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TERRORIST ATTACKS
IN LONDON

INTERPOL PLEDGES FULL SUPPORT TO UK
On Thursday, 7 July 2005, several near-simultaneous bomb explosions ripped through the usual early morning buzz of London commuters boarding trains and buses for work. Traffic came to a near-standstill as the entire underground transport network had to be shut down. After the incident had been linked to terrorist activities, Interpol Secretary General Roland K Noble pledged the organization’s full support in law enforcement’s response to the attacks.

Did you know?

There is no universally accepted definition of terrorism. According to expert Walter Laqueur, “the only general characteristic agreed upon is that terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence”.

 
This criterion alone does not provide a useful definition, as it includes any acts not usually considered terrorism, for example war, organized crime, revolution, or even a simple riot. Typically, further criteria are imposed to narrow the definition down, but the chosen criteria vary widely.

One 1988 study by the US Army
(http://carlisle-www.army.mil/ssi/pubs/2003/bounding/pdf)
discovered that over 100 definitions have been used.

For example, Brian Jenkins said: “Terrorism is the use or threatened use of force designed to bring about political change.”Walther Laqueur’s definition reads: “Terrorism constitutes the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective where innocent people are targeted.

The most common criteria are that:

  • The motive is political or religious

  • The target is civilian/noncombatant

  • The objective is to intimidate

  • The perpetrator is non-governmental

  • The act was unlawful

  • The act was violent

  • The act was premeditated.

None of these criteria is universally accepted as being either necessary or sufficient. Further discussion of each of them can be found under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition-of-terrorism


Mr Noble said: “I, along with Interpol President Jackie Selebi, absolutely deplore the attacks that took place today in London. We have made available all of Interpol’s resources in order to assist the British authorities and Interpol National Central Bureau. Since 11 September 2001, Interpol has emphasized that the global fight against terrorism knows no boundaries. An attack in one country is an attack on all and the emergency and police response must be international.

Steps taken so far include:

  • Immediately after the attacks, Mr Noble contacted the Head of the Interpol Central Bureau in London, Ken Pandolfi, to assess the situation and coordinate the Interpol response. Mr Noble also contacted the Director of Europol, Max-Peter Ratzel, to ensure a coordinated response

  • Mr Noble has ordered that an Interpol Incident Response Team stand ready to travel to London and assist police and the Interpol National Central Bureau in England, if requested.

  • Interpol’s 24-hour Command and Coordination Centre in Lyon, France, along with all of Interpol’s 182 National Central Bureaus and each of the organization’s six regional bureaus, are on high alert and will treat requests for assistance and information from British authorities with the highest priority.

  • All police messages to and from Interpol and its National Central Bureaus related to the London attacks will be handled with the greatest priority. Interpol has asked police in all of its member countries to do the same with messages to or from the United Kingdom concerning the explosions.

  • Officers in the organization’s Criminal Analysis Unit are examining all Interpol databases to determine whether any links can be drawn between this terrorist and previous incidents around the world.

THE GENERAL OFFENCE OF TERRORISM AND RELATED OFFENCES
ACCORDING TO SOUTH AFRICAN LEGISLATION

A Proclamation by the President of South Africa was published in the Government Gazette dated 15 April 2005, in terms of which 20 May 2005 was determined as the date on which the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorism and Related Activities Act, 2004 (Act No. 33 of 2004), came into operation.

The Act makes the Republic of South Africa fully compliant with United Nations Counter Terrorism Conventions and Protocols, as well as the African Union Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism. The Act creates a general offence of terrorism, and offences relating to terrorist activities, such as recruitment, assistance to commit terrorist activities, and the facilitation of terrorist activities. It also provides for the specific offences required by the relevant international instruments to be enacted by States, such as terrorist bombings, financing of terrorism, hijacking of aeroplanes, fixed platforms, and ships, hostage- taking and offences related to protected persons including diplomatic personnel. The Act therefore equips the law enforcement agencies in the Republic to effectively deal with both international and domestic terrorist activities.

It furthermore provides for extraterritorial jurisdiction in respect of offences specified in the Act, measures to combat the financing of terrorist activities and offences, such as criminal and civil asset forfeiture, reporting obligations of financial institutions, similar to those in respect of the reporting of suspicious transactions in respect of organized crime and money-laundering. The Minister of Finance, under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001, as amended by the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act, 2004, will publish Regulations relating to this obligation in the Gazette by the President of the names of persons and entities identified by the Security Council of the United Nations, being - a. entities who commit, or attempt to commit, any terrorist and related activity or participate in or facilitates the commission of any terrorist and related activity; or
b. entities against whom Member States of the United Nations must take the actions specified in Resolutions of the said Security Council in order to combat or prevent terrorist and related activities.

The Act further provides for investigative powers, similar to those in respect of organized crime, powers of cordoning off, search and seizure, the surrendering of suspects in respect to other States with jurisdiction in cases where a person is not prosecuted in the Republic. The Act encapsulates the principle of “prosecute or extradite”. It removes the political exception in respect of terrorist offences, in relation to extradition.

The Act criminalizes hoaxes, such as the anthrax hoaxes, which were prevalent the world over, including South Africa, after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States of America. The Act further provides for the giving of an order by the court in prosecutions relating to hoaxes to recover expenses incurred unnecessarily as a result of such hoaxes. Any threat, attempt, conspiracy and inducing another person to commit an offence, is also an offence in terms of the Act.

The Act criminalizes the harbouring of, or assistance to, a suspected terrorist, and obliges under criminal sanction the reporting of a suspected terrorist. A directive on the manner of reporting to the police was published by the National Commissioner in the Government Gazette on 20 May 2005.

The Act excludes from the definition of “terrorist activity” those actions taken in pursuance of a liberation struggle in accordance not only with the principles of the Charter of United Nations and the African Union, but also in accordance with the principles of the international humanitarian law.

In respect of causing disruption of essential services and major economic loss as elements of the definition of “terrorist activity”, any act which is committed in pursuance of any advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action and which does not intend harm such as systematic, repeated or arbitrary use of violence, endangering the life, or violating the physical integrity or physical freedom of, or causing serious bodily injury to or the death of any person, or persons, shall not be regarded as a terrorist activity.

No prosecution may be instituted under the Act, without the written authorization of the National Director of Public Prosecutions. The Act provides for the same bail dispensation as is applicable to the most serious offences, and harsh penalties, ranging from life imprisonment in respect of terrorist and convention offences, to a penalty which may not exceed a fine of R100 million or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years in respect of the financing of terrorist activities.

The Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act, 2004, repeals the Internal Security Act, 1982. However, in terms of a transitional provision, investigations and prosecutions into contraventions of the Internal Security Act, 1982, pending at the time when the last-mentioned Act came into operation will be finalised.

“Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those killed or injured in the attacks.”- Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble

SAPS: Media Releases and Speeches, issued by Mr Trevor Bloem, Director: Media Liaison
http://www.is.org.za/media/apr2005/18042005.htm

(Readers who want to access the detailed legislation, can do so by referring to Government Gazette,
Vol 476 no 27266, dated 11 February 2005.)