BRIEFING PAPER: ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION IN NAMIBIA interception and monitoring can be renewed by a judge on a three-monthly basis. Section 44 deals with the proscription of persons and organisations. The Minister can proscribe a person or organisation if they are involved in terrorist or proliferation activity. However, Section 44 also sets out a number of more tenuous connections to terrorism as being grounds for proscription, such as preparing to commit any terrorist activity. In addition, anyone promoting or encouraging any terrorist activity or acting on behalf of, at the direction of, or in association with persons or organisations involved in terrorist activities or proliferation activities can be proscribed. Perhaps most tenuously Section 44 ends by stating that any person or organisation “in any way involved in any terrorist activity or proliferation activity” can be proscribed. The Minister can also act on a request from a foreign state to proscribe persons or organisations. ‘ The Prevention and Combating of Terrorist Activities Act in its present form does have some worrying aspects that should be reviewed. ’ Once a person or organisation has been proscribed the Minister, according to section 45, can order the immediate freezing of any funds or assets owned or controlled by them, even if such funds or assets are not necessarily linked to terrorism. Proscribed persons and organisations also face travel bans in section 48. The Minister responsible for immigration and border control must prevent the entry into or transit through Namibia of proscribed persons and their biological or adoptive parents and children, by issuing a travel ban. Where appropriate, the Minister responsible for immigration and border control, on the instruction of the Security Commission, must cause the expulsion from Namibia of designated persons or organisations or persons or organisations working for such persons or organisations, where such expulsion is mandatory under applicable Security Council Resolutions. The application of the various sections of Part 4 may be appropriate when dealing with well-grounded suspicions of terrorist activity. However, since the various actions and interventions outlined in Part 4 are predicated to a large extent on the extremely broad definition of “terrorist activity” in section 1, there is a possibility that they can be abused to target the media, civil society, opposition groups and others. Conclusion and recommendations The Prevention and Combating of Terrorist and Proliferation Activities Act does not include some of the more worrying features of other anti-terrorism legislation around the world. For example, the Act does not allow for the prolonged detention of terrorism suspects without charge or trial; it does not feature explicit restrictions on media reporting on terrorism related matters; nor does it explicitly restrict public demonstrations. It should be acknowledged that no country is immune from the threat of terrorism and that the State, in fulfilling its duty to protect citizens, has a responsibility to introduce effective anti-terrorism laws which comply with international standards. However, the Prevention and Combating of Terrorist and Proliferation Activities Act in its present form does have some worrying aspects that should be reviewed. This is particularly important as the previous Bills were never adequately reviewed and discussed in public forums or indeed by Parliament. PAGE 9