Envoy emphasises strong opposition to terrorism

A sustained campaign of terrorism over the past 15 years had had a very negative effect on Uganda, preventing it from surpassing an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.5 per cent, Ugandan envoy Fred Byendeza told a UN General Assembly debate on international terrorism on Thursday, 4 October. For 15 years, he said, Uganda had been facing terrorism by elements who used tactics such as bombing and maiming of civilians. Byendeza said he was encouraged to hear Sudan tell the Assembly that it would no longer allow its territory to be a haven for terrorist groups or individuals.

Acts such as the 11 September suicide attacks on the US created terror in every society, endangered lives, undermined people’s well-being, and constituted a threat to international peace and security, according to Byendeza. Uganda had already enacted laws making the aiding, financing, or supporting of terrorism punishable by life imprisonment, and would now take steps to implement all the measures called for in Security Council resolution 1373 [which followed the terrorist attacks on the US], he said. Uganda was determined to work with the international community and become party to all relevant conventions and instruments to strengthen the legal framework for international cooperation in fighting terrorism, Byendeza added.

A Suppression of Terrorism Bill 2001 was on Thursday tabled before the Ugandan parliament, and has been passed to its committee on internal affairs for scrutiny, the government-owned 'New Vision' reported on Friday. Among other things, the bill is aimed at imposing tough sentences for terrorism (including a mandatory death sentence for anyone found guilty of terrorism), giving the High Court jurisdiction to try terrorist-related offences committed within or outside the country, and giving officers extraordinary powers of surveillance against suspects in terrorist-related investigations. It also proposes that it should be a criminal offence for any party who knows of terrorist acts or planning not to report them.