Read the 105th issue of ICJ’s monthly newsletter on proposed and actual changes in counter-terrorism laws, policies and practices and their impact on human rights at the national, regional and international levels.
The E-Bulletin on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights provides hyperlinks to full texts of reports, statements, laws, court judgments and legal analysis. It aims at fostering an informed debate on the implications of counter-terrorism measures for the promotion and protection of human rights.
AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST
Israel: Prosecutor seeks 12 years’ imprisonment for 14 year old
Kenya: National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism launched
Saudi Arabia: Acquiring Chinese armed drones
Somalia: National Strategy on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism launched
AMERICAS
USA: Court of Appeals voids judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority
USA: Former Attorney General Gonzalez defends enhanced interrogation techniques in memoirs
USA: Military Commission proceedings against al Nashiri resume
USA: Joint Combined Exchange Training programme expanding
USA: Guantánamo Bay Camp 5 closed
USA: Initial Periodic Review Board hearings completed
USA: Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act becomes law
USA: 110 charged in ISIS related cases since 2013
USA: Military Commission proceedings against Khan resume
USA: Director of National Intelligence report shows some former Guantánamo detainees engaging with terrorist organizations
USA: House of Representatives passes bill blocking transfer of Guantánamo detainees
USA: Four new “forever prisoners” at Guantánamo Bay
Uruguay: Former Guantánamo detainee on hungerstrike
ASIA – PACIFIC
Australia: First conviction for recruitment of Syria fighters
Australia-ASEAN: Prime Minister welcomes renewed ASEAN-Australia Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism
Australia: Government proposes new counter-terrorism legislation
EUROPE & COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES
UK: The Intercept reveals vital role of Menwith Hill Station in NSA’s global surveillance network
UK: Court of Appeal judgment in Al-Saadoon
Bosnia: Foreign terrorist fighter prosecutions
France: Prosecutor announces qualification of terrorism-linked infractions as crimes rather than misdemeanours
France: Hollande calls for an “Islam of France”
France: Teenagers arrested in counter-terrorism investigations
France: Deradicalization centres opening
Germany: Preacher on trial for supporting and recruiting Syria fighters
Italy: US Government pays out to family of Italian drone-strike victim
Spain: Former Guantánamo detainee jailed for leading a cell to recruit fighters for Syria
Switzerland: Voters approve new surveillance law in referendum
Turkey: EU demands for anti-terror law changes rejected
Turkey: National Security Council recommends extension of state of emergency
UNITED NATIONS & REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
UN: High Commissioner for Human Rights report on preventing and countering violent extremism
UN: Security Council adopts resolution addressing extremist threats to civil aviation
Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights judgment in Ibrahim and others v UK
EU: Advocate General deems that Passenger Name Record data agreement with Canada cannot be entered into
EU: EU Court of Justice holds that Member States may expel non-EU parent of an EU child if the former presents a serious threat
EU: Commission proposal to strengthen Europol and the European Counter Terrorism Centre
EU: Council adopts legal framework for sanctions against Islamic State and al Qaeda
EU: Advocate General recommends removal of Tamil Tigers and Hamas from terrorist list
E-BULLETIN no. 105
AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST
Israel: Prosecutor seeks 12 years’ imprisonment for 14 year old
On 25 September, an Israeli prosecutor called for a 12 year jail term to be handed down to Ahmed Manasra, a 14 year old boy who was convicted in May of the attempted murder of two Israelis of 12 and 20 years old in a knife attack in the Jewish settlement neighbourhood of Pisgat Zeev in October 2015. Manasra was 13 when he carried out the attack together with his 15-year old cousin, who was shot dead by security forces. The court is set to sentence him on 7 November. In early August, Israeli lawmakers approved jailing children as young as 12 convicted of terrorist offences.
Media ReportKenya: National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism launched
On 7 September, President Kenyatta launched a National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism, which aims to articulate Kenya’s efforts to prevent terrorism and violent extremism. The Strategy will be implemented by the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and concerns all sections of government, communities, civil society, the private sector and international partners. The Director of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre was appointed as the Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism. A key element of the Strategy is the rehabilitation of “foreign terrorist fighters who completely disavow the use violence and adherence to the ideology and aims of terrorist groups”.
