Terrorist Groups—United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has “added four organizations to its list of terrorist groups on Monday.”^[1] The inclusions are the first conducted “under new legislation which makes it illegal to glorify acts of terrorism.”^[2] To this point, the home secretary could only ban groups if the groups were “directly involved in terrorism.”^[3]

Two of the groups are UK-based—Al Ghurabaa and the The Saved Sect—which are believed to be “splinter groups” of Al-Muhajiroun.^[4] Al-Muhajiroun was dissolved in October 2004 and its leader, Omar Bakri Mouhammad, left the United Kingdom and moved to Lebanon; he is barred from returning.^[5] Al Ghurabaa and the The Saved Sect came to prominence “when they were named as organizers of the protest marches outside the Danish embassy in February over publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.”^[6]

In addition to the two UK-based groups, “the government also outlawed TAK, which stands for Teyrebazen Azadiya Kurdistan,” better know as the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks.^[7] TAK has “claimed responsibility for a string of bomb attacks” in Turkey over the last year, and it is believed that the group has associations with Kurdish guerrillas.^[8]

The fourth group which has been added to the list is the Baluchistan Liberation Army, which takes its name from “the poorest and most thinly populated of Pakistan’s four provinces.”^[9] The group is fighting for an “independent nation encompassing areas in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran dominated by the Baluch ethnic group.”^[10]

The Terrorism Act of 2006 amends section 3 of the Terrorism Act of 2000 by inserting a new subsection 5A immediately after subsection 5.^[11] Under this amendment, an organization will be found to have promoted or encouraged terrorism if it has glorified the commission or preparation of acts or terrorism.^[12] Glorification includes “any form of praise or celebration.”^[13] Section 3 is amended further by inserting a subsection 6, which makes it clear that an organization cannot get around the proscription, simply by changing its name.^[14]

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[1] Katherine Baldwin, Four Groups Banned Under Anti-Terrorism Law, Reuters, Jul. 17, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Alan Travis, Reid Uses New Laws to Ban Two Islamist Groups for “Glorifying Terrorism,” The Guardian, Jul. 18, 2006.
[4] Baldwin, supra note 1.
[5] Id.
[6] Travis, supra note 3.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] See Terrorism Act 2006 (c.11) s. 21 (UK).
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.