Wetsvoorstel strafuitsluitingsgrond humanitaire hulpverleners en journalisten

Reactie

Vraag1

As an academic resident in the Netherlands who regularly conducts research in the Middle East on political science and the Women Peace and Security Agenda I am writing to request that the exclusion clause be extended to include academic researchers. It is essential that the scientific community retains access to communities that in most cases are subjugated by organizations that may rely on terrorist activities to maintain control of territory. Without continued access to these populations, there is a significant risk that global and Dutch scientific understanding of what occurs in these communities will remain invisible. Journalists and humanitarian organizations will not maintain interest in the political and social dynamics to the same extent as academics who will be searching for a deeper level of understanding. This is understandable as it is not the job of non-scientific staff to pursue research to this level. However, as such it is critical that scientific staff are able to retain access without fear of punishment. Without access to these populations we risk depleting our understanding of how they think and operate. This kind of research provides critically important information that can assist policymakers in their decisions.

The following groups should also be listed as exclusions: peace building organizations, development organizations and women’s rights organisations. They implement the Women Peace and Security Agenda which is critical in these territories as women are the primary victims of human rights abuses in these circumstances.

More broadly I would like to point out that global definitions of terrorism are highly disputed and politicised with the UN itself unable to agree on a definition. Groups are regularly placed on and then taken off list of 'designated terrorists'. As such, this law in general is naive and unworkable given the lack of agreement on what constitutes terrorism, and the transient nature of terrorism designation. Furthermore, states run by organizations or involving individuals who have been designated terrorists in the West present an additional problem, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. How does this law relate to the government there which is dominated by a group - Hizbullah - that is designated a terrorist. Does this mean that any independent citizen resident or holidaying in Lebanon will be regarded as breaking the law?