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Amnesty International criticises the proposed definition of "terrorism"

01 August 2001

The Amnesty International European Office has issued a strong critique of the proposed definition of "terrorism". It says that:
Vague and broad laws allowing prosecution for offences which are not clearly defined or can potentially be used to criminalise peaceful activities, which are unrelated in any way to acts of violence, are of serious concern.
It is critical of the general definition in Article 3 and in particular of Article 3.1.f. which creates a criminal offence of “unlawful seizure or or damage to” state, government or any property (public and private). Their report says that: “In its present form this offence might be used to suppress legitimate forms of protest and infringe the right of peaceful assembly”.
It is also critical of Article 3.1.m. which makes it a terrorist offence of “promoting of, supporting of or participating in a terrorist group”. AI say that “promoting” and “supporting” are not defined and that: “Ethnic and religious groups that share the political orientation of a group which carries out criminal acts but are not involved in criminal acts themselves are likely to be particularly vulnerable to prosecution for such an offence”. AI conclude:
Amnesty International calls for Article 3 of the proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating terrorism to be reworded, in order to ensure that it meets international human rights standards. In particular, the proposal should ensure that the behaviours listed as terrorist offences are recognisably criminal offences and do not result in an infringement of human rights, such as the rights of association, of peaceful assembly and of freedom of expression.

Amnesty-EU@aieu.be