Summary

Over the past two years there has been a resurgence of terrorist activities in Europe. Terrorism has assumed new forms, and its nature has changed. It has also emerged in some central and east European countries since the collapse of communism. These terrorist activities are conducted by internationally organised networks - some of them even established in Council of Europe member states - which enjoy powerful logistical and financial support. Standard methods for judicial and police co-operation have proved inadequate in combating them.

The Parliamentary Assembly reiterates its forceful and unreserved condemnation of acts of terrorism, and renews its appeal for close co-operation between the Council of Europe member states.

However, an in-depth discussion of ways to strengthen action against terrorism is now called for. A parliamentary conference on the subject would be the appropriate frame for studying terrorism in its current form and identifying the problems it poses. Such a conference could devise measures for prevention, protection and surveillance, and measures for reinforcing international co-operation, and make practical proposals for more effective action against terrorism, which would include revising the 1977 European Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism.

I. Draft resolution [link to adopted text]

        1. Over the past two years there has been a resurgence of terrorist activities in Europe, and almost all European countries have recently been affected, either directly or indirectly, by these acts of violence. They are indicative of a profound change in the nature of terrorism in Europe, and reveal the inadequacy of standard methods for judicial and police co-operation in combating it.

2. This new type of terrorism stems from the activity of internationally organised networks which are established in several countries, sometimes even in Council of Europe member states, playing on the legal flaws of the territoriality of proceedings and in some cases enjoying powerful logistical and financial support.

3. In the past, the Parliamentary Assembly has emphasised that it considers terrorism a matter for serious concern, and, in particular, in Recommendation 1199 (1992) on the fight against international terrorism in Europe, it insisted on the need for close international co-operation between the Council of Europe member states.

4. The 1977 European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, currently in force in 29 member states, contains some flaws and now seems outdated. Firstly, terrorism has assumed new forms that were inconceivable when the convention was drafted, and secondly, terrorism has emerged in some central and east European countries since the collapse of communism.

5. In its Recommendation 1324 (1997), the Parliamentary Assembly proposed that further means of countering terrorism, corruption and organised crime should be discussed at the 2nd Summit of Heads of State and Government in Strasbourg on 10 and 11 October 1997, recommending that steps be taken to "increase the effectiveness of the European Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism of 27 January 1977, with the necessary amendments or additional protocols".

6. The growing number of terrorist acts committed throughout Europe in the past few years and the difficulty of dealing with this highly complex problem now make it imperative to reflect together on ways of strengthening action against terrorism, while respecting the rights and freedoms secured in the European Convention on Human Rights.

7. Holding a parliamentary conference on the subject should be a means of moving forward. Such a conference would be the appropriate frame for conducting fruitful discussions, identifying the problems posed by terrorism, studying measures for prevention, protection and surveillance, and measures to reinforce international co-operation, and making practical proposals for more effective action against terrorism, which would include revising the European Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism.

8. Consequently:

i. The Parliamentary Assembly reiterates its forceful and unreserved condemnation of acts of terrorism and welcomes the French initiative to include the fight against terrorism, corruption and organised crime on the agenda of the 2nd Summit of Heads of State and Government in Strasbourg on 10 and 11 October 1997;

ii In this connection, it decides to hold a parliamentary conference to study with the assistance of experts the current phenomenon of terrorism in the democratic system, devise measures for prevention, protection and surveillance or suppression, and measures for strengthening international co-operation, and analyse the requisite amendments to the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism;

iii. It instructs its Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights to organise this conference, with the assistance of other committees as necessary.

II. Explanatory memorandum by Mr Lopez Henares

A. INTRODUCTION

        1. Over the past two years there has been a resurgence of terrorist activities in Europe, especially on the part of separatist and fundamentalist groups. Almost all European countries have recently been affected, either directly or indirectly, by these acts of violence. Other countries in the world have also been severely hit, including the United States.

