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Home | SchNEWS OF THE WORLD
 Opportunism
in the face of tragedy
Repression in the name of anti - terrorism
by Gillian Murdoch
In the atmosphere of global xenophobia and paranoia which followed
the September 11 attacks, many countries used the opportunity to justify
crackdowns on ongoing domestic dissent, tighten surveillance and push
through new 'anti-terrorist' legislation. For some countries [like
UK] September 11 legitimated draconian anti-terrorist laws which had
been introduced during the past few years anyway, while others just
carried on with the same human rights abuses they'd always done, whether
they wrote new legislation to legalise it or not. Here's a round up
of some post 9-11 anti-terrorist rubber stamping worldwide...
The European Union
Under the post September 11 "Anti-terrorism roadmap" the
EU has added two new databases to the planned Second Generation SIS
(Schengen Information System - see SchNEWS 312).
The first database would cover public order and protests and lead
to: "Barring potentially dangerous persons from participating
in certain events [where the person is] notoriously known by the
police forces for having committed recognised facts of public order
disturbance."
The second database would be a register of all third country nationals
in the EU who will be tagged with an "alert" if they overstay
their visa or residence permit - this follows a call by the German
government for the creation of a "centralised register".
Spain
Spain used its presidency of the EU to push through new proposals
to target anti-capitalist protesters across Europe, with more cooperation
between police forces and the introduction of an EU wide arrest
warrant. Their own anti-terrorist zeal goes back well before September
11 and they continue to attack Basque political group or publications
- accusing them of ETA (Basque militant separatist army) affiliations
and terrorism. On October 1st police raided and imprisoned
13 people who were involved in the Basque prisoners support organization
Gestoras Pro-amnistía. (For more see SchNEWS 343) The Spanish
government admitted to 'tracking' a number of activists websites
for intelligence gathering including Barcelona Indymedia (move over
Maxwell Smart). www.euskalinfo.org.uk
France
On November 15, France rushed through 'The Law on Daily Security'
(LSQ): a package of anti-terrorist laws which are scheduled to remain
in force until December 31 2003, giving the police expanded powers
to search, monitor communications and heighten security in public
places - all in the name of cracking down on "terrorism"
and "delinquency." www.lsijolie.net
United Kingdom
The UK's latest anti-global terrorism effort, the Anti-Terrorism,
Crime and Security Act became law on December 14 2001. The new Terrorism
Act defines terrorism as "the use or threat of action"
designed to "influence the government or to intimidate the
public ... for the purpose of advancing a political, religious,
or ideological cause". Actions cited include those involving
"serious violence against a person" in Britain or abroad.
The act covers fundraising.
Expanding the Terrorism Act 2000 (for a rundown see SchNEWS
251, 268, 300), it allows for the freezing of terrorist funding
and legalises the indefinite detention of foreign nationals without
charge or trial. Detainees can be held with no evidence that they
are even thinking of committing a crime, and may be 'certified'
as a terrorist suspect if there an 'unspecified link' either to
a so-called terrorist organisation, or to someone else who is a
member of one.
The opting out of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human
Rights (which outlaws detention without trial) was justified with
the soundbite: 'The presence of extremists in the United Kingdom
at this time and for the foreseeable future creates a situation
of public emergency threatening the life of the nation.'
As a result Asian and north African communities were openly targeted
for surveillance and repression in exactly the same way the Irish
community was in the 1970s and 1980s. Between 11 September 2001
and 18 January 2002 there were 124 'terrorism-related' arrests.
A significant number of those arrested in the post-11 September
hysteria have already had any suggestion of terrorist involvement
dismissed but remain imprisoned on pretexts connected to their immigration
status. With the government putting the pressure on to speed up
deportations and effect more 'removals', this is an excuse to trawl
minority communities, conflating anti-terrorist and immigration
powers.
In March MI6 announced it was seeking to double its recruitment
of front-line officers for the "war against terrorism,"
justifying the need for more spies by claiming that recent events
'pose the greatest threat to Britain's security in 60 years'.
In the same month twenty one [mainly Islamic] groups were banned
under new terror law, adding to the list of groups targeted in the
Terrorist Act 2000 such as the PKK, the Kurdish Workers' Party;
ETA, the Basque separatist group; LTTE, the Tamil separatist group,
a number of Sikh organisations, Al Qa'ida of course and more.
The Home Office concedes the large majority of the groups on the
list have not attacked British targets.
www.statewatch.org/news/2002/apr/01sis.htm
Germany
Rushed through are a package of anti-terrorist laws, amending existing
laws, strengthening immigration control and secret services to an
extent unknown since Nazi times. New supervisory powers give virtually
unlimited access to data from telephones, emails, bank accounts
to government intelligence and police. Surprise surprise a lot of
the laws are pointed at outsiders living in Germany - with the 'alien
central register' law being upped, and records of fingerprints and
other documents of asylum seekers being kept for ten years.
India
On October 24th the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance
(POTO) became law. This gives the police wide powers of arrest,
it allows up to six months detention without charge or trial for
political suspects. It also made government, army officials, and
other paramilitary forces immune from prosecution for any action
taken "in good faith" when combating "terrorism".
POTO modified 1985's lapsed Terrorists and Disruptive Activities
(Prevention) Act (TADA.) Under TADA, tens of thousands of politically
motivated detentions, torture, and other human rights violations
were committed against Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits, trade union activists,
and political opponents in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the
face of mounting opposition to the act, India's government acknowledged
these abuses and phased TADA out in 1995.
