Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 12, 2015 (SKNIS): The Federal Parliament of St. Kitts and Nevis passed the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2015, during the sitting of National Assembly on Friday, December 11.
The Bill is intended to criminalize all of the conduct outlined in the United Nation’s Security Council Resolution 2178, through sections 12 and 14 of St. Kitts and Nevis’ Anti-Terrorism Act, chapter 4.02 of 2001.
Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris outlined the purpose of the Bill.
“The purpose of the Bill is to give effect to recent recommendations proposed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in respect of expressly implementing measures to provide for United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2178 of 2014 and to provide targeted financial sanctions relating to same,” he said. “UNSCR 2178 among other things, addresses the issue of the threat of persons who are foreign terrorist fighters and those who support such persons and essentially requires States to criminalize the actions of all those involved in such actions. UNSCR 2178 focuses overall on the rising threat of extreme terrorist acts.”
He stated that the UNSCR 2014 was approved in September of 2014 and pointed out that in February 2015, the FATF launched a comprehensive questionnaire globally through the various FATF-Style Regional Bodies. The regional body that St. Kitts and Nevis belongs to is the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).
He pointed out that through the questionnaire, the FATF found weakness in areas. These weaknesses he said may need to be strengthened so as to address concerns of the UNSCR 2178.
Dr. Harris made mention of the recent terrorists attacks in Paris, stating that these attacks have underlined the urgency of a global response.
“At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in November, 2015, all leaders committed to do all that we could to eradicate terrorism and terrorist related activities,” the prime minister said.
Dr. Harris stated that St. Kitts and Nevis has criminalized terrorism in its Anti-Terrorism Act – Cap. 4.02 of 2001, but due to new and evolving initiatives the need for revisiting the provisions of the Act had arisen.
The legislation seeks to address three areas: (1) to expand the definition of “terrorist activity” by including elements of activities that target persons travelling for the purpose of participating in terrorist acts and those who would finance that activity. The Clause also includes a proposal for a new definition, that of “terrorist purposes” which although referred to in the Act, was never specifically defined; (2) Clause 4 seeks to amend section 46 by providing for the “immediate freezing” of funds of a person who has been identified as being a member of a terrorist group. Additionally, the clause provides that where a terrorist has been identified, that the Director of Public Prosecutions shall without delay, apply ex parte for the freezing of such funds; (3) Clause 5 of the Bill proposes an increase in current penalties to make them more commensurate with current international standards.
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