|
March 2006
| Issue 005
Welcome
to the fifth edition of the African Terrorism Bulletin. The
quarterly newsletter is produced by the Organised Crime and Money
Laundering Programme of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
The aim is to provide balanced information, analysis and critical
perspectives regarding news on terrorism and counter-terrorism
strategies on the African continent.
The information in
this and future African Terrorism Bulletins will be based on ‘open
source’ information. Commenting on developments relating to
terrorism remains a sensitive issue. The Bulletin will endeavour
to steer through the different agendas that form part of the
discourse on terrorism in a critical and balanced way. Different
sections focus on terrorism in the news, state responses and
critical perspectives. Most of the information focuses on issues
around terrorism as they relate to the African continent, yet, due
to the transnational nature of the phenomenon, issues from further
afield are not ignored.
Comments, contributions and
critiques from our readers are encouraged. Please feel free to
pass this newsletter on to anyone who you think may be interested
in the content of the African Terrorism Bulletin. To subscribe or
comment, please send an e-mail to [email protected] .
Increased instability
at the Niger Delta
Libya bidding to be
removed from terror list
Wire fence to prevent
further attacks at Egyptian resort
Kenyan traders held for
questioning
No retrial for bin
Laden aide
Malawi cancels
fertiliser deal due to al Qaeda links
Namibian court throws
out treason trial appeal bid
Boeremag convict
released
Lawyer to take on the
South African government at the ICC
Global inquiry into
effects of anti-terrorism measures on human rights and rule of
law
FATF/ESAAMLG joint
plenary meeting held in South Africa
Pirate attacks on the
increase: link to international terrorism
feared
New Somali financial
services body established
Bio-terrorism
conference held in Uganda
Swazi anti-terrorism
bill resubmitted after arson
The link between
terrorism and oil
ISS seminar: Towards
understanding terrorism in Africa
Rights versus Justice:
Issues around extradition and deportation in transnational
terrorist cases
South Africa’s
anti-terror law: Among the least restrictive?
This
newsletter provides a mixed bag of African terrorism news. In the
past months, news agencies have carried many reports about
increased tensions and disruptions at the Niger Delta in the West
African nation of Nigeria. Since the late 1950s, multinational
oil corporations have been extracting “black gold” from the Niger
Delta. Local residents have failed to reap any benefits from the
rich resource on their doorstep. In fact, despite the abundance of
natural oil resources in the area, poverty remains endemic.
Recently, Nigeria has been confronted by rebel forces vowing to
cripple oil exports. Foreign oil workers have been kidnapped and
later released against the payment of ransom, and other acts of
violence have been perpetrated. The question arises whether such
activities should be coined as ‘terrorism’ or whether they fall
under ‘rebel activities’, ‘dissent’ or other concepts describing
violent activities. Increasingly analysts and journalists are
branding violent activities as acts of terrorism.
The
crime of terrorism, of course, carries much tougher penalties than
most criminal activities. It is for that reason that many
autocratic rulers are quick to categorise opponents or critics as
terrorists. Prosecuting and ‘getting rid’ of these elements is an
easy endeavour, once they have been labelled terrorists. The
section on ‘Critical Perspectives’ provides some more insight on
the purported link between terrorism and oil and what has been
called ‘petro-terrorism’.
Another news report that has
captured the mind of the editorial team is the mysterious
disappearance of Pakistani national Khalid Mahmood Rashid, who was
allegedly linked to the al Qaeda network. The South African
Department of Home Affairs maintained that Rashid was deported to
Pakistan after
contravening the South African Immigration Act. Family and other
concerned parties fear that Rashid may have ended up in one of the
notorious American terrorist detention camps. Due to the silence
on this matter by South African authorities, a lawyer for the
family is now preparing to take on the South African government at
the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Such legal action could set an important precedent for governments
to introduce transparency in deportation or extradition
proceedings. Intelligence reports point to Rashid having been
abducted by American counter-terrorism officials. South African
Home Affairs officials have the power to refute such
allegations.
