B. The Fight Against Terrorism

The devastating terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, which set off reactions throughout the entire world, constitute a major challenge to the international community. The Austrian population, too, was given a sharp reminder that, more than ten years after the end of the Cold War, there still exist real threats to our country and its citizens.

The threat emanating from internationally active terrorist networks with access to modern communications technology, and possibly also weapons of mass destruction, is fully comparable in its dimensions to that from military action. The new terrorist groups that have been established in different areas of the world over the past ten years have no clearly defined political aims. They are irreconcilably opposed to all open, democratic, tolerant and pluralist societies, and set out to kill as many people and destroy as much property as they possibly can. Their goal is to undermine the established order and economic potential of countries, and to paralyse their social systems.

Austria needs a comprehensive strategy of defence against this scenario, which is described precisely in the new Austrian security and defence doctrine. Preventing and combating terrorism demands concerted action by a large number of Austrian state institutions. The events of September 11 demonstrated in the most public possible manner that even the most powerful country in the world is vulnerable, and that security can be assured only through international collaboration. Allies and friends of the United States - not least in their own interests - have therefore given assurances of their unlimited solidarity and cooperation in the fight against international terrorism. The European Union reacted promptly and appropriately to the events of September 11. The European Council held a special meeting on September 21 to analyse the new international situation and inaugurate appropriate measures. The fight against terrorism was declared a priority of the Union. The EU announced its intention to cooperate with the United States in order to bring the terrorists, their accomplices and others responsible for these acts to justice and punishment. The EU stressed that the relevant military operations undertaken by the US are legal under the Charter of the United Nations and Security Council Resolution 1368. The EU member states confirmed that they would take action in accordance with the means available to them.

Thus Austria, on the basis of the above-mentioned UN Resolution and the new federal law governing the presence of foreign troops on Austrian territory, permitted overflying by military aircraft of the anti-terror coalition. After consultation with the EU partners, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner made trips to the Middle East and Central Asia under the EU strategy of support for the coalition. Austria has for many years enjoyed considerable trust in the Middle East, and was able to build up a lot of goodwill in Central Asia while holding the presidency of the OSCE in 2000. These connections could be put to good use in obtaining the initially not necessarily self-evident support of the countries in question for the anti-terror coalition.

Austria has undertaken special efforts to make it clear that the fight against terror is in no way to be regarded as a campaign against Islam. Austria's promotion of a Dialogue of Civilisations began long before the events of September 11. For example, a seminar on the Dialogue of Civilisation was held in Salzburg on August 28. This was attended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the invitation of Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and Minister for Foreign Affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The first-ever invocation of article 5 of the NATO Charter as a result of the terror attacks on the US was more than a symbolic gesture. Even if NATO as such did not participate in the action against the Al Qaida network, with the activation of the assistance clause it made it clear that defence against new threats will be one of the future tasks of collective defence within the framework of NATO.

One essential element of a successful campaign against international terrorism was the formation of a broad coalition that to various degrees included not only the US, EU, NATO, the Islamic states and the countries bordering on Afghanistan, but also Russia and China. This resulted in changes in the global political situation in many respects, the full extent of which cannot yet be foreseen. Russian President Putin's orientation towards the United States and Europe is unquestionably one of the most positive developments to have taken place after September 11. NATO and the EU responded to this change of course by Russia with initiatives to integrate Russia more closely into the European and Euro-Atlantic security structures.

There were also signs of decreasing tension in relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. The determination of the anti-terror coalition to pursue the campaign against the terrorist networks and rebuild a peaceful Afghanistan have also increased the chances of resolving or at least stabilising a number of dangerous regional conflicts. Some that can be mentioned are the reconstruction in Afghanistan itself, the relatively stable internal situation in Pakistan in the wake of September 11, international interest in stable development in Central Asia, positive developments in Northern Ireland such as the handover of weapons by the IRA, and the resumption of negotiations in the Cyprus conflict and the civil war in Colombia. On the other hand, there was a deterioration in the Middle East conflict and in the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The common interest throughout the greater part of the international community in the campaign against terror has hitherto held together the broad, but in the intensity of its cooperation necessarily very varied, coalition. It is important for its continuation that future measures against the transnational terror networks are appropriate and are undertaken after multilateral consultations. It is also vital to step up efforts to combat the causes of dissatisfaction, hatred and extremism. Capacities for conflict prevention and crisis management must be expanded within the framework of the United Nations as well as the regional organisations.

For Austria, a country that is a prominent campaigner for democracy and human rights, it is important that the international community succeeds in establishing a balance between endeavouring to provide citizens with enhanced security, on the one hand, and guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms, on the other. With this in mind, Austria has played an active part within bot h the UN and the EU in developing the international community's instruments to combat terrorism.

