National Assembly: New anti-terrorism measures introduced

The Constitution of Mauritius was subject for amendments this week in the National Assembly. The main issues for such changes were votes to bring on the Prevention of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill and on the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill that adopts the Rodrigues Regional Assembly (Amendment) Bill.

These two Bills were presented by the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth. In his summing up, he reassured MPs that “it is wrong to think that PoTA could be seen as targeting a given community.” Sir Anerood reiterated that 15 years after the tragic attacks of 9/11, the face of terrorism is evolving rapidly. The profile of perpetrators of terrorist acts and the nature of their attacks have been shifting. Lone wolf attacks are becoming more prevalent, often involving individuals previously unknown to security services, who are taking advantage of modern means of communication to coordinate transnational crimes and organise dreadful attacks without even meeting physically.  

“It is clear that nowadays, terrorism has crossed borders, changed forms and is killing atrociously.  It has become a constant threat to the fundamental values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. True it is that the threat level to our country in so far as international terrorism is concerned is considered as being low.  Yet, terrorism has no frontiers and its random and unpredictable nature makes it a matter of concern to any country,” said the Prime Minister.

“This is why we must remain vigilant and ensure that we have the necessary tools to combat any form of terrorist activity. We must also see to it there is no gap in our laws to enable us to deal with all the aspects of evolving terrorism. The amendments which are before the House today will enable us to further fulfil our commitments at the international level in the area of counter terrorism. The proposed amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Act are totally in line with the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy,” stated the Head of Government.

Concern has also been raised regarding the amendment proposed to the Prevention of Terrorism Act allowing a Police Officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police or an Officer duly authorised by a Superintendent of Police to arrest without warrant, a person who, in a public place, wears an item of clothing or carries or displays an object, in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he belongs to a proscribed organisation. 

“On this issue, I have to point out, that the offence in fact relates to belonging to a proscribed organisation as per section 4(3) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002. I also need to stress that, contrary to what Honourable Mohamed stated, such a provision exists under section 13 of the UK Terrorism Act 2000.  On the other hand, the legislation in France mentioned by Hon. Mohamed relates to the wearing of item of clothes or symbols relating to any specific religion. We should be very careful not to mix issues in order not to create an erroneous perception that the proposed amendments are meant to target persons belonging to a given community. I have to stress once more that the proposed amendments relate to the wearing of items of clothing or display of objects in respect of a proscribed organisation,” stated Sir Anerood Jugnauth.

The list of proscribed organisations in Mauritius was gazetted in February 2016, following Regulations made under section 10(4) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Regarding the setting up of the Counter Terrorism Unit under the aegis of the Prime Minister’s Office, the objective is to provide for an adequate structure to deal with terrorism-related issues in a proactive manner. This implies the creation of a specialised unit which would be staffed adequately and which would be legally entitled to interact and share intelligence, amongst others, with foreign counterparts.