Increased
instability at the Niger Delta
February
28 2006- Foreign oil companies accustomed to high
tension in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta are coming increasingly under
fire.
Over the past twenty years, multinational corporations
producing Nigeria’s oil in the impoverished southern regions have felt
the
brunt of disruptions caused by protests or sabotage by
locals, who
feel dispossessed of their oil wealth by the Nigerian
government.
But since the beginning of 2006, the oil rich country
has been
confronted by rebel forces vowing to cripple oil exports
and
kidnappers with political demands. One new grouping is
determined
to take control of the region’s oil resources by force.
Armed
groups frequently take oil workers hostage, and usually
free them
after payment of ransom.
In early January 2006, members of the
Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a rebel
group, kidnapped four Royal Dutch Shell employees from a company
vessel. They demanded youth empowerment, employment, compensation
for environmental degradation and the release of political
prisoners. The oil workers were released after being held hostage
for nearly three weeks. MEND later stated that the release of the
hostages did not signify a ceasefire or softening of their mission
to destroy the oil export capability of the Nigerian government.
They denied that any money had changed hands, claiming expatriates
were abducted to make a statement to challenge the government on
the people’s will. The group added that their revolution was not
an “act of terrorism but a red letter of persuasive diplomatic
dialogue … ruled by the laws that vindicate the logic of nature,
where the greatest asset of man is man”. MEND has threatened
further action.
The kidnappings were part of a string of
attacks against multinational oil companies in Nigeria. Around
twenty armed men in speedboats attacked the riverside office of
Daewoo, a South Korean oil servicing company in late January. Over
US $200 000 were stolen and several people wounded. During the
same month, 30 men stormed Italy’s Agip Oil Company in Port
Harcourt, killing more than a handful of people and stealing some
US $30 000. The escalating incidents have affected world oil
prices; in fact, the violent incidents of the past two months have
cut Nigeria’s daily oil exports by almost ten percent. Industry
analysts maintain that hostilities were not linked to ethnic
differences but as to who controlled the illegal trade in stolen
oil. They estimate a figure of 100, 000 barrels of oil being
diverted from official exports daily. To escape the Delta’s
chronic instability, oil companies have started to move operations
offshore.
Since the late 1950’s, multinational oil
corporations have exploited the oil reserves of the Niger Delta.
Various repressive Nigerian military governments protected them.
Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People rose to
international acclaim after a massive non-violent public protest
campaign against Shell Oil. General Abacha executed Saro-Wiwa in
1995. The key area of conflict is the Bayesa region of the Niger
Delta. Its development profile presents a paradox. Despite the
abundance of natural resources in the area, it is undermined by
endemic poverty of its people.
Read the
Power and Interest News Report (PINR) intelligence
brief
Read the
BBC article
Read the
UN IRIN report “Nigeria: Fate of hostages uncertain as militants
push demands”
Libya
bidding to be removed from terror list
January
26 2006 –
Libya
only recently
succeeded at getting economic sanctions lifted, which had
catapulted the North African nation to the fringes of the
international community for the past two decades. Now
Libya
is
lobbying for its removal from the
United
States
list of state sponsors of
terrorism. Economists contend that the country’s continued
inclusion on the list deprives the country of growth
opportunities.
Relations between
Libya
and Western countries
improved markedly in 2003, when
Libya
agreed to pay compensation
for the 1988 bombing of an airliner over
Scotland
. The country
also joined the so-called `War on Terror` and abandoned its
programmes on ‘weapons of mass destruction’. But
Washington
has yet to lift
Libya
from its list of
states, which sponsor terrorism. The
US
has promised the North African nation closer ties but has said it
needs to do more on democracy, human rights and fighting
terrorism.
