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EU terror list criticised by human rights watchdog
12 November 2007 - 09:27 CET | By Honor Mahony
The European Union's anti-terror list violates basic human rights,
a Swiss investigator working for the human rights body the Council
of Europe has said.
"The present system of blacklists flouts the fundamental principles
which are the basis of human rights," notes the report by Dick Marty,
according to Reuters.
To be formally presented today (12 November), the report condemns the
terror black lists of both the EU and the United Nations claiming that
suspects on the list are not allowed the right of reply and also have
difficulty clearing their names once on the list.
This is not the first bad publicity for the EU list, which contains
around 60 entries of groups and individuals and is reviewed around
twice a year by member state secret service representatives.
In December, an EU court questioned the 2002 decision to place the
People's Mujahadeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), a Paris-based Iranian
opposition group, on the terror register and freeze its assets.
Although there have been some procedural changes to how the list is
run since the ruling - all groups on the list now sent statements of
reasoning - PMOI has remained on the list.
In July, meanwhile, an EU court overturned a decision by member states
to freeze the assets of Philippine rebel leader Jose Maria Sison and
the Al-Aqsa foundation, based in the Netherlands.
The Luxembourg-based court of first instance found that EU governments
had breached the rights of both parties - who are both on the EU terror
list - by not telling them why their assets had been frozen.
It also found that they had not been given sufficient rights of defence
or to effective judicial protection.
The EU's anti-terror list was set up in the aftermath of the September
2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and features Islamic
group Hamas as well as the Kurdish PKK group, the Tamil Tigers, ETA
and Colombian rebels FARC.
Referring to both the EU and the UN - which has over 360 indiviuals
on its list - Mr Marty said that both organizations must respect
"minimal norms of procedure and juridical safeguards."
"Despite recent procedural improvements it remains almost impossible,
in practice, to be removed from the blacklist - a situation that is
illegal and unacceptable," Mr Marty wrote in specific reference to
the PMOI case.
Mr Marty last caused a stir when he accused EU member states of knowing
about US rendition acts - the clandestine transportation of foreign
prisoners - often using European airspace.
(c) EUobserver.com 2007
Printed from EUobserver.com 13.11.2007
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