President Website
Media Report
Media Report
Saudi Arabia: Acquiring Chinese armed drones
In early September, Saudi and international media reported the signing of a contract between the Saudi Government and the Chinese firm Chengdu for an unspecified number of Pterodactyl armed drones, which are apparently modelled on American Predator and Reaper drones, albeit with less sophisticated sensors. The United States has, as a matter of policy, refused to sell armed drones to Saudi Arabia. Recipients of US unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) “are to use these systems in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law”, said the US State Department in 2015. In a February 2010 meeting with the Saudi Assistant Minister of Defence and Aviation, the US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia highlighted concerns about sharing intelligence about Yemen with Saudi Arabia “absent greater certainty that Saudi Arabia was and would remain fully in compliance with the laws of armed conflict during the conduct of military operations”, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks in 2011.
Media Report
Media Report
State Department Export Policy Factsheet
Somalia: National Strategy on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism launched
On 12 September, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched a Comprehensive National Strategy on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism. He defined the Strategy’s aim as “to outline a clear vision for countering (once it is happening) and preventing (before it happened) violent extremism”, which will be based “on a better understanding of the process of recruitment and the drivers of violent extremism as well as the development of sufficient capacity to support resilience within communities”. He stressed that the “reason we needed to have a national strategy is that our children and youth are often victims… Violent extremists are also actively recruiting children, some of whom are barely teenagers”. As “military alone cannot bring peace and stability… this strategy is an integral part of our National Security Architecture”, he continued. He noted that “Somalia is very pleased to have fulfilled the call of the Secretary General of the UN and as a result we have developed actions plans that came through a consultation and engagement from a wide range of government institutions, regional authorities, civil society groups … the media and the private sector”.
Media Report
Media Report
P/CVE National Strategy – First draft
AMERICAS
USA: Court of Appeals voids judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority
On 31 August, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit voided a USD 655 million judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority in Sokolow v. PLO, citing a lack of jurisdiction. In response to a claim brought by ten US families under the Anti-Terrorism Act alleging that the defendants supported terrorist attacks in Israel that claimed American lives between 2002 and 2004, the lower court had concluded that they indeed “perpetrated the attacks and… knowingly provided material support to… foreign terrorist organizations”. The Court of Appeal, however, found that “the federal courts cannot exercise jurisdiction in a civil case beyond the limits prescribed by the due process clause of the Constitution” and that hence “the district court could not constitutionally exercise either general or specific personal jurisdiction over the defendants in this case”.
Court Decision
Media Report
Blog Post
USA: Former Attorney General Gonzalez defends enhanced interrogation techniques in memoirs
On 6 September, former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales published his memoir, ‘True Faith and Allegiance’, in which he defends his legacy. Gonzales served as counsel to former President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005 and was the 80th US Attorney General from 2005 to 2007. With regard to the CIA’s use of so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques”, Gonzales’ memoirs continues to defend them, noting in an interview with National Public Radio that while “certainly waterboarding is unlawful today”, during the early years of the war on terror “there was guidance given by the Department of Justice that if administered in a certain way to a certain group of individuals that it would not violate the anti-torture statute”.
NPR Website
Publisher’s Website
USA: Military Commission proceedings against al Nashiri resume
From 7 September, a three-day pre-trial hearing took place in the case against Abd al Rahim al Nashiri. The hearing was the first in the case in the past 18 months. The Military Commission proceedings resumed after the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on 30 August ruled on the outstanding interlocutory appeal challenging the Military Commission’s jurisdiction, deferring the question of when the War on Terror began to the Military Commission. Al Nashiri is charged as the alleged architect of al Qaeda’s October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole at Aden harbour in Yemen.
Media Report
Media Report
Blog Post
USA: Joint Combined Exchange Training programme expanding
On 8 September, The Intercept published its findings from documents it obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request concerning the Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) programme, which is designed to train US special operators in a variety of missions, from “foreign internal defence” to “unconventional warfare”. The documents reveal an expansion of the programme, with the United States said to be “spending more money on more missions to send more elite U.S. forces to train alongside more foreign counterparts in more countries around the world”. In 2014, the latest year covered by the released documents, US troops carried out approximately one mission every two days; compared to 2013, the number of missions increased by 13 per cent and the number of countries involved by 38 per cent, from 63 to 87. A 2015 investigation by The Intercept had revealed that JCETs were regularly conducted with foreign militaries implicated by the US State Department in gross human rights violations. A 2013 study by Rand Corp. of JCETs conducted in areas covered by Africa Command, Pacific Command and Southern Command had found “moderately low” effectiveness of the missions in all three regions.