Considering the
US
antics at
Guatananomo
Bay
, this
concern seems on the hypocritical side. Yet, a recent Human Rights
Watch report underlines the inferior human rights regiment in
Libya
, “Laws
restricting freedom of speech and assembly in
Libya
are jarringly at
odds with international human rights norms”. Early in January
2006,
Tripoli
told Human Rights Watch,
it had released 14 political prisoners and closed down a special
court, which endorsed unfair sentencing of political activists.
Despite this, the international human right watchdog has renewed
its call on democratic governments not to turn the blind eye on
Libya
.
Read the
Yahoo News article
Download
the Human Rights Watch report “Words to Deeds: The Urgent Need for
Human Rights Reform”
Wire
fence to prevent further attacks at Egyptian
resort
November
09 2005 –Egyptian authorities have erected a wire fence around
Sharm El-Sheik’s tourist spots in an attempt to prevent further
terrorist incidents from happening at the
Red
Sea
resort. This follows the simultaneous suicide
bombings outside two hotels and a market in July 2005, in which
more than sixty people lost their lives. Several groups claimed
responsibility for the attacks, with one citing links to the al
Qaeda network. Yet, Egyptian authorities have failed to identify
the perpetrators to date.
The wire fence is one-and-a-half
meters high and 20 kilometres long. Security forces are to patrol
the fence day and night. Access to the city is now restricted to
police-monitored entry points, equipped with explosives detection
equipment.
Critics have compared the Egyptian fence to the
so-called “Apartheid Wall”, constructed by the Israelis for the
same reason. It also has been suggested that the new barrier would
increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks.
Read the
Al-Ahram article
Read the
Middle East Times article
Read the
story in the last African Terrorism
Bulletin
Kenyan
traders held for questioning
October
30 2005 – Four men were arrested for questioning on terror claims
in the Kenyan capital of
Nairobi. Three of the men operate
a forex bureau in the city’s Eastleigh estate and the fourth
imports second-hand vehicles from
Japan
and
Dubai
.
Police were tight-lipped about the arrests, but said that they
were investigating claims about local terrorist financing. Police
sources were saying that the investigations had not linked the
suspects to any specific terror threat in
Kenya
or any other
country. Anti-terrorism police are investigating the source of
wealth for each of the suspects. Investigators have confiscated
several computers and documents in the possession of the
suspects.
Meanwhile, the hunt for terror suspects took an
interesting twist when officers attached to the anti-terrorism
unit were held on criminal suspicions in late October 2005. The
officers had been tracing alleged terror suspects at Eldoret’s
Abrar High
School
for three days. The school’s
principal had alerted the police on suspicion that the
anit-terrorism sleuths were criminals. The police laid an ambush,
and the ‘crime’ suspects were released upon identification. The
Eldoret incident was followed by protests by hundreds of Kenyan
Muslims over alleged harassment and violation of their
rights.
Read the
Nation article on allafrica.com
Read the
East African Standard
article
No
retrial for bin Laden aide
November
02 2005 -
US
federal judge Kevin Duffy turned down an application for retrial
of a convicted aide to Osama bin Laden in the bombings of two
US
embassies in
Africa
. The case for a retrial
was made after it emerged that the US Marshal’s Service had
suppressed evidence during Wadih El-Hage’s 2001 conspiracy trial.
The judge acknowledged that
US
government “inaction, incompetence and stonewalling to cover up
their mistakes” had seriously jeopardised the case. Yet, he denied
a new trial, saying that none of the undisclosed material was
powerful enough to displace the government’s other evidence of
El-Hage’s guilt.
Wadih El-Hage, a former personal secretary to
bin Laden, and three others were sentenced to life imprisonment
after they were convicted of conspiracy in the 1998 bombings of
the
US
embassies in
Nairobi
,
Kenya
and
Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania
. Lawyers for
El-Hage challenged the 2001 conviction on several grounds,
including that the
US
government failed to
turn over videotapes of interviews with Jamal al-Fadl, one of al
Qaeda’s first members and the prosecution’s first witness, until
more than fifteen months after the trial. Al-Fadl identified
El-Hage in court, and alleged that he received a salary from al
Qaeda and was trained to handle its payroll. Prosecutors were kept
in the dark about the videotapes made while al-Fadl was in a
witness-protection program until early 2002.
