Highlights of landmark anti-terror law

MANILA (AP) - Key provisions of the Human Security Act that went into force Sunday:

_ Defines terrorism as any of at least 12 violent crimes, including rebellion, kidnapping and murder, that causes widespread and extraordinary fear and panic to force the government to give in to an unlawful demand. Penalty is 40 years in prison without parole.

_ Allows court-authorized surveillance of terror suspects, including through wiretaps and tracking devices, but bans monitoring of their communications with lawyers, doctors and journalists.

_ Permits detention of terror suspects without charge for three days, which could be extended during actual or imminent attacks. Punishes authorities who torture or allow suspects to escape with up to 20 years' imprisonment.

_ Allows house arrest of terror suspects on bail who can be barred from using telephones, the Internet and other means of communications.

_ Allows examination and freezing of suspected terrorists' bank accounts and other personal assets.

_ Compensates any person by $500,000 pesos (US$10,870) in damages for each day of wrongful detention or assets seizure.

_ Proscribes groups engaged in terror acts.

_ Creates an Anti-Terrorism Council to oversee the nationwide counterterrorism campaign.

_ Bans extraordinary rendition, the CIA practice of arresting foreign terror suspects and sending them to third countries for interrogation.

_ Enforcement of law is automatically suspended a month before and two months after any elections.