The InterceptUSA: Guantánamo Bay Camp 5 closed
On 8 September, the Obama Administration shut down one of the Guantánamo Bay prison camps, Camp 5. This was a 100-cell maximum-security prison that was used to isolate hunger strikers, punish faeces hurlers and segregate alleged war criminals. Camp 5 will be repurposed into a medical clinic and psychiatric ward to meet prison needs. It was built in 2003-2004 for USD 17 million by a subsidiary of Halliburton. In 2012, Yemeni detainee Adnan Latif committed suicide by drug overdose in Camp 5 and a Saudi detainee whose personal details were not released hanged himself there in 2007.
Media Report
Media Report
Media Report
Blog Post
USA: Initial Periodic Review Board hearings completed
Thursday 8 September marked the final day of the “initial” Periodic Review Board (PRB) hearings for detainees at Guantánamo who are not already cleared for transfer or charged in the military commissions system. Currently 61 detainees remain, 46 of whom are held in Camp 6 while the other 15, formerly held by the CIA, are in Camp 7. Of those, three have been convicted or pled guilty in military commission proceedings; seven await trial before military commissions; 20 have been cleared for transfer; 23 have been designated “forever prisoners” whose continued law-of-war detention is said to be warranted because it is (in the words of the President’s order) “necessary to protect against a significant threat to the security of the US”; and the remaining eight are awaiting the outcome of their initial PRB hearing. Depending on the outcome in these last eight cases, after the initial PRB reviews are completed, there will remain between 23 and 31 detainees not either charged or cleared for transfer.
Blog Post
Miami Herald Guantánamo Periodic Review Guide
USA: Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act becomes law
On 9 September, following earlier approval by the Senate, the House of Representatives unanimously passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), that would allow US nationals to seek relief from foreign governments if such governments are believed to have had involvement in a terrorist attack taking place within the US that caused physical damage to a US national’s person or property. It will allow the families of those killed in the 9/11 attacks to sue the Government of Saudi Arabia. On 23 September, President Obama vetoed the legislation, stating that “JASTA threatens to reduce the effectiveness of our response to indications that a foreign government has taken steps outside our borders to provide support for terrorism, by taking such matters out of the hands of national security and foreign policy professionals and placing them in the hands of private litigants and courts” and that “JASTA would upset longstanding international principles regarding sovereign immunity” thus opening US diplomats and servicemen to suit abroad. On 28 September, both the House and the Senate overrode President Obama’s veto, meaning that the bill becomes law. In response, Obama said the law sets a “dangerous precedent” that will encourage other countries to sue the United States and its military. Press secretary Earnest said “this is the single most embarrassing thing the United States Senate has done possibly since 1983”.
Congress Website
Media Report
Media Report
Media Report
USA: 110 charged in ISIS related cases since 2013
On 12 September, US Assistant Attorney General Carlin told reporters that more than 110 people have been charged in federal court since 2013 on counts related to the so-called Islamic State (IS). Many of them were prosecuted under “material support” statutes that criminalize supporting certain foreign terrorist groups. In more than 80 per cent of these cases, persons believed they had witnessed the activity for which the individual was charged. However, in more than half of those cases, the witnesses did not report the activity to the police until after the charges were made. In 2015, the Department of Justice charged 60 people with supporting or committing crimes due to sympathizing with IS.
Blog PostUSA: Military Commission proceedings against Khan resume
On 14 September, Majid Khan appeared before a military commission for the first time since 2012 for a hearing, with a new judge and prosecutor and an expanded defence team. Khan pleaded guilty in February 2012 to murder, spying, conspiracy and other charges for, among other things, acting as a courier of cash linked to the 2003 bombing of a Marriott hotel in Jakarta in which 11 people were killed and agreeing to be a suicide bomber in an unrealized plot to murder former Pakistani President Musharraf. Under the plea agreement, Khan pledged to turn government witness. He has, however, only appeared in court once, to plead guilty, and no other cases have gone to trial. Since his guilty plea, both the Senate and Khan’s attorneys have released descriptions of his ill-treatment in Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) custody, including having pureed food pumped into him rectally during a hunger strike, water torture and systematic deprivation of sunlight. Khan was captured in Karachi in 2003 and was held for more than three years at CIA black sites. The reason for the current hearing is to let him withdraw a guilty plea on the charge of providing material support for terrorism, because two federal courts had ruled it illegitimate, namely not constituting a war crime at the military commissions created by Presidents Bush and Obama.