A lawyer for
El-Hage said that the ruling would be appealed.
Read the
Newsday.com article
Read the
TBO.com article
For
further background reading refer the New York Times
article
Malawi
cancels fertiliser deal due to al Qaeda
links
October
14 2005 – The government of
Malawi
has cancelled a
US $ 30 million deal to buy fertiliser from a Saudi Arabian
company. It is alleged that the company has links to the terror
network al Qaeda.
Malawi
is in the grip
of major food shortages brought on by the worst drought in a
decade. This has been compounded by the late delivery of
fertilisers and seed. Malawi Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe said
that the deal was thought to ease the crisis. The government’s
strategy was to import over 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser to help
out impoverished farmers to generate food production. The Saudi
Arabian company had offered the cheapest fertiliser, after a group
of Malawian government officials had travelled the world in search
of the best deal available. Initially, the US-based Citibank had
rejected to strike a deal with the company, as it had been
blacklisted by the US government for alleged links to al Qaeda.
Despite the resultant delay of a government subsidy plan for poor
farmers, the Malawi government has withdrawn from the deal.
Read the
Khaleej Times article
Read the
UN IRIN article on Allafrica.com
Namibian
court throws out treason trial appeal bid
February
10 2006- Despite an appeal bid, the second Caprivi high treason
trial has started in the Namibian capital of Windhoek. Eleven of
the 120 suspects had claimed that they were abducted from Botswana
in order to be brought to Namibia and to be arrested and
prosecuted for high treason. A court ruling rejected those claims.
The Namibian treason trial relates to an attempt by the Caprivi
Liberation Army (CLA) to secede the north-eastern Caprivi region
from Namibia. In 1999, the secessionists launched an armed attack
on government forces and buildings in the regional capital of
Katima Mulilo. In the attacks, eleven people were killed,
including members of the Namibian security forces. After the
initial assault, government forces repelled the attack and rounded
up rebel fighters and suspected civilian sympathisers. Over 300
people were detained on suspicion of participating in the
attempted secession, sympathising with the secessionists or
assisting them to plan or launch the attacks. Many of the
detainees stated that they were tortured at the time of their
arrest and during the interrogation. While the 120 suspects remain
in custody, their trial on charges of high treason, murder and
other offences has been dragging on for more than six years. In
January 2006, a 35-years old suspect died of an undisclosed
illness in a Windhoek hospital. Meanwhile, the Namibian National
Society for Human Rights claimed that members of the Namibian
Police had been trying to force people to give testimony in the
trial. Despite the defence lawyers’ attempts during cross
examination, none of the witnesses acknowledged that they had been
forced to testify during the trial proceedings. International
human rights watchdog Amnesty International voiced its concern
that violations of the defendants’ pre-trial rights may seriously
undermine their right to a fair hearing in accordance with
international standards set out in the United Nations
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment and the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights.
Read the
UN IRIN article
Read the
Namibian article
Read the
Namibian article on Allafrica.com
Download
the Amnesty International report “Namibia: Justice delayed is
justice denied, The Caprivi Treason
Trial”
Boeremag
convict released
December
21 2005 – Boeremag convict Dawid Oosthuisen was released from jail
in late December 2005. He was sentenced in 2003 following a plea
bargain agreement with the state. Oosthuisen’s eight-year sentence
was converted into correctional supervision after he saved the
life of a fellow inmate, who was in the process of hanging himself
in his cell. The 22 co-accused in the Boeremag trial have all
pleaded not guilty on indictments ranging from treason to
terrorism, murder and causing a series of explosions. The charges
are linked to the 2002 bomb blasts in Soweto, South Africa’s
largest township. Seven of the blasts destroyed commuter railway
lines running through the township, inconveniencing more than 200
000 commuters. The eighth blast occurred at a mosque. The hitherto
unknown white rightwing organisation, Die Boeremag, claimed
responsibility for the bombings. Amongst the alleged Boeremag
members were serving military officers, qualified professional
people and prosperous farmers. The South African extreme right is
based on a philosophy of radical nationalism and a sense of
God-given purpose. The lengthy treason trial of the 22 accused
commenced in 2003. Thus far, South African taxpayers have forked
out more than 3.9 million South African Rand to cover legal
counsel for the men.
