UN body backs RP anti-terror bill

A United Nations group is supporting a comprehensive anti-terrorism bill that is being drafted by the government, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The DFA said a team from the Austria-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ended a three-day fact-finding visit to the country last week and gave its opinions and recommendations on how to improve some of the 10 anti-terrorism bills pending in Congress.

The UN team offered to help the Philippine government in defining "terrorism" within an international legal framework, the DFA said.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Maria Lourdes Lopez explained the UN team will help to "ensure our draft laws are in harmony with various international instruments against terrorism and organized crime."

The UNODC has recommended outlawing certain acts "related to financing, planning, preparation of terrorist acts or supporting terrorists, recruitment of members of terrorist groups and supply of weapons."

"These preparatory acts should also be reflected in the final (anti-terror) bill," UNODC said.

In addition to the operational definitions of terrorist acts, UNODC said the Philippine legislature should distinguish socio-political definitions from legal definitions.

"The legal definition should follow as much as possible the language in the Financing of Terrorism Convention of which the Philippines is already a part (of the) UN Security Council Resolution 1566 and the draft UN Comprehensive Convention on Terrorism."

The Philippines is currently heading the UN Security Resolution 1566 Committee, which deals with terrorist groups outside of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The country is also the head of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) counterterrorism task force.

Ironically, however, experts noted the current Philippine security laws are not adequate to fight the rising tide of terrorist attacks in the country.

On Feb. 14, up to 13 were killed and over 100 people were wounded in bomb attacks that rocked the cities of Davao and General Santos in Mindanao and Makati City.

More than 100 were killed in the firebombing of SuperFerry 14 last year. All the incidents were primarily blamed on the Abu Sayyaf bandit group.

The Abu Sayyaf is listed as a terrorist group by the US State Department and is suspected to have links with al-Qaeda and the Southeast Asian-based Jemaah Islamiyah terror network.

UNODC stressed terrorism is a vital national and international concern, which requires the immediate enactment of adequate laws against it by member-countries.

"In finalizing the Philippine (anti-terror) bill, advantage should be taken of consultations available from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on the best international practice available," its recommendation said.

The Philippine anti-terror bill should include wider legal provisions on mutual legal assistance and extradition that would further facilitate international cooperation against cross-border crimes and terrorism, the UN body said.

"Once an anti-terrorism law is enacted, its implementing actions may include the engagement of UN resources such as those of the UNODC, and those of other international organizations, in particular in the training of relevant officials, primarily those involved in the criminal justice system," UNODC said.

The UN mission consulted with legislators and members of the Philippine government’s elite anti-terrorism task force on the drafting of the anti-terror bill.

Over 40 government officials and lawmakers participated in the UNODC workshop.

Global Obligations

Head of mission Alex Schmid said the UN body is "interested in seeing a Philippine law is passed in harmony with the various related international conventions" and that Manila continued to protect human rights.

Schmid also pledged his agency’s "continuing support" for the eventual implementation of a tough anti-terror law.

The proposed bill before Congress is meeting resistance from civil rights advocates because of deep distrust of government power, a hangover from the country’s painful experience under martial law during the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ 20-year rule.

The anti-terror bill is among several measures that have gathered dust since they were first proposed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

While terrorist suspects in other Southeast Asian countries can be detained indefinitely, Philippine laws state that suspects must be released within 36 hours if no charges are filed.

Suspects thus are typically charged with lesser crimes, such as murder, attempted murder or illegal possession of explosives, which are punishable by 17 years in jail.

UNODC also noted the current Philippine criminal laws do not take into account the 12 universal Anti-Terrorism Conventions, which the country has ratified.

These include the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages.

The UN mission stressed these protocols should be incorporated in the new anti-terror bill to enable the Philippines meet its obligations under the 12 international treaties.

The proposed anti-terror bill seeks to make the possession of firearms a capital offense while the possession of military uniforms and other military equipment would also be considered evidence of suspected terrorist involvement.

President Arroyo had certified the bill as urgent last month but failed to get swift response from Congress, which had been focused on the passage of fiscal reform measures.

The Philippine government, on the other hand, is also considering a military proposal that the media be banned from granting interviews with terrorist groups.

Security officials led by Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes have repeatedly batted for the enactment of an anti-terror law following the Valentine’s Day bomb attacks last month.

Noting its efforts to contain terrorism, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the UN had sent UNODC to help the Philippine government craft a version of an anti-terrorism law that will conform to all existing treaties against terrorism.

Romulo also stressed the Philippines should come up with an anti-terrorism law that will conform to the provisions of the 12 international treaties to which the country is also a signatory. — With AFP