Amnesty terms Arab Convention for the Suppression

of Terrorism": a serious threat to human rights

London; As Arab Ministers of Interior conclude their meeting in Beirut,
after agreeing on measures to combat "terrorism", and affirming
implementation the Arab Convention for the Suppression of
Terrorism 1998, Amnesty International is again calling for the
Convention, which it describes as "a serious threat to human
rights", to be amended to conform with international human rights
and humanitarian law.

"Measures to prevent 'terrorism' can only be effective if
they also guarantee and protect human rights. Security and human
rights go hand in hand - and are not alternative options," the
organization said.

Amnesty International is concerned that the Convention,
which is already in force, is being implemented in the absence of
any monitoring requirement. States should be required to report
on the measures taken to combat "terrorism" and their impact on
human rights. "The absence of any monitoring and the likelihood
that measures will be taken in secret substantially increases the
risk that serious human rights violations will occur," Amnesty
International said.

"Many of the provisions of the Convention do not conform
with the obligations of member states of the Arab League under
the UN Charter and international human rights law, and the
Convention fails to recognize and maintain many other rights and
obligations enshrined in human rights and humanitarian law," the
organization said in a 68- page report -- The Arab Convention for
the Suppression of Terrorism -- issued earlier this month.

"The definition of 'terrorism' in the Convention is so
broad that it lends itself to wide interpretation and abuse," the
organization said. Other terms in the Convention, including
'violence', 'terrorist purposes', 'terrorist elements', and
'terrorist groups' are not defined.

Among other concerns raised by Amnesty International are:

Freedom of expression: Some provisions of the Convention clearly
threaten the right to freedom of expression, including those
measures that, according to the Convention, aim to strengthen the
"media services@ of the security forces. In the absence of a
clear definition of these measures there is a serious risk that
they could be interpreted to allow for censorship and
interference with freedom of expression, imposed or required by
the respective authorities in the region, on the pretext of
"security".

Privacy: The Convention does not require judicial review or prior
judicial authorisation when surveillance and monitoring measures
are used against individuals and groups.

Extradition: There are no safeguards in relation to surrender of
individuals or extradition in the Convention. Amnesty
International believes that surrender and extradition must not be
carried out to a jurisdiction where alleged suspects would become
prisoners of conscience, subject to the imposition of the death
penalty, or torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.

Detention and fair trial: The Convention fails to incorporate
safeguards for the rights of detainees, including guarantees for
the right to be promptly brought before a judge, and to be tried
within a reasonable time, or released. It does not include a
prohibition of arbitrary detention, or a clear prohibition of
torture. There are no provisions to allow for challenging the
lawfulness of detention.

Judicial review and other safeguards: The Convention places
wide-ranging powers in the hands of the executive and does not
require any judicial review, prior judicial authorisation or
similar safeguards, including mechanisms to scrutinize the
activities of the intelligence services.

Death penalty: Under the pretext of punishing crimes of
"terrorism", the Convention widens the scope of the death penalty
in many countries and does not prohibit its imposition against
minors, pregnant women and mentally handicapped persons.

Impunity: Some provisions in the Convention could provide
impunity for perpetrators of certain crimes, including those
crimes that fall clearly under the responsibility of the
international community to investigate, and where there is
sufficient evidence, prosecute on the basis of universal
jurisdiction.

Refugees and asylum seekers: The Convention is generally silent
about the duty to uphold the rights of refugees and
asylum-seekers, and at the same time contains provisions that
could lead to arbitrary prohibition of asylum-seekers or refugees
from entering or residing in the country. Such decisions on
asylum applications might be made not on the merit of the case
but on the pretext that asylum-seekers or refugees can be
considered to be "terrorist elements", a term that is not defined
in the Convention.

Further, since the Convention includes wide extradition
powers, "there is a risk that individuals might be returned to
countries where they will face serious human rights abuses,
including being subjected to torture, unfair trials, or the death
penalty," Amnesty International said.(keralamonitor.com)