Read the
Mail & Guardian article
Read the
News24.com article
Download
the ISS monograph “’Volk, Faith and Fatherland: The Security
Threat posed by the White Right”
Lawyer
to take on the South African government at the
ICC
March
12 2006- The family members of Pakistani national Khalid Mahmood
Rashid, who was allegedly linked to al Qaeda, have demanded
answers from the South African Department of Home Affairs with
regards to his whereabouts. In February, Attorney Zehir Omar
launched an urgent Pretoria High Court application to establish
what had happened to Rashid. His family has not heard from him in
more than four months. Home Affairs maintains that Rashid was
lawfully deported to Pakistan in November 2005, but failed to
provide details of his deportation or flight numbers. Following
claims that Rashid was a member of al Qaeda and Taliban, the
family fears that he may be unlawfully detained at an American
detention centre. Rashid and fellow Pakistani national Ismail
Ebrahim Jeebhai were arrested in Kwazulu-Natal last October for
allegedly contravening the Immigration Act. A court later ruled
that Jeebhai’s detention was unlawful and ordered his release.
Meanwhile, Rashid disppeared from the face of the Earth. Home
Affairs had agreed to file a further affidavit, disclosing the
details of the deportation. The affidavit has not been filed to
date. Omar now is preparing to take on the South African
government at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague
over the mysterious and unaccounted disapperance of Rashid.
Read the
Sunday Tribune article
Read the
South African Department of Home Affairs media
release
Global
inquiry into effects of anti-terrorism measures on human rights
and rule of law
November
11 2006 – An independent panel of prominent international judges
and lawyers has launched a global inquiry into the effects of
counter-terrorism measures on human rights and rule of law. This
inquiry is going to be conducted under the auspices of the
Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) for a
period of 18 months. The panel led by former South African Chief
Justice Arthur Chaskalson. Their move was prompted by growing
concern that many governments were abusing rights and undermining
the rule of law in their battle against terrorism. The fight
against terrorist acts had led to repeated allegations of torture,
indefinite and secret detentions, often without charge or trial,
the reduction of defence rights and threats to freedom of
expression around the world. The United States of America has come
under fire from human rights groups for domestic measures adopted
under President George W. Bush’s ‘War against Terror’ and for its
treatment of detainees in Iraq and at its Guatanamo Bay camp in
Cuba. However, members of the panel reiterated that they would
look at the record of many countries. A report and recommendations
will be produced, which are hoped to contribute to the debate on
how best to respond to terrorism.
Read the
article on the International Commission of Jurists
website
Read the
Alertnet article
Read the
article in the Turkish
Weekly
FATF/ESAAMLG
joint plenary meeting held in South Africa
February
17 2006 – Terrorist financing, corruption and money laundering
dominated the agenda of a joint plenary meeting of the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Money
Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) in Cape Town, South Africa. The FATF is
an international anti-money laundering body, currently chaired by
South Africa’s Professor Kader Asmal, while ESAAMLG is a regional
anti-money laundering group. Both bodies are part of a global
network that is committed to combating money laundering and
terrorist financing. More than 400 delegates from 44 countries
discussed ways to build effective anti-money laundering and
counter-terrorist financing infrastructures in emerging
economies.
Among the issues considered were customer
identification, interplay between anti-money laundering and
counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) requirements and
facilitating increased access to banking services, physical
cross-border transportation of criminal proceeds and implications
relating to putting AML/CFT measures in place in cash-based
economies. Delegates also examined the issue of corruption
associated with money laundering.
