Parliamentary Assembly

Draft resolution

1The Parliamentary Assembly is increasingly concerned about international terrorism, which has in recent years claimed huge numbers of innocent victims throughout the world, and in particular in Council of Europe member States and their direct neighbourhood. In 2015, 625 people were murdered and more than 800 injured during eight terrorist attacks in France, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Tunisia. In 2016, several dozen people have already been murdered in terrorist attacks in Turkey, Burkina Faso and Indonesia.

2Responsibility for all these terrorist attacks was claimed by terrorist groups which call themselves “Islamic”. Da'ish was responsible for the recent terrorist attacks in Europe and its direct neighbourhood, whereas Boko Haram has probably killed the highest number of innocent people. Other terrorist groups that have been active in recent years, and that claim to be based on Islam, are al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab.

3The Assembly emphasises the dramatic consequences of these terrorist acts and threats on individuals, as well as on our societies. Besides the tragedy of innocent people losing their lives, being injured and traumatised, growing unrest, mistrust and fear destabilise our societies. Moreover, countermeasures may lead to abuse and disproportionate restrictions on individual freedoms and also mobilise large amounts of public money which cannot be used for other purposes.

4Recalling its Resolution 2031 (2015) “Terrorist attacks in Paris: together for a democratic response”, the Assembly reiterates that all the above mentioned terrorist massacres were attacks against the very values of democracy and freedom in general, against the type of society that our pan-European Organisation has aimed at building since the end of the Second World War.

5The Assembly reaffirms once again its strong condemnation of all acts of terrorism. No arguments can justify them. The Assembly rejects any attempt to excuse terrorist attacks as they go completely against the spirit of and the standards and values enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5).

6The Assembly applauds the many and various ways in which individuals, groups and societies have protested during the past year against acts of terrorism. It recalls that, on 11 January 2015, about two million people, including more than 40 world leaders, gathered together in Paris for a rally of unity, and that 3.7 million people joined demonstrations across Europe as well as elsewhere around the globe.

7The Assembly emphatically rejects the abuse of the description “Islamic” by terrorist criminal organisations. Neither Da'ish nor similar terrorist groups have any right to claim they act in the name of Islam, nor that they represent the Muslim community. On the contrary, most of their victims to date are Muslims: they have been and still are terrorised, abused, exploited, tortured and massacred by these terrorist groups, whereas their religion is smeared by the abusive use of the term “Islamic” by these very groups.

8The Assembly recognises the invidious position in which these attacks place Muslims and calls on political leaders to take particular care in condemning such attacks to avoid making stigmatising generalisations that portray whole groups of the population as responsible for the acts of individuals. At the same time, it encourages Muslim leaders and intellectuals to publicly, clearly and continuously condemn the shameful abuse of their religion by fanatic murderers, whose goal is to intimidate individuals and States using all kinds of violence against innocent people. It calls on Muslim leaders to emphasise that Muslims, as well as believers of other religions, greatly benefit from the protection of their rights and freedoms by the European Convention on Human Rights, and that, also for that reason, their communities should fiercely and publicly defend the Council of Europe standards and values against terrorists who threaten them.

9After the recent terrorist attacks, many politicians declared a state of war with Da'ish. However, those who commit terrorist acts are not soldiers of an army, representing any State or international organisation, but ruthless criminals who commit heinous crimes against innocent people in order to destabilise our societies. Recalling its Resolution 1840 (2011) on human rights and the fight against terrorism, the Assembly reaffirms that the concept of “war on terror” is misleading and unhelpful and therefore might be a threat to the entire framework of international human rights.

10The Assembly reiterates that democracies have the inalienable right, and the inseparable obligation, to defend themselves when attacked. It thus finds that the fight against terrorism must be reinforced while ensuring respect for human rights, the rule of law and the common values upheld by the Council of Europe. It underlines that combating terrorism and protecting Council of Europe standards and values are not contradictory but complementary.