In May this year Thailand agreed to join Indonesia, Malaysia
and the Phillipines in an anti-terrorism pact
to "defeat a militant network they say is bent on creating
a single regional Islamic state." The four-way pact would allow
anti-terrorism exercises as well as combined operations to hunt
suspected terrorists, the setting up of hotlines and sharing of
airline passenger lists. www.helpkashmir.org/poto/poto1.htm
Russia
International concern for human rights abuses in Chechnya appeared
to wane after the September 11 attacks, although Russian forces
in Chechnya have continued with extrajudicial executions, arrests,
and extortion of civilians. Since September 11 alone, at least one
person per week has "disappeared" after being taken into
custody by Russian forces.
The Kremlin has laboured to link the Russian operation in Chechnya
with the global fight against terrorism. On September 12, Russian
President Vladimir Putin declared that America and Russia had a
"common foe" because "Bin Laden's people are connected
with the events currently taking place in our Chechnya."
Jordan
In October Jordan amended its Penal Code and press law "to
cover all the needs that we are confronting now," said Prime
Minister Ali Abul Ragheb. The amendments expanded the definition
of "terrorism", and introduced loosely defined offences
restricting freedom of expression and expanding the scope of offences
punishable by death. It allowed the government to close down any
publication deemed to have published "false or libellous information
that can undermine national unity or the country's reputation,"
and prescribed prison terms for publicising in the media or on the
internet pictures "that undermine the king's dignity"
or information tarnishing the reputation of the royal family.
In January Fahd al-Rimawi, the editor-in-chief of the weekly political
paper al Majd, became the first known victim of the amended penal
code. He was questioned for four hours by the General Intelligence
Department (GID) and then detained for three days at Jweideh Prison
in January 2002. He was charged with "writing and publishing
false information and rumours that may harm the prestige and reputation
of the state and slander the integrity and reputation of its members".
Somalia
Since Somalia's Islamist group al-Ittihad was linked with
al-Qai'da and the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
in 1998, the threat to people's freedom since September 11 is not
a case of the Somalian government rushing through anti-terrorist
laws. Rather the threat comes from the US, who are poised to inflict
terror themselves in the name of preventing terror. US and German
warships are patrolling the waters around Yemen, Sudan and Somalia,
and to prepare the country for being hit, earlier this year the
US closed down international banking to it, as well as cutting off
the internet and restricting phone communication.
Nigeria
In October Nigerian Police were reported to be making efforts to
"revive" their anti-terrorism squad in the aftermath of
the terrorist attacks. The squad, was set up by the late dictator
General Sanni Abacha, and disbanded after Nigeria returned to democracy
in 1999.
The idea had critics worried. In all its years of existence, not
a single terrorist was arrested or prosecuted. Instead, it was used
to terrorise the media, human rights community, the pro-democracy
movement and other real and imagined enemies.
Canada
The Government, proposed four repressive anti-terrorist laws modelled
on the US Patriot Act. Bill C-36, the Canada Police State Act, was
enacted on December 24th 2001. It allows new powers of
"preventative arrests of people suspected of terrorism"
for up to 72 hours based on police suspicion and removes the right
to remain silent. It defines protests that interrupt public facilities
as acts of terrorism, and allows suspects' property to be confiscated.
Under the Bill anyone who associates with listed person or organisation
can be by association defined as a terrorist. Property and bank
accounts can be frozen. www.canadianliberty.bc.ca
Chile
The Mapuches, the most active radical group in Chile fighting repression
and land rights, have felt the brunt of the crackdown after September
11. After one newspaper spread the rumour that a Mapuche web-page
was done by a so-called 'Bin Laden Corporation'. Government officials
asked an Appeals Court to apply the Anti-terrorist Law to any Mapuches
who attack Endesa Chile, a subsidiary of Endesa Espana, the company
building a controversial dam on the Biobio River.
Colombia
A Bush administration "policy review" about Plan Colombia
is moving the goalposts further to allow Colombia's military to
use future US aid - guns, helicopters, intelligence and training
- to attack domestic 'terrorists' - in other words any group who
are defending the country and it's people against the neo-liberal
onslaught. Likely targets are leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia (FARC), National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, the
United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) and anyone else who
steps out of line. (see Plan Colombia article in this book)
United States
In early October Bush announced he was creating the Office of Home
and Security, to co-ordinate the government's 46 "anti-terrorist"
agencies. Modelled on the CIA's Vietnam War Phoenix Programme, the
office came into effect in March 2002, with Tom Ridge, former Republican
Governor of Pennsylvania, as director. The proposed 2003 budget
gave homeland security $38 billion - roughly double the budget allocation
for the previous year.
State lawmakers in the US responded to the September 11 terrorist
attacks by drafting more than 1,200 bills - an average of 24 per
state! They ranged from making terrorism a capital crime to requiring
teachers to lead students each day to sing the national anthem.
Iowa lawmakers made terrorist crimes punishable by life imprisonment
or death. In Pennsylvania, a bill would require students to start
each day with the pledge of allegiance or the national anthem. In
October the USA Patriot Act was approved by Congress without debate
and signed into law. It put into place the most sweeping expansion
of state powers to spy, search, restrict speech, arrest, incarcerate,
interrogate, punish, deport, and withhold information the United
States has ever seen, all unchecked by judicial review.
Australia
On September 13, Defence Minister Peter Reith cited the US attacks
and terrorism to justify his (1950's style conservative) government's
effort to prevent asylum-seekers from entering Australia. These
remarks came as the Australian government overturned a court decision
that it had illegally detained hundreds of migrants from Afghanistan.
A bundle of post September 11 counter-terrorism legislation is
currently pending which is mainly about giving the government covert
access to electronic communications and banning organisations on
the basis of secret intelligence information.
Aotearoa/New Zealand
The NZ version of the UK RIP Bill enabling covert access to communications
is being delayed due to public resistance. The Security Intelligence
Service has cashed in on the paranoia by launching a 'dob in a terrorist'
hotline.
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