authority.71 Adherence to due process and the right to a fair hearing is essential for the proper safeguarding of a person’s liberty and security. E.  Profiling and the principle of non-discrimination As underscored in chapter I, section A, the principles of equality and non-discrimination are central to human rights law and are recognized as norms of jus cogens.72 The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, for example, has stated that “the principle of equality before the law, equal protection before the law and non-discrimination belong to jus cogens, because the whole legal structure of national and international public order rests on it and it is a principle that permeates all law.”73 In the specific context of counter-terrorism, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has said that the principle of non-discrimination is not capable of limitation since it has become a norm of jus cogens. This is reflected within various international and regional documents on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism.74 The use of indicator clusters to profile potential suspects may, in principle, be a permissible means of investigation and can be an important law enforcement tool. Generally speaking, profiling is a filtering process involving a single indicator or a cluster of indicators that, when grouped together, present the characteristics of a high-risk person, passenger or consignment. When law enforcement agents use broad profiles that reflect unexamined generalizations, including for the purposes of countering terrorism, these practices may constitute disproportionate interference with human rights. In particular, if one of the indicators on which profiling is based is a person’s ethnic or national origin, this raises the question of the conformity of profiling with the principle of non-discrimination.75 In its general recommendation N° 30 (2004), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has called on States to ensure that any measures taken in the fight against terrorism do not discriminate, in purpose or effect, on the grounds of race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin and that non-citizens are not subjected to racial or ethnic profiling or stereotyping. At the regional level, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has cautioned that “any use of profiling or similar devices by a State must comply strictly with international principles governing necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination, and must be subject to close judicial scrutiny.”76 The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance has asked Governments to ensure that no discrimination ensues from legislation and regulations, or their implementation, in the 37