11While acknowledging the need for member States to have access to sufficient legal instruments to combat terrorism efficiently, the Assembly warns against the risk that counterterrorism measures may introduce disproportionate restrictions or sap democratic control and thus violate fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, in the name of safeguarding State security.

12In this respect, the Assembly echoes the concerns expressed by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights on France’s decision, in November 2015, to declare a state of emergency and to prolong it. It also echoes the concerns of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that in Turkey “in the context of the fight against terrorism, the enforcement of anti-terrorism legislation and security-oriented policies have reportedly resulted in racial profiling of members of the Kurdish community”. The Assembly is concerned that the security crackdown might spread to other Council of Europe member States.

13The Assembly is also concerned that, in spite of the worldwide adoption, in 1999, of the United Nations Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the entry into force, in 2008, of the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism (CETS No. 198), until now it has been impossible to cut off the financial lifelines of Da'ish, which therefore remains the richest terrorist organisation ever, able to sell oil, gas and stolen archaeological objects to others in return for tens of millions of dollars each month.

14Referring also to its Resolution … (2016) on foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, the Assembly welcomes the adoption by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of an Additional Protocol on foreign terrorist fighters to the Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (CETS No. 217), as it had called for in its Resolution 2031 (2015).

15It also welcomes the proposal for a “Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combatting terrorism”.

16The Assembly therefore calls on the parliaments and governments of member States to ensure that, in their fight against terrorism:

16.1when adopting and implementing legislation or other administrative measures, a fair balance is struck between defending freedom and security, on the one hand, and avoiding the violation of those very rights, on the other;

16.2a state of emergency is limited to the shortest possible period of time and space, and this regardless of whether such a state is declared under Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights or results from a de facto situation either in the whole or part of their territory;

16.3law-enforcement bodies do not abuse or circumvent basic legal requirements and do not disproportionately restrict individual freedoms, in line with the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights; any administrative decisions taken in this context should always be subject to judicial review;

16.4there is no ethnic or racial profiling of suspects subjected to search and seizure operations, arrests or other coercive measures;

16.5there is effective democratic oversight exercised by both the parliament and other independent actors, such as national human rights institutions and civil society;

16.6appropriate means and training are granted to law-enforcement bodies and security and intelligence services to cope with the rising threat of terrorism, including the new challenges posed by the so-called “jihadist” threat;

16.7intelligence services refrain from indiscriminate mass surveillance, which has proven to be inefficient, and instead increase collaboration among themselves; co-operation with other democracies as well as with countries in the Middle East and the Arab world is also important;

16.8pertinent national records related to terrorist offences as well as information on airline passengers posing security threats are shared, subject to appropriate data protection guarantees;

16.9the financial lifelines of international terrorism and arms trafficking are cut off, including through the effective implementation of United Nations and Council of Europe conventions against the financing of terrorism.

17The Assembly calls on the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to follow counterterrorist measures taken by the member States, evaluate their necessity and proportionality, as appropriate, in the context of an inquiry under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and keep the Assembly regularly informed.

18With a view to strengthening legal action against terrorism, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member States, and neighbouring countries, which have not yet done so, to sign and ratify, as a matter of priority, the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (CETS No. 196) and its new Additional Protocol.

19The Assembly furthermore urges member States to do their utmost to eradicate the breeding grounds for terrorism and religious fanaticism, especially by means of education, social policies and an inclusive society. Concrete measures should be taken to prevent and fight radicalisation, in particular in schools, disadvantaged neighbourhoods, prisons and on the Internet and social media, in line also with Assembly Resolution 2031 (2015).

20The Assembly welcomes the implementation to date of the Action Plan on “the fight against violent extremism and radicalisation leading to terrorism”, adopted in May 2015 by the Committee of Ministers, which provides for a number of targeted activities capable of supporting and reinforcing the efforts of member States at national and international levels. Noting that the full implementation of the Action Plan depends on extra-budgetary resources, the Assembly calls on member States to consider allocating voluntary contributions for this purpose.