2. In 1996, however, the international community reacted strongly to this problem. Firstly, there was the Peace Summit held at Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt in March 1996. While this was initially prompted by the tension in the Middle East, with which the Parliamentary Assembly has concerned itself very closely, it gave the representatives of 26 countries an opportunity to reassert, in more general terms, the importance of international solidarity in the fight against terrorism. The final declaration of the Summit stresses the participants' full political and economic support for the peace process in the Middle East and expresses their determination to defend the region's security and stability and their condemnation of terrorism.

3. Secondly, at the annual G7 Summit in Lyon on 28 and 29 June 1996, the seven main industrialised countries and Russia (G7/P8) decided to make the fight against terrorism an "absolute priority" and discussed practical measures against terrorism. The Conference of G7 Foreign Affairs, Interior or Justice Ministers held in Paris on 30 July 1996 advocated the adoption of 25 practical measures against terrorism.

4. So it is no coincidence that a year later the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in response to these decisions and the concerns voiced by the member states, is proposing that further means of countering terrorism, corruption and organised crime should be discussed at the 2nd Summit of Heads of State and Government in Strasbourg on 10 and 11 October 1997.

5. The spread of terrorism in Europe is a matter of constant concern to the Council of Europe because terrorist acts are in themselves a violation of human rights and because they pose a direct threat to the functioning of democratic institutions by undermining their foundations. The Parliamentary Assembly, for its part, has repeatedly emphasised the importance of the issue and the need to look into ways of countering terrorism and helping its victims. In particular, in Recommendation 1199 (1992) on the fight against international terrorism in Europe, reproduced in Appendix 2, it insisted on the need for close international co-operation between the Council of Europe member states.

6. On the basis of the resolution on combating terrorism in the European Union adopted by the European Parliament on 30 January 1997, terrorism may be defined as a criminal act committed by individuals or groups, involving the use or threat of violence against a country, its institutions or people in general or specific individuals, which is intended to alter political, economic and social stuctures in states governed by the rule of law, and which violates the fundamental rights of the individual, particularly the right to life, the right to physical integrity and the right to personal freedom.

7. By using such means, terrorists aim to eliminate political opponents or dissenting views by fear and terror, rejecting free and peaceful discussion and argument, which are the hallmark of democratic systems. In states governed by the rule of law where fundamental freedoms and human rights are fully recognised, terrorism must be regarded as the most abhorrent crime which violates the most basic human rights, and foremost among these the right to life, to physical integrity and to inviolability of the person.

8. Terrorism is the greatest enemy of democracy: besides being a punishable criminal act in itself, it endangers and disrupts peace, the peaceful coexistence of citizens, the free and normal functioning of democratic institutions and the foundations of the rule of law.

9. Terrorism inspired by the ideological views of the extreme right or extreme left wing, religious fanaticism, separatist or racist attitudes or radical intolerance is always criminal behaviour for which there can be no justification whatsoever in a system of public freedoms that allows people to express and uphold any idea they wish. Terrorism generates a climate of fear and horror, which cripples the conscience and freedom of individuals, peoples and regions solely to achieve the perpetrators' aim of getting into the limelight, forcing the submission of the maximum number of people by terror and satisfying their urge to hate and destroy.

10. As I mentioned at the beginning of this introduction, Europe has been the target of many terrorist attacks over the past two years, and no state appears to be spared, as evidenced by the wave of terrorist attacks in France from July to October 1995; the attempt to assassinate Mr Gligorov, President of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", on 3 October 1995; the resumption of IRA attacks in London in February 1996 after a 17-month cease-fire; the bomb attack in Manchester in June 1996, which injured 200 people; the resumption of PKK terrorist attacks in Turkey since April 1996; the ETA attacks on airports and tourist resorts in summer 1996, and the assassinations in Spain in early 1997; the gangland terrorist attacks in Denmark and Sweden in 1996; the terrorist attacks in Moscow in June and July 1996; the wave of grenade explosions and incendiary bomb attacks in Budapest from September 1996 to April 1997; the bomb attacks in Sofia in July 1996 (92 explosions recorded in Bulgaria in the first half of 1996); the assassination of Andrei Lukanov in Sofia in October 1996; and the discovery of explosives on the road to Sofia airport at the time of Romanian President Constantinescu's visit on 30 April 1997.

