Human+rights+must+not+be+trampled,+Ronnie+Kasrils,+Sunday+Times

Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 28 January 2007
=Human rights must not be trampled in terrorism war=

//Harassing Muslims is no way to win hearts and minds, writes// **Ronnie Kasrils** //in a discussion of the international threat facing South Africa, which he says is not a primary al-Qaeda target.//

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon. It is a term whose origins commentators have attributed to the “regime de la terreur” of the French Revolution but, in its contemporary form, it knows no borders and it will certainly remain a collective security issue for some time to come.

In the interconnected world of the 21st century, no country, region, or continent can claim to be immune from the threat posed by terrorism.

We on the African continent are certainly no strangers to it. We have suffered from prolonged sectarian, colonial, apartheid and state-sponsored violence, which has claimed countless lives.

Even the democratic South Africa has not been exempt. In the early years of our freedom, terror tactics were employed by various elements, which were successfully dealt with, and allegedly by the right-wing Boeremag gang currently on trial.

Africa has also witnessed the ferocity of international terrorism. The bombings in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Mombasa, Morocco and Egypt, for example, are indicative of this. Indeed, the South African Institute for Security Studies estimated that between 1996 and 2001 — before the September 11 catastrophe — 8% of the 2483 incidents of international terrorism were committed on African soil, causing 5932 casualties, the second-highest casualty rate after Asia.

It has been argued that the genesis of a formalised multinational anti-terrorism campaign on our continent began as far back as the early ’90s with the former Organisation of African Unity’s resolutions unreservedly condemning terrorist acts and calling on member states to co-operate in fighting extremism of whatever description. These initiatives were taken further in the OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism in 1999, which was subsequently adopted by the African Union.

Al-Qaeda or other such groupings have been identified as posing a possible international terrorist threat to the Southern Africa sub-region. While all the evidence suggests that Southern Africa is certainly not a primary target, we remain vigilant, as no country can claim invulnerability.

So far, the number of suspected operatives and supporters that have been identified is very small, with no infrastructure or established training camps. More importantly, the Muslim communities of our region reject terrorism, are law-abiding and are productively integrated into the societies of member states, where the virus of extremism, feeding on exclusion, does not carry weight, as it has in Europe.

In fact, Muslims have been part of the life of Africa and our region for generations. Their interaction with the continent can be traced back to the 7th century, when Islam was introduced to Africa. In South Africa, the first significant migration and interaction was in the 17th century, when Muslims from the Malay- Indonesian archipelago were brought to the Cape as slaves by the Dutch. Today Muslims constitute about 1.5million of a population of 45 million.

Traditional Islamic social models have evolved here over the centuries. Traditions of tolerance, moderation and social and political engagement are deeply embedded in our Muslim communities.

These communities claim their primary identity as citizens of our states and play an extremely positive role in the national fabric. Not surprisingly, with easier entry into our region following our democratic dispensation in 1994, some individuals connected with al-Qaeda targeted Southern Africa as a safe haven. Evidence came to light about a score or so of individuals who illegally entered the country and were subsequently deported.

Let me make it clear that we are not talking about a large number; our security services are on top of the problem and we remain vigilant.

Other challenges include the need to strengthen border security, counter illegal immigration, build capacity in the region, and combat transnational syndicated crime, the forgery of travel documents, money-laundering, and small-arms trafficking, which so often is connected to terrorist activities.

There are many developments that are positive and have played a role in addressing the threat. In particular, we have been involved in efforts to engage our Muslim communities and provide them with direct engagement with government ministers. These include, for example, the high-level forum established by the South African government with representatives of all sectors of Muslim society to discuss the terrorist threat and their particular concerns.

However, the primary basis of peaceful co-existence of the diverse communities that make up South Africa’s democratic society lies in constitutional equality, socioeconomic integration and religious and cultural freedom enjoyed equally by Muslims and others alike.

We clearly need to continue to strengthen the capacity of our intelligence and law-enforcement bodies. We need to know our societies well enough to predict threats and act against them. We need to be able to deal with those who wish to use our countries as a safe haven by making it difficult for them to travel or obtain documentation, support and finance.

However, intelligence and law-enforcement are insufficient by themselves. What is required is a holistic approach that includes a programme to advance development, strengthen governance and democracy, and promote human rights and social inclusion.

This enables us to deal with those issues on which terrorist groups attempt to build their support. Alienation, marginalisation, poverty, underdevelopment, injustice and conflict provide the context for terrorists to recruit their followers.

In some African countries, terrorist acts are often a feature of local conflicts even if they have wider consequences. The danger of equating all acts of terrorism with the broader “global war” is that often these conflicts arise from grievances that have long been simmering, such as in Darfur and Somalia. Above all, we need to avoid excluding problem states from dialogue and negotiations, creating possibilities for terrorists. Implosion of neglected states creates a security vacuum.

There is a need to avoid destroying the rule of law or eroding international conventions. This must be fundamental. We lose everything, including the moral high ground, if we sacrifice basic principles of human rights. It is hard to explain to Muslim communities why a particular individual was denied a visa seemingly because of his name or religious persuasion.

I wish to elaborate on this lesson.

Our governments and intelligence services must be at pains to avoid demonising Islam and its communities. This will lead to incorrect threat assessments and measures that harass Muslim communities and discriminate against them.

Here I wish to make mention of the recent withdrawal by the US of the visa of the renowned South African academic and respected social commentator Adam Habib and his family, including his 11-year-old son, which has caused an outcry in our country.

The law and the human-rights principles that underpin it are a key defence and foundation of our liberties. To tear it up, manipulate it or work around it ends in defeat. We have to fight terrorism in accordance with democratic values.

We need to avoid double standards where democracy is enforced, as in Iraq, or where repressive systems are deemed acceptable by the West.

We must recognise that we will not end terrorism through police work, better intelligence and improved co-operation, important as they are. We will end terrorism by tackling its warped notion that its objective is achievable by abhorrent means. We must address the social and political inequalities that make some people misguidedly believe that terrorism can address their frustrations.

Kasrils is Minister of Intelligence Services. This is an edited version of an address titled Southern Africa, Terrorism and Radical Islam: Is there a connection, is there a concern? presented this week at a discussion on Southern Africa and international terrorism hosted by the Brenthurst Foundation


 * From: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Insight/Article.aspx?id=369143**

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