rights of witnesses or sources, or to safeguard an important public interest, such as national security. However, the use of secret evidence is inconsistent with the right to a fair trial if not accompanied by appropriate safeguards. Withholding information is only 130  “‘Foreign Terrorist Fighter’ Laws, Human Rights Rollbacks Under UN Security Council Resolution 2178”, Human Rights Watch, December 2016, p. 16, (hereafter, “Foreign Terrorist Fighter’ Laws, Human Rights Rollbacks Under UN Security Council Resolution 2178”, Human Rights Watch). The right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal is part of the non derogable core of fair trial rights. 131  UN CTITF Guidance 2018, op. cit., note 10, p. 42. In this context reference should also be made to the US military commissions, which have been established to try Guantánamo detainees for law of war violations and for “other offenses”, including material support for terrorism. Due to concerns over the jurisdiction and the proceedings of the military commissions, which contravened fundamental fair trial rights, ODIHR called on the US authorities to disestablish the commissions and to ensure that Guantánamo detainees suspected of a criminal offence are prosecuted before ordinary civilian courts. See “Report on the Human Rights Situation of Detainees at Guantánamo”, OSCE/ODIHR, November 2015, <https://www.osce.org/odihr/198721>. 132  Other conditions include that the accused has notice of the proceedings and charges and is legally represented with effective assistance of counsel. See: General Comment No. 32 (Article 14: Right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial), CCPR, UN Doc. CCPR/C/GC/32, 23 August 2007, para. 36, (hereafter, General Comment No. 32, CCPR); and Sejdovic v. Italy, ECtHR, Judgment of 1 March 2006. In absentia trials of FTFs have reportedly been held in, e.g., Belgium, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. See: “The return of foreign fighters to EU soil. Ex-post evaluation”, European Parliamentary Research Service, pp. 50 and 86-87, op. cit., note 63. See also: “Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Eurojust’s Views on the Phenomenon and the Criminal Justice Response, Fourth Eurojust Report”, Eurojust, November 2016, p.15 (hereafter, Eurojust Report 2016). 133 See: Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism Investigations: A Practical Manual for Law Enforcement Officers, (Warsaw: OSCE/ODIHR, November 2013), p. 48, <www.osce.org/odihr/108930>, (hereafter, Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism Investigations, OSCE/ODIHR); and General Comment No. 32, CCPR, para. 33, op. cit., note 132. Guidelines for Addressing the Threats and Challenges of “Foreign Terrorist Fighters” 41