of Human Rights Experts also issues opinions on specific issues such as ethnic profiling,114 “extraordinary renditions”115 and the prevention of violent radicalization.116 The European Union established a Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) in 2007, replacing the European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. Other regional human rights instruments There also exist other regional human rights systems, based on treaties whose membership is restricted to states within a particular region.117 These are: • American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) (1969) adopted by the Organization of American States;118 • African (Banjul) Charter of Human and People’s Rights (1981) adopted by the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union).119 Customary international law Before turning to how international human rights standards work and why they are relevant to counter-terrorism, it is first necessary to understand the relevance of customary international law and its importance as a source of guidance. Customary international law consists of rules of law derived from the consistent conduct of states acting out of the belief that the law required them to act that way. It results from a general and consistent practice of states followed out of a sense of legal obligation, so much so that it becomes custom. Customary international law must be derived from a clear consensus 114 Opinion No. 4, December 2006, “Ethnic profiling”, (CFR-CDF.Opinion4.2006). 115 Opinion No. 3, May 2006, “The human rights responsibilities of the EU member States in the context of the C.I.A. activities in Europe (‘extraordinary renditions’)”, (CFR-CDF.Opinion3.2006). 116 Opinion No. 3, August 2005, “The requirements of fundamental rights in the framework of the measures of prevention of violent radicalisation and recruitment of potential terrorists”, (CFR-CDF.Avis3-2005.doc). 117 In addition to European, American and African human rights intergovernmental organizations, there is also a largely dormant Arab one (the Arab Charter on Human Rights was adopted by the League of Arab States on 15 September 1994 but is not in force yet). There is no regional human rights mechanism within Asia. 118 Adopted at the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Human Rights, San José (Costa Rica) on 22 November 1969. The Organization of American States was created in 1948; not all member states, such as the USA and Canada, have ratified the Convention (the USA has signed it), although they remain committed to the founding American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man (1948). This declaration has the same status as the UDHR. The InterAmerican Court of Human Rights has held that “the Declaration contains and defines the fundamental human rights referred to in the Charter (creating the OAS)”, IACtHR, Advisory Opinion OC-10/89 (Interpretation of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man Within the Framework of Article 64 of the ACHR), 14 July 1989, (Ser. A) No. 10 (1989). While military and authoritarian governments in Europe have been relatively rare, in Latin America they were the norm until changes in the 1980s. A significant part of the Inter-American Commission’s work has addressed systematic violations of human rights in the absence of effective national mechanisms and a lack of co-operation with the governments concerned. 119 The Charter was adopted on 27 June 1981 [Organization of African Unity Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982)] and entered into force on 21 October 1986. The Charter’s preamble sets it apart from other regional and universal rights instruments. It takes “into consideration the virtues of [African States’] historical tradition and the values of African civilization.” It was established to promote “human and peoples rights” and thus includes several collective or peoples’ rights referred to as “third generation” rights that include peoples’ rights to “national and international peace and security” and “to a generally satisfactory environment favourable to their development.” The Charter is the first human rights treaty to include a list of duties. These include duties to one’s “family and society, the state, and other legally recognised communities and the international community.” The Protocol establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights entered into force in 2004 and the Court held its first session on 2-5 July 2006. Countering Terrorism, Protecting Human Rights 55