Media ReportUSA: Director of National Intelligence report shows some former Guantánamo detainees engaging with terrorist organizations
On 14 September, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report containing an unclassified summary of intelligence relating to recidivism of former Guantánamo detainees and an assessment of the likelihood that such detainees will engage in terrorism or communicate with persons in terrorist organizations. According to the report, since the detention facility has been in use 118 of 676 detainees transferred out (or 17.5%) are confirmed to have reengaged in fighting, thirty of whom have died; an additional 86 detainees are suspected to have returned to fighting, four of whom are dead. Since 2009, the Obama Administration has released 161 detainees, including seventeen in the first six months of 2016; of those 161, nine have joined insurgencies (or 5.6%).
USA: House of Representatives passes bill blocking transfer of Guantánamo detainees
On 15 September, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would bar the Federal Government from spending money on any Guantánamo detainee transfers, even those to a foreign country. The ban would last until the end of the calendar year, or until a bill authorizing defence funding is signed into law. The Obama Administration has said it will veto the Bill, releasing a statement of Administration policy that reiterates its longstanding argument that closing the facility will improve national security and noting that transfers would happen only after a comprehensive review process.
Media Report
Media Report
Media Report
USA: Four new “forever prisoners” at Guantánamo Bay
On 12 August, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit by former Guantánamo detainee Mohammed Jawad claiming he was tortured. The Court affirmed the district court’s finding that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 removes the court’s jurisdiction over matters arising from the detention of someone who was given enemy combatant status.
Uruguay: Former Guantánamo detainee on hungerstrike
Former Guantánamo detainee Abu Wa’el Dhiab has not been eating for more than a month in an attempt to pressure the Government of Uruguay, where he was resettled in December 2014, into letting him join his wife and children in Turkey or in another nation. Dhiab has been hospitalized twice and briefly fell into a coma, subsequent to which a judge ordered a medical evaluation in order to determine the steps necessary “to preserve [his] integrity”. On 21 September, President Vazquez said that Dhiab’s demands exceed Uruguay’s capacity to deliver. The Government’s liaison with Dhiab has said that Turkey, Lebanon and Qatar have all rejected taking Dhiab, who was detained for 12 years at Guantánamo, where he staged a lengthy hunger strike and frequently clashed with guards during his protest.
Media Report
Media Report
Media Report
Blog Post
ASIA – PACIFIC
Australia: First conviction for recruitment of Syria fighters
On 1 September, the New South Wales Supreme Court sentenced Hamdi Alqudsi to a maximum of eight years’ imprisonment, he having been found guilty in July of seven counts of providing services with the intention of supporting hostile acts in Syria between June and October 2013. Alqudsi, who is the first person to be prosecuted for helping Australians fight in Syria, will be eligible for release in 2022 after serving a non-parole period of six years. His trial court heard that he helped connect seven Australian men to terrorist organization Jabhat al Nusra and other al Qaeda affiliates, and was overjoyed when he heard that some would move to the so-called Islamic State. Although Alqudsi maintained his innocence after the jury delivered its verdict, at the sentencing hearing he admitted that he knew the men planned to take up arms against the Syrian Government in order to “help and defend” civilians. Two of the men who made it into Syria died; two others have returned to Australia; and the fate of two others remains unknown. One recruit was stopped before he could leave Australia and was later convicted of three counts of preparing to enter a foreign State to engage in hostile activities.
Media ReportAustralia-ASEAN: Prime Minister welcomes renewed ASEAN-Australia Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism
On 7 September, in remarks made at the ASEAN-Australia Summit in Laos, Prime Minister Turnbull signalled that he wishes to expand Australia’s counter-terrorism arrangements with Indonesia, Malaysia and other neighbouring countries. He said that terrorism is “a common challenge that demands a united response” and reiterated Australia’s commitment to working in partnership to strengthen regional cooperation, in particular through the East Asia Summit but also through the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus. Turnbull welcomed the adoption of the renewed ASEAN-Australia Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism, which he deemed “a significant signal of collective political will to share our expertise and stay ahead of this evolving threat”.
Joint Declaration
Prime Minister Website
Media Report
Australia: Government proposes new counter-terrorism legislation
On 15 September, the Australian Parliament considered draft legislation introduced by the Government that aims, among other things, to reduce the age for which a person of security concern can be subject to a control order from 16 to 14 years old, with jail terms of up to five years in case control order conditions are breached; to create a new search, telecommunications interception and surveillance regime for those under control orders; and to establish a scheme for post-sentence preventive detention of “high risk terrorist offenders” who are considered by a judge in civil proceedings to present an unacceptable risk to the community at the end of their custodial sentence. The reading of the legislation is set to continue in October.