This was the FATF’s first
meeting on African soil. The G7 countries established the FATF in
1989 to examine the tactics and trends in trading with illicit
money. The third FATF Plenary under the South African presidency
will take place in June 2006 in Paris.
Download
the Chairperson’s summary of the Cape Town
Plenary
Pirate
attacks on the increase: link to international terrorism
feared
January
30 2006– The hijacking of cargo ships is on the increase,
threatening trade and humanitarian aid to the northern and eastern
regions of Africa.
The attack on the Seabourn Spirit, a luxury
cruise liner off the Somalia coast was one of the many ships and
sea vessels that have come under attack in the past months. The
cruise liner was travelling from Egypt to Kenya. More than 300
passengers survived machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenade
attacks when pirates tried to seize the ship. In addition, the
Seabourn Spirit was carrying emergency food aid for Somalia.
The rising cases of pirate attacks have caused the World Food
Programme (WFP) to consider the suspension of transporting food
aid to Somalia by sea. During the last two months, the WFP had to
transport food aid via a land route, a more expensive and slower
option. Head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance
Programme, Andrew Mwangure, stated that Somalia’s coastline was
the most dangerous place in the region with regards to maritime
security. This is further compounded by the fact that Somalia has
no navy to police its seawaters. Security experts argue that it
was difficult to quantify incidences of piracy off the Somalia
coast because many shipping companies failed to report attacks by
pirates or ransom paid because they did not want to raise their
insurance premiums. The Transitional Somali Government has signed
a US $ 50 million deal with a private US marine security company
to carry out coastal patrols for the next two years. The origins
and availability of the funds remain unclear; as neither the
Somali government has effectively taken office, nor the security
company has commenced its work.
Meanwhile, a multi-national
force has been deployed along the Indian Ocean coastline to combat
the rising number of sophisticated pirates. Kenyan security forces
fear that al Qaeda could be using pirate attacks to help finance
its operations. They cite the captured maritime military manuals
of al Qaeda chief Bad al-Raman al-Nature, who masterminded several
suicide attacks on military ships.
In other news, the United
Nations General Assembly approved a resolution that calls on
States that have not done so to become parties to the Law of the
Sea and the “Fish Stocks Agreement”. States should cooperate to
address piracy, armed robbery at sea, smuggling and terrorist acts
against shipping and other maritime interests and work with the
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to promote safe and
secure shipping, while ensuring freedom of navigation.
Read the
BBC article
Read the
Sydney Morning Herald
Read the
East African Standard article
Download
the UN General Assembly Resolutions on Fisheries and the Law of
the Sea
Read a
related story in the last African Terrorism
Bulletin
New
Somali financial services body established
October
01 2005 – Somali remittance companies have been subject to close
scrutiny since the September 11th terrorist attacks. This combined
with a lack of transparency and accountability led to the closure
of the biggest Somali remittance company, Al-Bakarat, in November
2001 by US authorities. Links with terrorist groups were
suggested, a charge vehemently denied by the company. According to
UN statistics, money transfer companies remit approximately US
$750 million annually on behalf of Somalis living in the Diaspora.
For the Somali business sector, remittance companies are the main
gateway to the rest of the world. Somali Financial Services
Association (SFSA), a new Somali financial services body, was
established with the support of the UNDP. The objective of the
SFSA is to create an environment conducive for the entry of a
formal banking sector. It will act as a supervisory and
accountable body over the financial services companies and serve
“as conduit between members and authorities in foreign countries
on issues such as legislation”.
Read the
Ghanaweb.com article
Bio-terrorism
conference held in Uganda
October
21 2005 – An international conference on bio-security and the
danger of biological terrorism was held in the Ugandan capital
Kampala. The conference was organised by the International Law
Institute – Uganda (ILI) and the US- based International
Consortium for Law and Strategic Security. Security experts,
lawyers and government officials from East Africa and
international delegates focused on the policy implications of
using science to eradicate diseases, while simultaneously
controlling access to disease-causing organisms to prevent
bio-terrorism. Delegates called for strict measures to be
formulated to guard against the misuse of biology and warned that
failure to address concerns over biological weapons could
undermine efforts to develop and inspire confidence in science.
