President calls for international consensus on anti-terror laws

President Pratibha Patil lighting the lamp to inaugurate the International Conference of Juries on International Terrorism, on the occasion of National Law Day in New Delhi on November 21, 2009. Union Minister for Law & Justice, M. Veerappa Moily and other dignitaries are also seen.

President Pratibha Patil today called upon the international legal community to forge a consensus on anti-terror laws, saying that fresh ideas and creative thinking were needed to provide a strong edifice to international law and to maximise complementarities amongst nations to combat the evil.

Inaugurating a two-day International Conference of Jurists on International Terrorism and Rule of Law here, Ms Patil pointed out that India had been a frequent victim of terrorism for more than two decades.

"Besides inflicting large-scale physical casualties, terrorism also poses a grave challenge to the essential elements of civil society like peace, democracy, individual liberty and freedom of thought and expression," she said.

Ms Patil said terrorism violated everything that a civilized society stood for. "Characterized by irrational violence and horrific destruction, terror strikes have without impunity harmed innocent civilians. The scale and nature of terrorist onslaughts are a grim reminder that it has assumed a lethal global reach and all States, whether small or large, are potentially vulnerable," she said.

The conference is being attended by legal luminaries, leaders and academicians from several countries.

The President said India was a pluralist society and a vibrant democracy that took pride in its multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious milieu. She said the country remained firmly committed democratic governance, the rule of law, respect for human rights and religious freedom.

She said India had pledged itself to a policy of zero-tolerance towards terrorism, from whatever source it originates, wherever it strikes and whosoever it chooses as target.

"In conjointly fighting terrorism, we ought to make it loud and clear that no idea, no cause whatsoever, can justify terrorism. Questions like 'good' or 'bad' terrorism should not be entertained for such distinctions are coloured and tainted by bias, prejudice and narrow thinking. Terrorists belong to no religion for they are not apostles of peace but messengers of death and destruction," she stressed.

Ms Patil said that overwhelming care had to be taken to ensure that terrorists did not succeed in their evil designs of sowing seeds of misunderstandings and causing fractures between cultures in the international community.

"Instead, we must steadfastly work towards building bridges of understanding between the different cultures of our planet based on respect for rule of law, the protection of democratic values and strengthening of common institutions," she said.

The President said the struggle against terrorism must be carried to the world stage. She said distance and time, in the modern world, did not provide insulation from the reach of terrorism.

She said terrorism was a transnational crime and ought to be recognised as a common enemy of all nations.

"The global counter-terrorism efforts may be an arduous and lengthy campaign, but must persistently target the entire global network. Countries must individually own up responsibilities, as must the international community, in collectively defeating terrorism and not deflect responsibility on to non-state actors. The responsibility to deal with them lies with the State from which they operate as it is the sanctuary, support and finances that they receive, which sustains their heinous and perverse acts," she emphasised.

Ms Patil said it was incumbent on the international community to ensure that there was an effective legal framework for the prevention and elimination of terrorism and to bring to justice the sponsors, abettors and perpetrators of terrorism.

She also underlined the need to work towards universal ratification and full implementation of international conventions and protocols related to terrorism, including the 13 different sectoral UN Conventions and Protocols.

In 1996, India had proposed a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism as a legal instrument to cover all aspects of terrorism and to ensure effective international cooperation. It is high time that the ongoing discussions in this regard are taken to their logical culmination, she said.

She also drew attention to related issues such as the financing of terrorists, money-laundering and regulation of charities besides printing and circulation of fake currencies.

"There is a growing nexus between narcotics, drug trafficking, illegal gunrunning and terrorism. Terrorists utilize sophisticated communication technologies and indulge in cyber terrorism. The related laws need to be strengthened," she said.

Ms Patil also spoke about the rise in the incidents of sea piracy disrupting mercantile shipping and their possible linkages with terror operatives and said these need to be factored in while looking at port security laws and maritime conventions.

She also stressed the need to beef up intelligence gathering and surveillance systems and to address coordination issues at the functional level between various agencies within each country and at inter-governmental level.

"We must evolve a system of sharing best practices amongst criminal justice practitioners across regions and across legal systems, besides providing for country based capacity building assistance for rounded implementation of international legal instruments against terrorism," she added.

The President gave away the National Law Day Awards 2009 to six eminent persons on the occasion. Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan also addressed the conference.

Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily listed the steps taken by India to confront terrorism, including the establishment of the National Investigation Agency that can operate across jurisdictions. He also mentioned initiatives aimed at better intelligence gathering and coordination between various agencies.

He said India had always conformed to international law and the tenets enshrined in its Constitution in responding to the threat of terror.

He said that respect for the pluralistic nature of its democracy had always been India's first priority and pointed out that the Government had always refrained from irresponsible reactions to acts of terror.

"So in spite of being a victim of major terrorist attacks India still continues to be a torchbearer for peace, development and inclusive growth," Dr Moily added.

NNN