India needs comprehensive anti-terror laws, says UN report

A country-specific report prepared by the Counter Terrorism Committee of the United Nations has revealed gaping holes in Indias preparedness to tackle terrorism.

New Delhi, Sept 11 : A country-specific report prepared by the Counter Terrorism Committee of the United Nations has revealed gaping holes in India's preparedness to tackle terrorism.

The confidential report, which has indicted country's counter-terrorism structures, calls for adoption of comprehensive counter-terrorism legislation to overcome the menace."Many of the problems faced by India's current counter-terrorism regime could be tackled if India were to adopt comprehensive counter-terrorism legislation," the Hindustan Times said quoting the report.

The report was given to the Indian government in July, and has estimated that 70,000 people have been killed in terrorist violence in India over the years.

"It is a cause of concern that Indian law enforcement structures lack a national counter-terrorism database which would enable them to remain informed, on a real time basis, of terrorist-related events that occur from the country," the report said.

Criticising the absence of new counter-terrorism legislation which dates back to independence, the report says that by not criminalizing the smuggling of persons and free access given to Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens, the country is always at risk on infiltrating terrorists and existing information on stolen or lost passports, has not been shared with Interpol.

It stated that that India lacked legislation to enable "special investigative techniques"-the use of electronic or other forms of surveillance and undercover operations.

Indian states did not have specialised units to analyse threats. There was no witness protection programme either. It recommended that India should consider allowing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to handle more counter-terrorism cases.

The report also said that to plug the finances of terrorist groups, India needs to have comprehensive strategies in place to prevent terrorist organizations from posing as legitimate charities or to prevent the diversion of funds to support the activities of terrorist s.

In a country where terrorism is often blamed on foreigners, geography and securing the borders are the biggest challenge. India has 15,100 kilometres of land border and a coastline of 7,500 kilometres, including numerous islands.

Yet, "only 33 of total 76 border checkpoints are computerised," the report said.

The 15-member Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of the United Nations was established in the wake of the 9/11 terror attack in New York, and is aimed at monitoring of the implementation of the resolution 1373, which obliges all the member States to criminalize assistance for terrorist activities, deny financial support and safe haven to terrorists and share information about groups planning terrorist attacks.

While the ultimate aim of the Committee is to increase the ability of States to fight terrorism, it is not a sanctions body nor does it maintain a list of terrorist organizations or individuals.

ANI