Justice Minister to seek government approval for new terrorism offences bill today
JUSTICE MINISTER JIM O'Callaghan will seek government approval this morning for a bill that would add three new terrorist offences to existing law.
Those three new offences are receiving training for terrorism, travelling for the purpose of terrorism, and organising or facilitating travelling for the purpose of terrorism.
The aim of the Terror Offences Bill is to give the state the ability to prosecute people who travel abroad to take part in terrorist activity, known as the 'foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon'.
The Department of Justice said this new bill would bring Ireland's counter-terrorism laws into line with those of other EU countries.
'It will facilitate Ireland's participation in enhanced counter-terrorism networks across the EU, giving An Garda Síochána the ability to tap into those networks to respond to both domestic and cross-border terrorist threats,' the Department said.
The Department said the bill marks 'a significant step forward in ensuring that Ireland's counter-terrorism framework is robust and fit for purpose in the face of modern terrorist threats'.
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In cases where people are being sentenced for terrorist training or recruiting, the bill would also allow courts to treat the targeting of children as an aggravating factor.
The UN Security Council has defined 'foreign terrorist fighters' as people 'who travel or attempt to travel to a State other than their States of residence or nationality, and other individuals who travel or attempt to travel from their territories to a State other than their States of residence or nationality, for the purpose of the perpetration, planning, or preparation of, or participation in, terrorist acts, or the providing or receiving of terrorist training'.
Examples of such actors include people who travelled to join ISIS.
According to the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), there are some concerns about the definition and the impacts on people's rights.
Those issues include 'the labelling of individuals, as well as their families, by association, as foreign terrorist fighters, difficulties related to the criminal regulation of individuals' intentions, and the blurring of lines between terrorism and armed conflict'.
These, UNCCT said in a report on the impact of the phenomenon on children, 'have consequences for human rights protection and the protection regime under international humanitarian law'.
'There are concerns that the term may also lead to stigmatization and dehumanization, especially for children.'
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