11. These acts also reveal the existence on European soil of "abandoned soldiers", trained in combat techniques and the use of war weapons, hardened by warfare in countries such as Afghanistan or Bosnia and Herzegovina, and likely to become "mercenary terrorists".

12. All this is indicative of a profound change in the nature of terrorism in Europe: it is no longer the ideological terrorism experienced by countries such as Italy, Germany and France in the 1970s and early 1980s, but terrorism practised by independence fighters and separatists (France, Spain, United Kingdom, Turkey, Russia), religious fundamentalists (France, Belgium) and even the mafia (Russia, Bulgaria).

13. This new type of terrorism reveals the inadequacy of the standard methods for judicial and police co-operation because it stems from the activity of internationally organised networks established in several countries, which play on the legal flaws of the territoriality of proceedings, are even tolerated by some states and enjoy powerful logistical and financial support. Some of these terrorist networks are in fact directly located in Council of Europe member states.

14. Other international organisations have joined the Council of Europe in its discussions on terrorism, including the European Union (see in particular the resolution on the fight against terrorism in the European Union adopted by the European Parliament on 30 January 1997, and the Reding report), the OSCE and the UN.

15. However, the struggle against terrorism must not result in violations of the rights and freedoms upheld by the Council of Europe and enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. So thought must be given to the question of respect for human rights, because once states give pride of place to the "security" of their institutions or territory and the "fight against terrorism", the danger of human rights violations becomes considerable.

B. EXISTING INSTRUMENTS

16. The Council of Europe has adopted a series of conventions for dealing with terrorism, which, as the Assembly has repeatedly pointed out, are now obsolete in several respects: the 1977 European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (ETS 90), the 1957 European Convention on Extradition (ETS 24) and its two additional protocols of 1975 (ETS 86) and 1978 (ETS 98).

17. The European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, opened for signature in 1977, is intended to allow the extradition of persons who commit particularly serious acts such as hijacking aircraft, kidnapping, hostage-taking, the use of bombs, grenades, rockets, firearms etc and any serious act of violence directed against a person's life or freedom.

18. It also includes a non-discrimination clause, which provides that nothing in the convention shall be interpreted as requiring a state to extradite a person who is likely, as a result, to be prosecuted or punished on account of his or her race, religion, nationality or political opinions.

19. To date 29 countries have signed and ratified the 1977 Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism. It will be noted that the countries hardest hit by terrorism acceded to it rapidly: France, Germany, Italy and Turkey signed it on 27 January 1977 and Spain in 1978. It is regrettable, however, that countries which have more recently been victims of terrorism, such as Bulgaria and Russia, do not wish to become parties to the convention in the immediate future.

20. Many states have made reservations under Article 13 to enable them to refuse extradition when they consider that the offence committed is a political one. Some articles of the convention should be amended, such as the one allowing states not to treat offences committed with non-automatic firearms as terrorist offences and the one giving states an excessive margin of discretion in opposing extradition. If the Council of Europe wants to build an area of judicial and legal co-operation between states that respect human rights and the principles of the rule of law, it is logical that borders should not act as bastions or insuperable barriers when it comes to the prosecution of such a heinous crime.

21. The major difficulty confronting action against terrorism is that terrorism has no frontiers. So there should be no frontiers in fighting it either. Extensive measures for intergovernmental co-operation have been introduced, particularly to strengthen bilateral co-operation between individual countries. However, bilateral co-operation between states has failed on many occasions over the past few years. Examples include the unfortunate affair of the Belgian Conseil d'Etat's refusal to allow the deportation of two alleged ETA terrorists to Spain in 1996 and France's deportation to Iran of two Iranian nationals sought by the Swiss authorities for terrorist acts in 1994.