Parliament Website (1)
Parliament Website (2)
Media Report
Media Report
EUROPE & COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES
UK: The Intercept reveals vital role of Menwith Hill Station in NSA’s global surveillance network
In an article published on 6 September, The Intercept revealed the vital role Menwith Hill Station, an American base close to Leeds that was originally used to monitor Soviet communications throughout the Cold War, plays in the National Security Agency’s (NSA) global surveillance network. The disclosures raise new questions about the extent of British complicity in US drone strikes and other so-called targeted killing missions. The top-secret documents obtained by The Intercept show that the NSA has over the past decade pioneered ground-breaking new spying programmes at Menwith Hill that allow it to pinpoint the locations of suspected terrorists accessing the Internet in remote parts of the world, which have provided support for conventional British and American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan but also for covert missions in countries where the US have not declared war, including Yemen. The base has two main capabilities: FORNSAT, which uses antennae to eavesdrop on communications as they are being beamed between foreign satellites; and OVERHEAD, which uses US Government satellites orbiting above targeted countries to locate and monitor wireless communications on the ground below, such as cell phone calls and WiFi traffic. Although it is unclear how many communications Menwith Hill is capable of tapping, in a single 12-hour period in May 2011 for instance, its systems logged more than 335 million metadata records.
The InterceptUK: Court of Appeal judgment in Al-Saadoon
On 9 September, a UK Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Al-Saadoon and others v Secretary of State for Defence. Much of that case revolved around when and how the European Convention on Human Rights applies to the extraterritorial conduct of States in situations of armed conflict, where that State is in some way linked to the lethal use of force. The Court of Appeal disagreed with the lower court that the effect of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in Al-Skeini “is to establish a principle of extra-territorial jurisdiction under Article 1 to the effect that whenever and wherever a state which is a contracting party to the Convention uses physical force it must do so in a way that does not violate Convention rights”. Rather, the Court of Appeal considers that in laying down the concept of physical power and control as the “basis of extraterritorial jurisdiction the Grand Chamber required a greater degree of power and control than that represented by the use of lethal or potentially lethal force alone”.
Court Decision
Blog Post
Blog Post
Blog Post
Blog Post
Bosnia: Foreign terrorist fighter prosecutions
On 15 September, prosecutors announced charges against Abdulaziz Osman Kekic, who is accused of joining and fighting for the so-called Islamic State in Syria. Kekic was deported from Turkey earlier this year and arrested at Sarajevo International Airport. The court’s decision is expected in a few weeks’ time. So far this year, the Bosnian State Court has sentenced 12 individuals to a total of 23 years in prison for public incitement of religious hatred and for joining or planning to join a terrorist organization.
Media ReportFrance: Prosecutor announces qualification of terrorism-linked infractions as crimes rather than misdemeanours
On 2 September, France’s anti-terror prosecutor Molins, in an interview with Le Monde, announced his policy decision from last April to henceforth qualify certain terrorism-linked infractions as crimes, punishable with prison sentences of 20 to 30 years, rather than misdemeanours, punishable by a maximum of ten years’ imprisonment. Molins furthermore stated that 700 French citizens are fighting for terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria and that “at one moment or another we will face the return of a large number of French fighters and their families”. His office is currently following up on 324 terrorism cases, compared to 26 cases in 2013.
France: Hollande calls for an “Islam of France”
On 8 September, President Hollande in a public address called for the creation of an “Islam of France” and the removal of foreign-trained extremist imams. Hollande said that “what we need to succeed in together is the creation of an Islam of France”, which he deems can be achieved through the new Foundation for Islam in France. The upcoming relaunch of the Foundation in October was announced in the beginning of August as a measure to improve relations between the State and the country’s large Muslim community. Former Minister Chevènement, who was appointed as the Foundation’s head, has faced a wave of criticism on social media for declaring in an interview to know the Muslim world well after having visited “Cairo and Algiers, 40 or 50 years ago”. In the address, Hollande furthermore said that France needs to create “a national association in order to obtain financing for the building of mosques and the training of imams”. France’s rules of secularism prohibit the use of State funds for places of worship, and there have been concerns about the radical vision of Islam preached in some foreign-funded mosques, at least 20 of which have been closed since December.