Measures taken by the United Nations

On September 11, the day of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the chairman of the Security Council issued a press statement condemning them. For the first time in the history of the UN this was done by telephone, due to the evacuation of the UN building. On the following day the Council adopted Resolution 1368, which condemned the attacks as a threat to world peace and demanded counter-measures. The preamble explicitly pointed out the right to individual and collective defence. It also called for enhanced cooperation to bring those responsible to justice. On 28 September, Resolution 1373 laid down a list of state responsibilities in the campaign against terrorism, and established a special Security Council control regime. The list includes the following duties, amongst others:

· preventing financial support for terrorism, inter alia by freezing bank accounts;
· preventing terrorist acts, in particular by refusing and forbidding any form of support;
· prosecution of offenders under criminal law, and imposition of appropriate sentences;
· reducing the freedom of movement of terrorists;
· supporting the international campaign against terrorism;
· acceding to the international conventions against terrorism;
· participation in the international information exchange networks;
· restricting the right of asylum for terrorists;
· extradition of terrorists.

Every member state had to submit a report on the implementation of the resolution to the Security Council's specially appointed Counter-Terrorism Committee by 27 December. The committee comprises all 15 members of the Security Council and operates on a basis of unanimity. A number of experts, including one from Austria, have been appointed to provide support with monitoring the national reports. The success of the campaign against terrorism will be dependent on whether and how the Security Council reacts to breaches of Resolution 1373 by member states.

Security Council Resolution 1377, which was adopted on 12 November at foreign minister level, contains a general declaration by the Security Council on the necessity of combating terrorism at global level, and demands strict observance of the previous resolutions. It also acknowledges that a number of states will require international support to implement Resolution 1373.

Military operations under the leadership of the United States commenced on 7 October against the Al Qaida network and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, with its close links to terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden. Security Council Resolution 1378, adopted on 14 November, endorsed the plan for Afghanistan presented by the Secretary-General's special representative, Lakhdar Brahimi. This plan formed the basis for the special conference on the Petersberg, near Bonn, that was called by the UN to try to reach agreement by all the Afghan parties on the framework conditions for setting up a transitional government. The agreement reached at that conference was endorsed by the Security Council on 6 December with Resolution 1383. Two weeks later, on 20 December, the Council adopted Resolution 1386, which authorises the formation of an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul. Austria agreed to participate in the ISAF with up to 75 personnel.

Terrorism was the main issue at the 56th UN General Assembly, which was originally to have been opened on 11 September. Its first action when it opened the following day was the unanimous adoption of Resolution 56/1 condemning the terrorist attacks in the United States the previous day.

On a motion by Austria, the annual debate on terrorism was transferred from the Sixth Commission to the full General Assembly. This debate impressively underlined the solidarity of the UN member states in their condemnation of terrorism and their unqualified support for the campaign against it. The work in the Sixth Commission concentrated on negotiating a comprehensive convention against terrorism. In October a working group achieved consensus on most of the technical details, but there was no political agreement on a definition of terrorism. The negotiations are continuing.

The General Assembly's resolution, which reflects the content of the plenary debate and the results of the working group's discussions, was expressed more strongly than in previous years, and for the first time for many years was adopted unanimously. The Austrian delegation was one of the most active in the working group and in the full Sixth Commission.

The Vienna-based units of the United Nations system include long-established organisations for improving international cooperation against organised crime and terrorism. These are the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) and its Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB). This construction reflects the connection between organised crime and terrorism, since terrorist attacks are often financed from the proceeds of criminal activities, notably trafficking in drugs, weapons and persons. International cooperation therefore also aims to deny terrorist organisations their means of financial support.

The sheer dimensions of the September 11 attacks have brought the work of these UN organisations into the spotlight of public attention and underlined the importance of their role in the campaign against terrorism. Austria, already active in all the relevant UN institutions to this end, advocates a more intensive use of the expertise of the Viennabased UN units and a strengthening of their role. The ODCCP and TPB, with the financial and organisational assistance of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, planned a symposium during the first half of 2002 on Combating International Terrorism: the Contribution of the United Nations.

The TPB has hitherto concentrated on the following areas: relevant publications (e.g. Countering Terrorism through International Cooperation, Milan, 2001); research projects (e.g. work on a Global Terrorism Survey); participation in international conferences (e.g. the joint OSCE/ODCCP conference on strengthening security and stability in Central Asia with special reference to measures against terrorism, held in the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek on 13/14 December); and provision of special data banks on terrorism-relevant aspects.

Just prior to the September 11 attacks the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) published an Action Plan to implement the Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice that was adopted at the 2000 Crime Prevention Congress and which contains measures against terrorism. It declares that the most important national measures, which should be taken by every state, are the signing and ratification of the international legal instruments against terrorism, amassing information on terrorist activities, and improving cooperation between authorities and organisations in the campaign against organised crime and terrorism. As regards international measures, states should be given assistance with the implementation of legal instruments where necessary; there should be stimulation of public consciousness of the phenomenon of terrorism and relevant information made available. In the light of the events of September 11 this action plan is of particular relevance and underlines the significant role of the Vienna UN organisations in the prevention of terrorism. At the UN General Assembly the budget resolution called upon the Secretary-General to circulate proposals for strengthening the capacities of the terrorism-prevention unit in Vienna. Eight new posts were approved for the Vienna offices, including the ODCCP.