Africa was perceived to be vulnerable to bio-terrorism by some as
it lacked the institutions, technology and expertise needed to
detect potential threats. It was suggested that the dual threats
of emerging infections and bio-terrorism could pose conceptual as
well as technical challenges to the region’s intelligence organs,
such as distinguishing between a natural outbreak of an emerging
disease and the deliberate release of a pathogen by terrorists.
Delegates recommended that the region’s intelligence communities
should recruit additional individuals with advanced training in
microbiology, infectious diseases and epidemiology to work as
intelligence analysts focusing on biological warfare and
bio-terrorist threats.
Read the
Nation article on
allafrica.com
Swazi
anti-terrorism bill resubmitted after arson
February
03 2006 – Fourteen members of the banned People’s United
Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) have been arrested on treason charges
in the Swazi capital of Mbabane. They will be tried for nearly a
dozen bombings in late 2005 that targeted the homes of police
officers, government officials and government buildings. Damage
was minimal and no injuries were sustained. No one has claimed
responsibility to date. The bombings have revived a draconian
anti-terrorism bill in that country. The Internal Security Act,
which was first introduced in 2002, was criticised by
pro-democracy groups for its suspension of civil liberties, harsh
penalties and too broad a definition of what constitutes
terrorism. Opposition parties fear that the law may be used by
King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, to
silence opposition to his reign.
Read the
UN IRIN report “Swaziland: Political activists flee as arrests
continue”
Read the
News24.com article
Read the
Globalsecurity.org article
The
link between terrorism and oil
Many
terrorism analysts are focusing their attention to a previously
under-researched topic, so-called ‘petro-terrorism’. Critics of
the US-led ‘War on Terror’ contend that on the pretext of fighting
international terrorism, the US is trying to establish control
over the world’s richest oil reserves. This is a view contested by
US officials. Undeniably though, both the US and its allies and
some terrorist groupings have focused their attention to oil. The
top story in this newsletter informs about increased instability
in the Niger Delta, where saboteurs of oil lines are often
referred to as ‘terrorists’. In Iraq, suicide attacks and other
terror activities targeted at oil production occur frequently.
What is petro-terrorism? Like any definition of
‘terrorism’, this is a highly contested topic. Proponents from the
US camp hold that petro-terrorism is a form of terrorism, which
targets global oil reserves with political, ideological and/or
religious motifs. Other would argue that petro-terrorism is just
another concept in a long string of terrorism-related concepts
that provide ammunition for the ‘War on Terror’.
Last
year’s awarding of the Nobel Foundation`s Peace Prize to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its director,
Mohamed El-Baradei, illustrates the global significance of the
energy sector. Despite the enormous effort put into the search for
alternative sources of energy, most controversially nuclear, oil
remains the principal source of energy worldwide. In the eyes of
many, dependence on foreign oil is America’s Achilles
heal.
Some of the most crisis-ridden territories have an
abundance of oil resources. Mohamed Sid-Ahmed writing for the Al-Ahram Weekly argues that solving the oil problem would help solve many other
problems as well. Formidable profits generated during the first
oil price hike in the 1970s, were lost to corruption and only
deepened the socio-economic problems of the oil-producing nations.
This is particularily worring in light of the sudden unprecedented
rise in oil prices, which experts predict will not go down in the
forseeable future. Sid-Ahmed suggests that the two scourges of our
time, terrorism and poverty, are inextricably linked. He goes on
to argue that unless and until the world works out a fair
distribution of wealth, the war against terrorism cannot succeed.
This entailed “first and foremost, unyielding war against
corruption, waste, the various forms of pollution, not only of
nature, but also natural pollution, on which depends the ability
of a society to stand up and launch its development
programmes”.