Media Report (French)
Media Report (French)
Media Report
France: Teenagers arrested in counter-terrorism investigations
Between 8 and 14 September, French authorities in three separate cases have arrested 15-year-old boys as part of counter-terrorism investigations. At least two of them are suspected to have had links to Rachid Kassim, whose precise role is under investigation but who is believed to be a key instigator to direct recruits through the encrypted smartphone application Telegram on how and where to carry out the Islamic State’s call for Europeans to carry out domestic terrorist attacks. Among Kassim’s contacts were Larossi Abballa, who knifed a senior policeman and his partner in June, the two teenagers who slit the throat of an elderly priest in July, and the female alleged jihadists who are suspected of plotting to blow up a car filled with gas canisters near Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral. Last month, the Interior Ministers of France and Germany jointly urged the European Commission to regulate encrypted messaging apps.
Media Report
Media Report
Media Report
Media Report
Media Report
France: Deradicalization centres opening
On 13 September, the French Government unveiled a policy of establishing “deradicalization centres” aimed at young people most susceptible to terrorist calls for violence. Interior Ministry officials told media that admission to the centres will be voluntary, focusing on those radicalized individuals “looking for a way out”. The first of these Centres for Prevention, Integration and Citizenship will open in Beaumont-en-Véron at the end of September. Eventually, 12 centres will open in each of France’s departmental regions, hosting a maximum of 25 individuals aged 18 to 30. The programme will consist of a 6.45am wake-up call, followed by a ceremonial salute of the French flag and a series of courses in French history, religion and philosophy, in addition to time for athletics. A number of mental-health professionals have criticized the plan, insisting the Government is experimenting without any clearly defined method or guarantee for success.
Germany: Preacher on trial for supporting and recruiting Syria fighters
On 6 September, Sven Lau, one of Germany’s best-known Islamist preachers, went on trial in Düsseldorf. He stands accused of supporting and recruiting fighters for Syria-based Jaish al-Muhajieen wal-Ansar (JMA), which Germany lists as a terrorist organization. Lau gained notoriety in 2014 when he organized a vigilante “Sharia Police” group, who patrolled the streets of Wuppertal telling people not to drink alcohol, listen to music or gamble. Prosecutors allege that he was the JMA’s main contact in the Düsseldorf area and recruited two volunteers in 2013. They also accuse him of delivering EUR 250 in cash to a German fighter in Syria and of paying for and organizing the delivery of night-vision equipment worth EUR 1,440 to the JMA in Syria. The trial is expected to last until January. If convicted, Lau may face up to 15 years’ imprisonment.
Media Report
Media Report (German)
Italy: US Government pays out to family of Italian drone-strike victim
On 16 September, news emerged that the Obama Administration agreed to pay EUR 1 million to the family of Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian aid worker who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan in 2015. Lo Porto, together with an American, Warren Weinstein, was being held hostage by al Qaeda. Obama last year acknowledged that Lo Porto had been accidentally killed in a secret counter-terrorism mission and expressed his regret. It is the first known and documented payment of this kind made by the US Government to the family of a drone-strike victim killed outside a declared war. In the July agreement between the US Government and the Lo Porto family, according to documents obtained by La Repubblica, the payment is considered a “donation in the memory of Giovanni Lo Porto”. The agreement clarifies that Lo Porto was killed in Pakistan and includes the stipulation that “this does not imply the consent by the United States of America to the exercise of the jurisdiction of the Italian court in disputes, if any, directly or indirectly connected with this instrument. Nothing in this instrument implies a waiver to sovereign or personal immunity”. The Lo Porto and Weinstein families are the only ones that have been acknowledged and apologized to by the Obama Administration. In Yemen, Faisal bin Ali Jaber, whose nephew and brother-in-law were killed in a 2012 drone strike, received a cash payment of USD 100,000 from a Yemeni official and no acknowledgment or apology from the US.
Media Report
Media Report (Italian)
Spain: Former Guantánamo detainee jailed for leading a cell to recruit fighters for Syria
On 28 September, the Spanish Audiencia Nacional (National Court) sentenced former Guantánamo detainee Lahcen Ikassrien to 11 years’ imprisonment after convicting him of leading a recruitment cell that sent jihadists to fight in Syria. Ikassrien was captured by US forces in late 2001 alongside Taliban members in Afghanistan, and was subsequently detained at Guantánamo. He was transferred to Spanish custody in 2005, but was acquitted by the National Court in 2006 after it found insufficient evidence that he was a member of al Qaeda or of the Abu Dahdah terror cell in Spain, or that he fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. In the current proceedings, Ikassrien was arrested in June 2014 with eight other members of a cell now convicted of recruiting, radicalizing and indoctrinating jihadist volunteers. The National Court found that Ikassrien “has full knowledge that the jihadist groups Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant were jihadist structures under the umbrella of al Qaeda”.