22. In addition to the flaws it contains, the 1977 convention is rather out of date and its perspective is now anachronistic. Firstly, terrorism has assumed new forms that were inconceivable at the time (computer terrorism, nuclear terrorism engendered by trafficking in radioactive substances, terrorist acts linked to religious fanaticism). Secondly, terrorism has emerged in some central and east European countries, especially Russia and Bulgaria, since the collapse of communism.

23. Lastly, other steps have been taken, particularly in the European Union, and these should serve to inspire action in a broader framework, which only the Council of Europe can provide (EUROPOL Convention (setting up of the European Police Office in 1995), Schengen Agreement).

24. On 23 September 1996, in Dublin, the member states of the European Union signed a new convention on extradition, altering the character of this legal instrument for international judicial co-operation in order to combat terrorism more effectively, by removing the requirement that the offence committed should be an offence in both countries and including membership of an armed group among the grounds for extradition.

25. That is why, in its Recommendation 1170 (1991) on strengthening the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, reproduced in Appendix 3, and more recently in its Recommendation 1324 (1997) on the Parliamentary Assembly contribution to the 2nd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly, asserting that the Council "provides for an appropriate and efficient forum for developing a common European response to the threat of terrorism", recommends "increasing the effectiveness of the European Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism of 27 January 1977, with the necessary amendments or additional protocols".

26. All these factors warrant the Assembly resuming its discussion of the issue. Most of the countries hard hit by terrorist attacks have taken individual action against terrorism. The growing number of terrorist acts committed throughout Europe in the past few years, the fact that governments are powerless to prevent and counteract them and the difficulty of dealing with this highly complex problem now make it imperative to reflect together on ways of strengthening action against terrorism. Holding a parliamentary conference on the subject should be a means of moving forward, identifying the new problems posed by terrorism and making practical proposals.

27. As suggested in the motion for a resolution submitted by Mr Ruffy and others, such a Parliamentary Conference is the appropriate frame for conducting the debate on this problem, and possibly reaching practical conclusions on the various items under discussion, including the revision of the European Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism. Experts might assist in the Conference, which could study measures for prevention, protection and surveillance, but also the means of combating terrorism, which constitutes a threat to human rights and the democratic institutions, and measures to reinforce international police and judicial co-operation in this field, with strict respect for the rule of law and the fundamental freedoms.

C. PROPOSALS

28. Consequently:

a. The Parliamentary Assembly decides to organise a Parliamentary Conference to study the current phenomenon of terrorism in the democratic system, to consider measures for prevention, protection and surveillance, or for more effective punishment, as well as measures to reinforce international co-operation, and to analyse the requisite amendments to the European Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism;

b. It instructs its Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights to organise such a conference, with the assistance of other committees as necessary.

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4 February 1994 Doc. 7016

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism presented by Mr RUFFY and others

 

In its Recommendation 1170 (1991), the Assembly proposed changes to the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism with a view to strengthening that convention.

Unfortunately the Committee of Ministers did not follow the proposals of this recommendation.

In this respect the Assembly greatly regrets a decision taken by the French authorities at the beginning of January not to extradite two nationals from Iran whose extradition from France had been requested by Switzerland for reasons of murder and terrorist acts. On the contrary, France expelled these two men to Iran.

In their case the principle dedere aut judicare (either extradite or put on trial) was therefore not applied. This proves again the weakness of the European Conventions on the Suppression of Terrorism and on Extradition.

The Assembly therefore decides to organise a conference, symposium or hearing with a view to arriving at concrete proposals for the strengthening of these conventions.

Ruffy, Panov, Gotzev, Goop, Holtz, Dimmer, Hagard,

Berger, Haller, Hadjidemetriou, De Puig.