Charter on Preventing and Combating Terrorism also recognizes “the need to address conditions that may foster and sustain terrorism, in particular by fully respecting democracy and the rule of law, … by promoting human rights and tolerance and by combating poverty.”33 49. Counter-terrorism activities impact on a number of particular human rights and fundamental freedoms. As the fight against terrorism has become a truly international phenomenon, it has also had a serious impact on the rule of law at the international level. In particular, over the past five years, in the OSCE region, the fulfilment of commitments regarding the prohibition on torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention; the right to a fair trial; and the right to an effective remedy have been undermined by the discourse and practices around the international fight against terrorism. 50. There have been a number of cases of arrest, detention, and transfer of terrorist suspects by participating States either from their own territories or by their law enforcement authorities acting outside of their territories that have taken place outside of the standard criminaljustice system or of administrative deportation and extradition procedures. Such practices may amount to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile in the absence of procedural safeguards and clear laws governing their use. The existence of secret detention centres for terrorist suspects used by, and/or located in, OSCE participating States calls into question the implementation of the relevant commitments across the region. 51. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have found that the use of diplomatic assurances in cases of deportation where there is a risk of torture undermine the absolute prohibition on torture and the principle of non-refoulement. Yet a number of OSCE participating States have taken, or are considering, recourse to such practices in relation to terrorist suspects. Ñ Human rights defenders and national human rights institutions 52. At the heart of every democratic society is a vibrant civil society. Human rights are most likely to be secured when citizens, individually or collectively, are able to hold their government to account. States that nurture an environment in which civil society can flourish and citizens are free to express themselves in the defence of human rights are more likely to enjoy the benefits of long-term stability and security. Since the early 1990s, the OSCE community has recognized the role of individuals and civil society, in particular non-governmental human rights organizations and human rights defenders and advocates. 34 53. In many OSCE States, independent national human rights institutions play a crucial role in advancing and protecting human rights. Working with human rights defenders, they foster a national culture of human rights and serve as a respected independent voice. Such bodies do not yet exist in a number of participating States, or, where they do, they often lack the 33  OSCE Charter on Preventing and Combating Terrorism, Tenth Meeting of the Ministerial Council, 6-7 December 2002, para. 20. 34  The 1989 Concluding Document of the 1986 Vienna Meeting (Third Follow-up Meeting to the Helsinki Conference, para. 26) specifies that participating States “will respect the right of persons to observe and promote the implementation of CSCE provisions and to associate with others for this purpose. They will facilitate direct contacts and communication among these persons, organizations and institutions within and between participating States and remove, where they exist, legal and administrative impediments inconsistent with the CSCE provisions”. Common Responsibility: Commitments and Implementation 19