Court Website (Spanish)
Media Report (Spanish)
Media Report
Switzerland: Voters approve new surveillance law in referendum
On 25 September, Swiss voters approved in a referendum a new surveillance law that allows its national intelligence service broad powers to spy on “terrorist” suspects and cyber criminals, as well as the ability to cooperate with foreign intelligence agencies. This marks a dramatic change from previous surveillance capabilities, as the intelligence agency had relied solely on information from public sources and other authorities. Amnesty International has said that the law would lead to “disproportionate” levels of surveillance and is harmful to the freedom of expression. Defence Minister Parmelin, on the other hand, said that Switzerland is “leaving the basement and coming up to the ground floor by international standards” of surveillance.
Blog PostTurkey: EU demands for anti-terror law changes rejected
On 1 September, at a joint press conference with European Parliament President Schulz in Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim dismissed demands by the European Union for changing the country’s counter-terror law in return for granting Turkish citizens visa-free entry to Europa. Yildirim said the issue is a matter of both Turkey’s security and Europe’s fight against terrorism, adding that “flexibility in anti-terror laws is out of the question”. One day earlier, in an interview with the Bild newspaper, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu had once again stated that Turkey would scrap the refugee deal it has struck with the EU unless Turks are allowed visa-free entry to Europe.
Turkey: National Security Council recommends extension of state of emergency
On 29 September, the National Security Council of Turkey recommended an extension of the state of emergency announced in the country in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in July. Under the Turkish Constitution, a state of emergency may not be in force for more than six months. The National Security Council also said that the importance of international cooperation must be underlined in light of what it calls EU countries’ insensitive attitude regarding Kurdish groups.
Media Report
UNITED NATIONS & REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
UN: High Commissioner for Human Rights report on preventing and countering violent extremism
During the Human Rights Council’s 33rd session, which took place from 13 to 30 September, the High Commissioner for Human Rights presented a report on best practices and lessons learned on how protecting and promoting human rights contribute to preventing and countering violent extremism. Among other things, the High Commissioner recommends that key concepts related to violent extremism should be clearly defined, particularly when they are likely to trigger measures that may interfere with human rights. He deems this “of particular concern where domestic legislation creates criminal offences based on such concepts”. States should ensure that the focus of their measures is on actual conduct, rather than mere opinions or beliefs and efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism should neither directly nor indirectly result in racial, religious or other profiling.
OHCHR WebsiteUN: Security Council adopts resolution addressing extremist threats to civil aviation
On 22 September, the Security Council adopted a resolution to address extremist threats to civil aviation and urge increased security. The resolution calls for beefed-up screening and security checks at airports worldwide to “detect and deter” terrorist attacks. The British-drafted resolution expresses the Council’s concern “that terrorist groups continue to view civil aviation as an attractive target, with the aim of causing substantial loss of life, economic damage” and aviation links between countries.
Resolution
UN News Centre
Media Report
Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights judgment in Ibrahim and others v UK
On 13 September, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in the case of Ibrahim and Others v the United Kingdom, concerning the right to a fair trial and right to legal assistance of four men responsible for a failed terrorist attack on the London transport system on 21 July 2005, in which four bombs were detonated but did not explode. In the case of three of the applicants, the Court found there had been no violation. They had been arrested on suspicion of having detonated three of the bombs and were questioned by the police in urgent “safety interviews” before having had legal advice, and statements they made then were admitted at their subsequent trials. The Court accepted there had been an urgent need to avert serious consequences for the life and physical integrity of the public, and hence compelling reasons for the temporary restrictions on the right to legal advice. However, with regard to the fourth applicant, the Court found a violation of his right to a fair trial. He was initially interviewed as a witness and hence without legal advice, but was not cautioned and offered legal advice when it emerged during questioning that he had assisted a fourth bomber following the failed attack and the police deliberately decided to keep questioning him as a witness. In light of the high threshold that applies where the presumption of unfairness arises and having regard for the cumulative shortcomings in the case, the Court concluded that the Government had failed to show that the overall fairness of the trial had not been irretrievably prejudiced by the decision not to caution and to restrict access to legal advice.
