Qatar is urged to review its anti-terror laws

THE UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) yesterday urged Qatar to review its anti-terror laws in view of the changes taking place in the world.

“Qatar’s anti-terror legislation was sufficient when it was issued in 2004. But with the world witnessing new developments, there is a need to review it,” Dr Iskandar Ghattas, an official of the UNODC said at the National Workshop on Combating Terrorism, being held in Doha.

He said the laws should be framed in such a way that they are able to meet the new threats posed by terrorists and criminals.

“Egypt is in the process of issuing an anti-terror legislation. France had an anti-terror law, but issued a new one in 2006,” he said.

The UNODC’s expert also urged members of the Gulf Co-operation Council to enhance judicial co-operation to help in extradition of criminals.

“I hope the European Union which has a very effective system in this regard can provide an inspiration to the GCC countries on extradition of criminals,” he said, adding legislations in the Arab countries are falling short of achieving the necessary level of judicial co-operation.

Nadim Saad Kiryakous of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said no country in the world has fully complied with the conventions mentioned in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body to promote policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

“We are still at a very low level in terms of adopting the recommendation of the FATF. There is no country which can claim that it is in full compliance with the recommendations. A lot has been done but again a lot remains to be done in this regard,” Kiryakous said, and urged the international community to play a bigger role in helping settle disputes so that people stop expressing their opinions in a violent way.

Kiryakous said charity fund-raising should not be affected by the measures taken to combat terrorism financing. “Charity organisations should continue to prosper and work. Such measures should not have a negative impact on the charities,” he said.

He hoped that the international community can prevent charities being controlled by criminals or terrorists.
“The main challenge here is to apply these measures without encroaching on the rights of individuals and charities,” he added.

Terrorism prevention expert at the UNODC, Dirk Merckx, hailed Qatar’s stance on combating terrorism. “Qatar is on the right track. It has a modern anti-terror legislation. But there is a long way to go in this regard. There is no country in the world which can be described as fully compliant with the all the relevant UN conventions. This is the first workshop and others will follow. Our visit aims to make an assessment of the steps required in this regard,” he said.

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