Another link between oil and terrorism is
often drawn between the US-led ‘War on Terrorism’ and the
‘plundering’ of world oil reserves. Leonid Shebarshin, director of
the Russian National Economic Security Service opined, “The US has
usurped the right to attack any part of the globe on the pretext
of fighting the terrorist threat.”. Sid-Ahmed closes his analysis
of a link between terrorism and oil by a rhetorical question: “Can
we benefit from the lessons of the past decades to eradicate
poverty and terrorism, or shall we passively accept our fate and
let terrorism get the upper hand?”
Of course, oil has
become an important economic factor in West Africa and other
regions of Africa. Some analysts have trumpeted West Africa’s
large crude oil and gas resources as a possible substitute for
America’s growing dependence on crude exports from the unstable
Middle East. In reference to our TOP STORY (Increased instability
at the Niger Delta), a possible link between oil and violent
activities/terrorism can be noted. The attempted coup bid in
Equatorial Guinea also serves as a grim reminder of how small
nations are rendered pawns in the scramble for oil. We would like
to encourage our readers to express their opinions and comments on
this subject. Certainly in light of recent al Qaeda calls for
attacks on the economic infrastructure of Western countries to
stop the ‘robbery’ of Arabic oil, the link between oil and
terrorism is likely to become a hot topic of debate around the
world.
Download
“Terrorism and Oil” by Mohamed Sid-Ahmed (Yale Global
Online)
Read the
Al-Ahram Weekly Online article
Read
mosnews.com article
Download
the IAGS Energy Security Brief
ISS
seminar: Towards understanding terrorism in
Africa
The
Cape Town and Nairobi offices of the Insitute for Security Studies
are organising a seminar on terrorism in Africa in Dar es Salaam
from 20 to 21 March 2006. The seminar brings together scholars and
analysts from North, West, East and Southern Africa. They will
commence a process of developing a better understanding of how
terrorism and its impact are perceived across the continent.
For
more information, please contact Peter Gastrow, email [email protected]
Rights
versus Justice: Issues around extradition and deportation in
transnational terrorist cases
This
essay highlights the difficulties experienced in prosecuting two
transnational terrorist cases in southern Africa. The first case
study deals with the arrest and deportation of five alleged al
Qaeda members from Malawi. The procedures were in sharp
contravention of Malawi ’s constitutional provisions, ultimately
undermining its rule of law, constitutionalism and respect for
human rights. Extradition in the Khalfan Khamis Mohamed case
demonstrates that there is a distinct difference between
extradition and deportation; furthermore, it is unlawful to use
deportation procedures to effect an extradition.
Download
the essay published in the African Security Review
14.4
South
Africa’s anti-terror law: Among the least
restrictive?
Annette
Hübschle looks at South Africa ’s anti-terror legislation, the
Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorism and
Related Activities Act (Act 33 of 2004). Throughout the drafting
process concerns were raised from a number of civil society and
faith organisations that aspects of the new law could detract from
basic human rights and civil liberties. This commentary sketches a
short history of the Act and provides a critique and an
international perspective on the anti-terrorism legislation versus
human rights debate.
Download
the commentary published in the African Security Review
14.4
Please inform us of upcoming
terrorism-related meetings, seminars, workshops, conferences,
publications and other developments by sending a message to [email protected]
The
Institute for Security Studies (ISS) is an applied policy
non-profit research organisation with a focus on human security
issues on the African continent.
This newsletter is
produced by the Organised Crime and Money Laundering Programme of
the Institute for Security Studies and funded by the Royal
Norwegian Government.
Annette
Hübschle (Researcher: Organised Crime and Money Laundering
Programme) – [email protected]
Luzuko Pupuma (ISS Research Intern)
Mxolisi Makinana (former ISS Research Intern)
Institute
for Security Studies
67
Roeland Street, Drury Lane, Gardens, Cape Town 8001, South
Africa
Tel +27 (0)21 461-7211 • Fax +27 (0)21 461-7213
www.issafrica.org • [email protected]
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