Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2006

rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 17 July be approved [34th Report from the Joint Committee and 42nd Report from the Merits Committee]. The noble Baroness said: My Lords, Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000 provides a power for the Home Secretary to proscribe an organisation which he believes is concerned in terrorism. This is done by adding the organisation to Schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000, which lists proscribed organisations. An organisation is concerned in terrorism if it commits or participates in acts of terrorism, prepares for terrorism, promotes or encourages terrorism or is otherwise concerned in terrorism. This power was extended by Section 21 of the Terrorism Act 2006 to include those organisations which glorify the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism. Glorification includes any form of praise or celebration of acts of terrorism. We are therefore now able to take action against those who make statements which create a climate that supports and fuels terrorism. The order we have before us today lists four organisations that we believe are concerned in terrorism. These are: Al-Ghurabaa; the Saved Sect; the Baluchistan Liberation Army, or BLA; and Teyrebaz Azadiye Kurdistan, or TAK. Two of these organisations, Al-Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect, are being proscribed under the new glorification provisions and this is the first time that they have been used. The other two organisations, the BLA and TAK, are directly involved in acts of terrorism. When deciding on whether to make an order proscribing a group, a number of additional factors are taken into account and these were published in 2001. They are: the nature and scale of an organisation’s activities; the specific threat that it poses to the United Kingdom; the specific threat that it poses to British nationals overseas; the organisation’s presence in the United Kingdom and the need to support other members of the international community in their fight against terrorism. Proscription of an organisation is a very serious matter. It means that the organisation is outlawed in the United Kingdom and it is illegal for it to operate here. The 2000 Act makes it a criminal offence to belong to or invite support for a proscribed organisation. It is also an offence to arrange a meeting which will support or further the activities of, or which will be addressed by, someone who belongs to such an organisation. Finally, a person commits an offence if they wear clothing or carry or display articles which provide a reasonable suspicion that they are a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation. It is important to note here that any organisation that is proscribed, or anyone affected by a proscription, can appeal to the Home Secretary for the organisation to be deproscribed. If this is refused, the applicant can appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC). Given the wide-ranging impact of proscription, the decision to put forward a group for proscription is taken only after a thorough review of all the relevant information. This includes open source material as well as intelligence material and advice that reflect consultations across government and with the law enforcement agencies. Proscribing the four groups in the order will send a clear message that the United Kingdom takes seriously its role in fighting terrorism. We all know that the nature of terrorism has changed, that the structures used are more fluid and international and that there are organisations that recruit and radicalise as well as those that actually commit terrible acts of violence against innocent civilians. It is against this background that we must consider all the steps we can take to protect our citizens from terrorism. This involves difficult decisions and judgments but the overriding responsibility must be to protect the public. Part of that is about making it harder for those organisations that are involved in terrorism, both directly and indirectly, to operate. That is what proscription does. I turn to the organisations in the order. Al-Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect use the internet as their main medium. The two organisations are closely connected and both are successor organisations to Al-Muhajiroun, which was run by Omar Bakri. They use the internet to attack the values of our society and to praise those who want to use violence for ideological aims. They spread a message that is aimed at the young and the vulnerable and which indirectly encourages them to emulate terrorist acts. For example, the Al-Ghurabaa group explicitly refused to condemn the July 7 bombings and a spokesperson has said: "““What I would say about those who do suicide operations or martyrdom operations is they’re completely praiseworthy””." There is also material on the Al-Ghurabaa website that says: "““We do believe in Jihad, we do believe in violence, we do believe in terrorizing the enemy of Allah””." They talk about Osama bin Laden being a lion and of his opponents, "““treading a downhill path of destruction and humiliation””," and of the USA being "““forced to kneel down towards him””." The Saved Sect churns out similar propaganda. It talks about the only solution being violent Jihad. This is not freedom of speech but an abuse of those freedoms, and it is an insidious attack on the values we hold dear in our culture. The case with the BLA and TAK is different. These are organisations directly concerned with terrorism—organisations that have claimed responsibility for some dreadful atrocities. For example, the BLA has claimed responsibility for attacks going back to at least 2004, including the murder of Chinese engineers in February 2006 and nine bombings at railway stations during 2005. TAK has also claimed responsibility for attacks in Turkey since 2004, including a bomb attack on an internet café in Istanbul. Although these organisations are not based in the United Kingdom, they pose a threat to our citizens as the tragic death of British citizens in a bomb attack by TAK in the Turkish resort of Kusadasi in 2005 demonstrates. Given the nature of the organisations listed in this order, we invite your Lordships to agree that it is quite right that we should proscribe them, and I commend the order to the House. I beg to move. Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 17 July be approved [34th Report from the Joint Committee and 42nd Report from the Merits Committee].—(Baroness Scotland of Asthal.)