Since the terrorist attack in New York September 2001 the antiterrorist work has been given high priority in the different organs of the Council of Europe (CoE). During the Ministerial meeting for the European Ministers of Justice in Sofia 2003, a specific resolution on fighting terrorism was adopted. The high-level meeting in Warsaw in May 2005 confirmed that this is to remain a priority within the CoE, in close cooperation with the United Nations among others.
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The Committee of Ministers, which is the supreme decision making body of the Council of Europe, established a multidisciplinary taskforce
'The Multidisciplinary Group on International Action against Terrorism', GMT, in November 2001, to examine and revise the existing CoE conventions on terrorism. This work resulted in a revised protocol (E 190) in 2003 to the existing convention from 1977, on fighting terrorism (ETS 090). The amended protocol extends the number of actions which are 'depolitisized' and defined as terrorism, but in addition it extends the possibility of refusing extradition to certain countries due to practises such as capital punishment, torture or unfair legal proceedings. Possibilities to refuse extradition on the basis of reservations to the Convention have been significantly reduced and such refusal will be subject to a specific follow-up procedure, which will also apply to the follow-up of any obligation under the Convention as amended. The amending protocol also updates the legal instruments in line with the UN anti-terror conventions.
GMT also proposed guidelines for Human Rights and the fight against terrorism, which was adopted in July 2002. In 2003 an expert group (CODEXTER) was established, with a mandate to continue the work of GMT and responsible of the continued follow-up of the anti-terror work in the CoE. At the Summit in Warsaw, a new anti-terror convention to strengthen the anti-terror effort of the member countries even further (ETS 196) was opened for signature. This convention will enter into force when 6 countries have ratified it. As of today, 20 countries have signed this convention.
The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has made numerous recommendations to address the causes for terrorism, including "Media and terrorism" (Rec. 1706), which provide guidelines to journalists on how to cover acts of terrorism. This work has been co-ordinated with UNESCO, which is developing a manual for journalists. Another relevant document in this context is the recommendation on how intercultural dialogue can be used to fight terrorism (Rec. 1687). PACE has also produced several resolution targeting terrorism, Challenge of terrorism in Council of Europe member states (Res. 1400), Bio-terrorism (RES 1367) , etc.
Adopted texts
The CoE is also targeting issues such as money laundering and financing of terrorism (
MONEYVAL), and ECRI has delivered a recommendation combating racism while fighting terrorism. As a follow-up to the third Summit, the CoE is also in the process of increasing its efforts in the area of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, which is an important aspect in creating increased understanding between different cultures and religious groups.
Important Challenges/dilemmas
CoE’s profile makes it natural to maintain a particular focus on human rights in the fight against international terrorism. The Steering Committee on the antiterrorism work;
CODEXTER has been working on and will continue their work on the following issues as established by the GMT:
- research on the concepts of "apologie du terrorisme" and "incitement to terrorism"
- special investigation techniques
- protection of witnesses and "pentiti"(collaborators of crime)
- international co-operation on law enforcement
- action to cut terrorists off from funding sources
- questions of identity documents which arise in connection with terrorism
In these aspects the co-ordination between the member countries, the anti-terror work as well as protecting individual rights in the Human Rights convention are emphasised. Within the guidelines from 2002, areas such as assistance to victims of terrorism, compensation, protection of the families right to privacy, dignity and security are given great attention.
Brief about the Norwegian contribution/policy
In 2003 Norway was the first country to ratify the amending protocol to the anti-terrorism convention of 1977. Norway has also played an important role in the work of elaborating the new convention. Norway is represented in CODEXTER, the Steering Committee on the antiterrorism work, by Martin Sørby who is the Deputy Chairman. Norway is working for a well functioning co-ordination with the United Nations and other international institutions of relevance in this work.