In the post-9/11 and 7/7 world, law enforcement agencies are increasingly relying on terrorist profiles that are based on stereotypical group characteristics such as religion, race, ethnicity and national origin to single out persons for enhanced scrutiny. The purpose of this paper is, first, to examine whether this law enforcement method is compatible with international human rights standards and, second, to tentatively sketch some possible strategies of ensuring that law enforcement officers comply with these standards when engaging in anti-terrorism efforts. To do this, the paper looks at the police tactics employed after September 11 in three Western democracies: the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.