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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 17) – A list of individuals and entities designated by the Counterterrorism Council as “terrorists” will be published in a national wide-sheet format and online, giving those tagged 15 days to submit a request to be delisted.
These are among the rules and regulations implementing the Anti-Terrorism Act, posted on the Department of Justice website on Saturday.
The highly contested law gives the Executive Counterterrorism Council the authority to designate individuals and groups as terrorists, allowing the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze their assets. Those appointed can only be outlawed or outlawed by the Court of Appeals.
In accordance with the law, the ATC automatically adopts the consolidated list of terrorists, terrorist organizations and their funders from the United Nations Security Council. It will also attend to requests made by foreign or supranational jurisdictions regarding the designation of certain groups or individuals, a process that will be carried out through the Department of Foreign Relations.
Meanwhile, ATC will itself designate individuals and organizations as terrorists upon finding probable cause. Those who commit any act considered as terrorism in accordance with articles 4 to 12 of the law, as well as those who attempt or conspire to commit the crime, will be designated as terrorists.
An entity that is owned or controlled by a designated terrorist or terrorist organization will also be designated, along with the person or entity “acting on behalf of or at the direction” of the designated person.
READ: When can protests be considered terrorism?
The list of designated persons and entities will be published in a newspaper of general circulation and in the official online gazette and the ATC website. It should include the name of the designated person “and other identifying information”, a brief description of the case and the date of appointment.
Misidentity, other reasons for delisting
Once posted, the designated party can submit a verified opt-out request to ATC within 15 days. Reasons for delisting include the following:
• wrong identity;
• relevant and significant change in facts or circumstances;
• newly discovered evidence;
• death of the designee;
• dissolution or liquidation of designated organizations, associations or groups; or
• proof that the basis for designation no longer exists
Decisions on delisting will also be published in print and online.
The ATC, on its own, or at the request of a designated person, may also file a delisting petition with the UNSC, while other international designations can only be repealed once the foreign or supranational body in question withdraws them from the list. the list.
The designation is valid for three years, after which the ATC will review whether the basis for the designation still exists.
‘ATC has no judicial, quasi-judicial authority’
Legal experts, constitution writers and human rights defenders have called on the Supreme Court to scrap the anti-terrorism law, saying that the expansion of the ATC’s authority encroaches on the judiciary.
READ: UN rights chief asks Duterte not to enact anti-terrorism bill
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers said in a statement that the TIR only validated its position that the law is “too broad and vague,” adding that they are considering legal options to challenge the implementing rules.
Meanwhile, the TIR establishes that “nothing in the Law shall be interpreted in the sense that it empowers the ATC to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial authority.”
It adds that the designation of persons or groups as terrorists “shall be understood without prejudice to the ban.” This implies six months of hearings by the Court of Appeals on the request of the Department of Justice to declare or outlaw a person or organization as a terrorist.
The ban, like the designation, will last for three years, after which the court will decide whether the order should be lifted or reissued. Officials have explained that the designation would not automatically warrant an arrest, while an outlaw individual or group would face stiff penalties.
Under the law, terrorist acts are punishable by life imprisonment without the benefit of parole, while those who threaten, conspire, propose and incite to commit terrorism, or are considered accomplices to the crime, receive 12 years in prison.
Arrests without a warrant
One of the most contested provisions of the law, Section 29, allows all law enforcement officers and military personnel authorized by ATC to arrest suspected terrorists without a warrant and detain them without charge for up to 24 days.
Under the TIR, the law enforcement officer or soldier must first submit to ATC an affidavit containing information about the person suspected of terrorism and the basis for the planned warrantless arrest. The ATC will then decide whether to give the arresting officer a written authorization or not.
A law enforcement officer or military personnel who makes a warrantless arrest without this written authorization must bring the suspect to court within 36 hours. However, they can proceed with the detention if they obtain written authorization from ATC within the 36-hour period.
Authorities are only required to inform the nearest trial court of the arrest within 48 hours of the arrest, with copies provided to ATC and the Human Rights Commission. The Human Security Law, the law modified by the new measure, requires that the suspect be presented to the judge after arrest without a warrant.
“With regard to the 48-hour notice rule, we take into account limitations on the ground, especially when law enforcement operations are carried out in very remote areas,” said Deputy Attorney General Adrian Sugay.
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