Measures taken by the European Union

After the terrorist attacks on September 11 the European Council of heads of state and government held an extraordinary meeting in Brussels on 21 September, and an informal meeting in Ghent on 19 October. They adopted a comprehensive and ambitious programme of action essentially based on Security Council Resolution 1373, which speeds up the decisions of the 1999 European Council meeting in Tampere. It thereby decided on a coordinated action covering all three "pillars" of the Union, in order to extend the fight against terrorism to every level.

In the Common Foreign and Security Policy, relations with third countries in particular were subjected to a revision from the point of view of combating terrorism, with the emphasis on an intensified political dialogue with those countries most affected by the phenomenon. The action programme also proposed that the Union's foreign policy should endeavour to promote a just system of security, prosperity and development. The dialogue between the civilisations should be more vigorously promoted within the framework of the Barcelona Process, as well as through active cultural exchanges, in order to prevent Islam or the Arab world being equated with terrorism.

Implementation of these measures started promptly in September, and considerable progress had already been made by the time of the European Council meeting in Laeken in December. The European Commission and the Belgian presidency both contributed to the planning and production of these proposals, which were adopted by the member states. The European Commission will play a leading role in the implementation of these measures within the framework of Community law. The most important concrete measures by the EU and its member states are:

· A framework decision on the European Arrest Warrant. This is essentially a simplification of the procedure for extraditing suspects between member states. In place of the time-consuming involvement of the ministries of justice and foreign affairs of the two states concerned, it now suffices for the judicial authorities of the state seeking extradition to issue a warrant, which can be directly executed in another member state. This procedure is applicable to criminal acts carrying high penalties, and to terrorist acts in particular.
· The framework decision on combating terrorism enables enhanced cooperation between the judicial and police authorities of the member states and foresees higher penalties for crimes of terrorism. It also contains a definition of terrorism: serious crimes (e.g. murder, abduction, hostage taking) committed with the intention of intimidating the population of a country, of placing public authorities under duress, or of destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of the country.
· In addition to strengthening structures like Europol, there will be enhanced cooperation between the intelligence services of the member countries.
· Speeding up of the establishment of Eurojust that has been provisionally established as Pro-Eurojust by decision of the Council on 14 December 2000. After 11 September a coordination group of state prosecutors was set up to deal with terrorist matters. The decision to establish Eurojust as a permanent institution was taken by the Council of Ministers on 28 February 2002. This will considerably broaden the scope of judicial cooperation between member countries, especially as regards serious crime, through a better coordination of ongoing investigations and prosecutions. It will also considerably improve conditions for the transnational prosecution of terrorist crimes.
· The EU supports the further development of the relevant international legal instruments, including the drafting of a comprehensive UN convention against international terrorism.
· Preventing the financing of terrorism (Austria has signed and ratified the relevant UN convention).
· Improving flight safety.
· Measures in respect of visas, including the establishment of a central visa databank and integrating the applicant's picture into the visa vignette.

To summarise, it can be stated that the European Union reacted promptly and comprehensively to the events of September 11. It took up a clear position and contributed to the consolidation of the transatlantic partnership. In the field of justice and home affairs it came to a swifter and more emphatic realisation of already existing concepts and ideas.

Measures taken by Austria

One week after the attacks in the United States, the Austrian Federal Government decided to sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. Austria signed this latest convention against terrorism on 24 September in New York, and it was ratified by the Austrian Parliament on 28 February 2002.

As a direct reaction to the attacks, the preventive measures to protect persons, objects and civilian air traffic were considerably expanded. Use of the international search networks was stepped up, in order to trace and put a stop to any illegal financing activities by terrorist organisations in Austria. Citizens and holders of travel documents of a number of sensitive countries were subjected to intensified immigration controls. There was also intensified cooperation between intelligence services and police authorities, both directly and within the framework of Interpol. Austria sent a representative to the newly established Europol Task Force on Terrorism, and contributed actively to the work within the relevant international meetings.

The report on the national implementation of measures against terrorism that is required by Security Council Resolution 1373 was drawn up in the course of several coordination meetings of all the responsible authorities and institutions, and was presented to the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee on December 20. Another report was submitted to the presidency of the EU Council on implementation within the EU sphere.

The Austrian report describes the current legal situation. In particular, attention is drawn to the fact that Austria does not yet possess a special anti-terrorism legislation, so that the prosecution of terrorist crimes takes place on the basis of the general criminal law. One reaction to the events of September 11 is, however, an ongoing scrutiny of the existing legal instruments in order to determine their suitability for the effective countering of terrorism. Another part of the report describes the concrete measures that have been taken. In addition to those already mentioned, these include the establishment of a special task force on countering terrorism, and more stringent measures in the financial sector. The report points in particular to the campaign against money laundering, which is a major aspect of the prevention of terrorism. It was also reported that, at a meeting of the ministers for finance, home affairs and justice with the leaders of the Austrian banking sector, agreement was reached on the necessity of enhanced vigilance on possibilities of financing terrorism.