The Netherlands plans to ban all terrorist groups listed on the European Union's blacklist. Active involvement with such groups will be a criminal offence, the Dutch government said on Tuesday. The groups on the blacklist include the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party, now called Kongra-Gel), the Palestinian group Hamas, the Islamicist organisation Al-Takfir, the Muslim Al-Aqsa Nederland foundation, and the Marxist New Peoples Army (NPA) of the Philippines. Other foreign groups can also be declared by a court to be operating in breach of public order, the government said. The new measures are part of a legislative proposal unveiled by Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner and Interior Minister Johan Remkes. The proposals will be submitted to the Dutch Parliament for consideration, the website regering.nl said.
Under present regulations, the Dutch government can only freeze the bank accounts of organisations named on the EU list or recognised terrorist groups. In future, these groups will no longer be allowed to operate in the Netherlands and will not be able to recruit members or appoint leaders. The Cabinet's proposal states that inclusion on the EU's list is sufficient reason to ban an organisation in the Netherlands. Organisations are only placed on the EU list if all 25-member states agree. The EU is advised by the United Nations over which groups to place on the terror list. Some of these groups have links with the terror network al-Qaeda and the Taleban in Afghanistan, news agency Novum reported. A ban does not necessarily mean the group will be disbanded, but continued work in the name of the organisation will become a criminal offence. Conviction will carry a sentence of 12 months jail. Members have nothing to fear if they are not active in the group.
The legislative proposal would allow give Dutch authorities the power to take action against foreign groups that are not listed on the EU terror list, but who carry out illegal activities in the Netherlands. Before the activities of these groups can be ended, public prosecutor (OM) will have to apply to a civil court judge for a ruling that the organisation has operated in breach of public order. Once such an order is granted, people who continue to work on behalf of the organisation will face 12 months in jail. |