Published in the 23 November 2006 issue of The Nation
Taimur Malik
The threat of terrorism and global efforts to fight this menace invariably lead the news headlines in the post 9/11 world. The fight against terrorism is no doubt universal and numerous bilateral, multilateral and global agreements to this end have been inked in the recent past. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s present visit to Pakistan commenced on Sunday with an agreement between the two countries, to strengthen cooperation to fight terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and trans-national organized crime through a ‘joint working group’.
In the article titled ‘CTC in Town’ published on these pages on Monday, I highlighted the mandate of the Counter Terrorism Committee and the purpose of the UNSC Resolution 1373. Chapter VII nature of Resolution 1373 makes the Resolution mandatory upon member states, whilst providing the UN Security Council with military and economic options of enforcing the Resolution’s provisions on non-compliant states.
Pakistan has been a key ally in the fight against terrorism and has claimed to have taken concrete steps in this respect, sometimes even at the cost of internal disapproval. Pakistan had welcomed the possibility of a visit by the CTC to evaluate its claims as far back as 2004 and during a public meeting of the Security Council on 19 July 2004, Mr. Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Charge d’ Affairs of the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations welcomed CTC’s intention to begin preparations for the first visit by the CTC to a member state subject to its consent. He had further stated that such visits should lead to the creation of a climate of cooperation and provision of technical assistance.
The visiting CTC delegation headed by Mr. Javier Rupérez, Executive Director CTED, includes representatives from the World Bank, Interpol, World Customs Organization (WCO) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The delegation called on the Director General, National Crises Management Cell (NCMC) on Saturday. According to press reports, experts from several ministries and departments including Law, Interior, Finance, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), NADRA and CBR were also present during the meeting and highlighted the steps taken by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.
The composition of the CTC delegation and the participants of their meeting at the NCMC indicate the focus and scope of their evaluation exercise in Pakistan. For example, the presence of World Bank representatives indicates that anti money laundering and terrorist financing regulations and governmental steps in this respect rank high on CTC’s priority list. Likewise, while the CTC analyses the reports received from countries and facilitates the provision of technical assistance to requesting States, UNODC, with its substantive expertise, delivers such assistance and the presence of a UNODC official may be to facilitate such an assessment.
In order to assess the compliance of countries with the obligations of Resolution 1373, the CTED experts, during country visits, focus their attention on various counter-terrorism areas. The areas which the CTC is likely to assess in Pakistan include the anti-terrorism legislations, with specific focus on the offences, penalties, competence of the courts, criminal procedure and special investigation measures. CTC may also look at the legislations on weapons, explosives and dangerous substances, and legislations on asylum and immigration.
Moreover, the CTC delegation is likely to look at the measures in place against assets used for criminal purposes. These measures may include an evaluation of the effectiveness of the anti-money laundering law, legislation against the financing of terrorism, supervision of the non-financial sector, structures for oversight of the financial system, and mechanisms for the freezing, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of crime, as well as of funds intended to finance terrorist acts.
CTC will further look at the effectiveness of law enforcement methods, such as the counter-terrorism machinery, coordination between different agencies, presence of an early warning system, and methods for combating and preventing criminal activities linked to terrorism. Furthermore, CTC shall evaluate the existence and sufficiency of territorial control methods employed by Pakistan in relation to the control of trans-border movements of persons, control of cargo, mechanisms for issuance and control of identity and travel documents, and methods for the prevention and detection of forgery and fraud.
In addition to internal controls, CTC shall identify and evaluate the status of international cooperation on these issues, such as the existence of machinery for international cooperation in criminal matters, the status of ratification of anti-terrorism conventions, modalities and effectiveness of judicial cooperation; police cooperation, and modalities of cooperation with regional and international organizations.
We shall only be able to find out the delegation’s opinion on Pakistan’s compliance claims once its visit has concluded, or perhaps much later. However, it is very likely that Pakistan will be found to have rightfully claimed adherence and compliance with the provisions of the UNSC Resolution 1373. While some may claim otherwise, Pakistan does have a broad legal framework and administrative structure to counter terrorism, its effectiveness or complexity notwithstanding. Moreover, State Bank of Pakistan has been actively tightening the financial system of the country and has taken measures to combat money laundering and diminish terrorist financing possibilities. Furthermore, a draft anti-money laundering bill is waiting to be passed by the parliament. The bill although not entirely useful, in the writer’s opinion, is nevertheless a step forward. Similarly, despite all the criticisms, NADRA’ role in this fight cannot be discounted. The issuance of the computerized National Identity Cards and machine readable passports has made it easier for the law enforcing agencies to track terrorist movements and diminished the possibility of a Pakistani Passport being used as a travel document by foreign criminal elements. Legally, Pakistan is becoming increasingly compliant to international obligations with the required eagerness and aggressiveness, sometimes at the expense of domestic and regional unpopularity. Whether the rest of the world acquiesces with the same conclusion is another story.