EU: Advocate General deems that Passenger Name Record data agreement with Canada cannot be entered into
On 8 September, Advocate General of the EU Mengozzi published his Opinion on the agreement on the transfer of passenger name record (PNR) data planned between the European Union (EU) and Canada. The agreement intends to allow the transfer of PNR data to the Canadian authorities for its use, retention and where appropriate subsequent transfer for the purpose of combatting terrorism and other serious transnational crime. In Mengozzi’s view, the agreement cannot be entered into in its current form. The Advocate General outlines a number of conditions that must be in place for the agreement to be compatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In his opinion, a number of provisions of the agreement as currently drafted are contrary to the Charter. These include, among others, those provisions: that allow, beyond what is strictly necessary, the extension of the possibilities for processing of PNR data; that authorize Canada to retain data for up to five years without a requirement for any connection with the public security objective pursued by the agreement; and that confer on Canada the right to make any disclosure of information without a requirement for any connection with the public security objective of the agreement.
AG OpinionEU: Court of Justice holds that Member States may expel non-EU parent of an EU child if the former presents a serious threat
On 13 September, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that UK courts may decide whether the daughter-in-law of Abu Hamza, who is not a citizen of a European Union country, poses a threat subject to triggering a deportation order. She had appealed her deportation order following release from incarceration, arguing that it would deprive her child of his rights and responsibilities as a citizen of the EU. The CJEU held that “in exceptional circumstances a Member State [of the EU] may adopt an expulsion measure provided that it is founded on the personal conduct of that third-country national, which must constitute a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat adversely affecting one of the fundamental interests of the society of that Member State, and that it is based on consideration of the various interests involved, matters which are for the national court to decide”.
EU: Commission proposal to strengthen Europol and the European Counter Terrorism Centre
In a Communication of 14 September from the European Commission (to the European Parliament, European Council and the Council on improved information exchange in the fight against terrorism and stronger external borders), the Commission, among other things, sets out its plans to “upgrade the European Counter Terrorism Centre and to strengthen the work of Europol”. The Commission notes that cooperation between law enforcement and security services in the EU is still uneven, and proposes a number of avenues for improving information exchange. Furthermore, the internal governance of the European Counter Terrorism will be strengthened and its financial and human resources increased. The Commission will upgrade Europol’s access to EU databases, including the Visa Information System and Eurodac, and the full exploitation of the Schengen Information System. The Commission will also use the revision of the latter’s legal basis to propose an expansion of Europol’s access. The Commission and Europol, with the European External Action Service, will also explore avenues for enhanced cooperation with third countries, including as part of efforts to develop anti-terrorism partnerships with countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
European Commission Communication
Blog Post (German)
EU: Council adopts legal framework for sanctions against Islamic State and al Qaeda
On 20 September, the Council of the European Union adopted a legal framework, which, for the first time, will allow the EU to apply sanctions autonomously to so-called Islamic State (IS) and al Qaeda and persons and entities associated with or supporting them. Until now, sanctions could only be applied to persons and entities listed by EU Member States or the United Nations. Under the new framework, the EU will be able to impose travel bans on individuals and an asset freeze on individuals and entities that are identified as being associated with IS or al Qaeda. The targeted individuals and entities include those who have participated in the planning or perpetrating of terrorist attacks; those who have provided financing, oil or arms; and those who have received terrorist training. Persons or entities could also be listed for activities including recruiting, inciting or publicly provoking acts and activities in support of IS or al Qaeda, or being involved in serious abuses of human rights outside the EU. Furthermore, the EU will be able to impose restrictive measures on individuals travelling or seeking to travel both outside the EU and into the EU with the aim of supporting IS or al Qaeda or receiving training from them. The travel ban will prevent listed persons from entering any EU Member State. In the case that they are an EU national, the ban will apply to any EU Member State other than that of which the person is a national.
Council Regulation
Council Decision
Council Press Release
Media Report
EU: Advocate General recommends removal of Tamil Tigers and Hamas from terrorist list
On 22 September, Advocate General Sharpston released two Opinions recommending that Hamas and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) be removed from the EU’s list of terrorist organizations established pursuant to Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP, adopted to give effect to UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001) according to which all States must prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts. Sharpston describes the grounds for keeping Hamas and LTTE on the list as insufficient, noting that the EU cannot rely on facts and evidence found in press articles and information from the Internet, rather than on decisions of competent authorities, to support a decision to maintain a listing.
AG Opinion (1)
AG Opinion (2)
Media Report
Blog Post
Find this E-Bulletin and more information about the ICJ, the rule of law and human rights on our website: www.icj.org. Please send feedback about the E-Bulletin to icjcounter-terrorism@icj.org.
