Speaker urges parliaments to review counter-terrorism legislation, government policies

Vienna, Sept. 9 (BNA): Speaker of the Representatives Council, Fawzia bint Abdullah Zainal, has affirmed the need for parliaments and legislative councils in the world to review anti-terrorism legislation as well as policies undertaken by the governments in this respect. She noted the importance for clear-cut parliamentary stances and resolutions against the terrorist groups and to harmonize legislation with the changing nature of terrorism. Addressing the First Global Parliamentary Summit on Counter-Terrorism, which was held today in the Austrian capital, Vienna, and organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, the Representatives Council Speaker said the Kingdom of Bahrain is working on implementing the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to prepare a new and comprehensive draft law to combat the discourse of hatred, extremism and disdain of religions. She stressed keenness to promote moderation, tolerance, peace and dialogue between religions, cultures and civilisations. The Representatives Council Speaker chaired the parliamentary delegation participating in the summit which comprised Shura Council First Deputy Chairman Jamal Mohammed Fakhro, Representatives Council First Deputy Chairperson Abdulnabi Salman and Shura Council Second Deputy Chairman Jamila Ali Salman. The Representatives Council Speaker cast light in her speech on Bahrain’s counter-terrorism experience which consists in preventing the formation of any social incubator that provides a fertile environment for extremist ideas to grow, fighting terrorism-feeding ideologies and adjusting the religious discourse to foster good values. She said Bahrain has accorded, as part of its comprehensive counter-terrorism vision, an importance to developing educational curricula for youngsters and besieging all forms of funding terrorism. She noted that the kingdom took a pioneering step in passing legislation to protect the community from terrorist acts, issued an advanced decree to ban and fight money laundering and funding terrorism and issued another law related to cybercrimes. The Representatives Council Speaker noted that dialogue between the representatives of parliaments offers a good opportunity to boost their role and facilitate the exchange of information with regard to combating terrorism in order to ensure a secure future free of extremist ideas. She noted the need for new legislation in tune with the changing nature of terrorism. She also urged more regional and international cooperation in countering terrorism and to achieve cyber security as a preemptive measure to prevent electronic attacks and using social media websites to promote the discourse of hatred, extremism and the recruitment of terrorists. The parliamentary delegation took part in the inaugural session of the First Global Parliamentary Summit on Counter-Terrorism, which included speeches by Speakers of the Austrian parliament and IPU as well as officials from the UN. They also attended the discussion sessions held as part of the summit.