27816 te sat 2009 internet - europol2009 1. foreword by the director 5 2. executive summary 6...

2009

EU TERRORISM SITUATION AND TREND REPORT

TE-SAT

TE-SAT2009

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TE-SAT 2009EU TERRORISM SITUATION AND TREND REPORT

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems – without the permission of Europol.

Photos on the cover: Kristian Berlin, Sweden; Jean-François Guiot, France;Peter Pobeska, Slovakia. Europol would like to thank the photographers for their consent to use the photographs in Europol publications.

EuropolCorporate CommunicationsPostbox 908502509 LW The HagueNetherlands

Internet: www.europol.europa.eu

© European Police Office, 2009

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1. Foreword by the Director 5

2. Executive summary 6

3. TE-SAT 2009: introduction and methodology 8

3.1. Types of terrorism 9

3.2. Data collection 9

3.3. TE-SAT data analysis 10

4. General overview of the situation in the EU 2008 11

4.1. Terrorist attacks 11

4.2. Arrested suspects 12

4.3. Terrorist activities 13

4.4. Convictions and penalties 14

5. Islamist terrorism 17




5.4. Situation outside the EU 21

6. Ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorism 25




7. Left-wing and anarchist terrorism 31


7.2. Arrested suspects and terrorist activities 32

7.3. Extremism 33

8. Right-wing terrorism 35

8.1. Extremism 35

9. Single issue terrorism 37

9.1. Terrorist attacks and arrested suspects 37

9.2. Extremism 37

10. Trends 39

Annexes 41

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TE-SAT2009

4TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Number of failed, foiled or successful attacks and number of arrested suspects 2006-2008 11

Figure 2: Number of failed, foiled or successful attacks in 2008 per member state and per affiliation 12

Figure 3: Number of arrested suspects in 2008 per member state and per affiliation 13

Figure 4: Number of individuals tried in 2008 for terrorism charges per member state 14

Figure 5: Number of verdicts for terrorism charges in 2008 per member state and per affiliation 15

Figure 6: Number of verdicts, convictions and acquittals in 2008 per member state 16

Figure 7: Average penalty per individual convicted in 2008 16

Figure 8: Number of failed, foiled or successful attacks and number of arrested suspects for Islamist terrorism in member states in 2008 18

Figure 9: Number of failed, foiled or successful attacks and number of arrested suspects for separatist terrorism in member states in 2008 25

Figure 10: Number of failed, foiled or successful attacks and number of arrested suspects for separatist terrorism in member states 2006-2008 26

Figure 11: Number of Taldes Y / SEGI attacks and ETA in Spain 2006-2008 27

Figure 12: Type of targets in attacks by Corsican and Basque separatist terrorists in France and Basque separatist terrorists in Spain 2006-2008 28

Figure 13: Number of failed, foiled or successful attacks and number of arrested suspects for left-wing and anarchist terrorism in member states in 2008 31

Figure 14: Left-wing and anarchist terrorist attacks by target 2006-2008 32

The European Union Terrorism Situation andTrend Report, better known as the TE-SAT, aimsto provide law enforcement officials, policymak-ers and the general public with a fact-basedunderstanding with regard to terrorism in theEuropean Union (EU). In addition to the presen-tation of facts, it seeks to identify trends in thedevelopment of this phenomenon.

The TE-SAT is a public report produced annual-ly by Europol on the basis of information pro-vided and verified by the competent law-enforcement authorities in the member statesof the EU. In this respect, it is an awareness andreference document for anyone interested inthe development of terrorism and related phe-nomena in the EU. The TE-SAT reports are avail-able on the Internet at Europol’s website(http://www.europol.europa.eu).

Terrorists aim at intimidating the people, com-pelling states to comply with their demands,or destabilising or destroying the fundamentalpolitical, constitutional, economic or socialstructures of a country or an organisation.Terrorism is the attempt to achieve politicalgoals with the use or the threat of violence.

In the EU, groups of people of very differentorientation continue to rely on terrorism as atactic. But terrorist acts and activities on the ter-ritory of the EU can also be triggered by devel-opments in other parts of the world.

Terrorism continues to impact on the lives of EUcitizens, both inside and outside of the EU. In2008, four people, including a law enforcementofficer, died in the EU as a result of terroristattacks that were carried out by ETA in Spain.

I wish to extend special thanks to the memberstates and Eurojust for their continuing contri-butions of both quantitative and qualitativedata, which are essential to the annual produc-tion of the TE-SAT.

Finally, I would like to thank all members ofthe Advisory Board, consisting of the ‘Troika’(EU Council Presidencies of France, the CzechRepublic and Sweden), Head of Europol NationalUnits, Eurojust and the EU Joint SituationCentre (SitCen), who have demonstrated,throughout the year, their support and valuablecontributions to the 2009 version of the TE-SATproject.

1. FOREWORD BY THE DIRECTOR5

TE-SAT2009

Director of Europol

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The European Union Terrorism Situation andTrend Report (TE-SAT) seeks to establish basicfacts and figures regarding terrorist attacks,arrests and activities in the European Union(EU). The TE-SAT is based mainly on informationcontributed by the EU member states resultingfrom criminal investigations into terroristoffences. It summarises the nature and volumeof terrorism and related phenomena in the EUby presenting facts and figures on terroristattacks and arrests, and describing trends iden-tified over the period between 2006 and 2008.

To some member states the threat from Islamistas well as ethno-nationalist and separatist terror-ism remains high. However, the overall numberof terrorist attacks in all member states in 2008,excluding the UK,1 decreased by 24 percent incomparison to 2007. For 2008 seven memberstates reported a total of 515 failed, foiled or suc-cessfully perpetrated terrorist attacks. Thirteenmember states arrested a total of 1009 individu-als for terrorism. The majority of arrests were car-ried out on suspicion of membership of a terror-ist organisation. Other reasons for arrest wereattack-related offences, propaganda, financingof terrorism, facilitation and training.

Illegal sources for the funding of terrorismappear to cover a wide range of criminal activ-ities, spanning from fraud and counterfeit toburglary, kidnapping and extortion. Islamistand non-Islamist terrorist groups use differentmethods of financing. Islamist groups generatemore money than non-Islamist terrorist groups.The majority of the persons arrested on suspi-

cion of financing of Islamist terrorism wereinvolved in fraud. Regarding separatist and left-wing terrorism, the majority of individuals ar-rested on suspicion of financing of terrorismwere accused of extortion. The existence ofalternative remittance systems greatly faci-litates avoiding detection when transferringterrorism funds.

The use of the Internet has become pivotal in alltypes of terrorism. It offers anonymity in theexchange of information, making it easy forthese organisations to communicate and spreadpropaganda.

The number of women arrested for terrorism-related offences remains low. Nevertheless,women play an important role as associates insupporting terrorist organisations. The tasksassigned to women in terrorist organisations dif-fer from those of men. Women are more involvedin propaganda, facilitation, support and financialactivities, whereas men are more involved inattack-related activities. The percentage of wo-men among the arrested is lowest with Islamistterrorism and highest with left-wing terrorism.

During 2008, 359 individuals were tried on ter-rorism charges in the member states in a total of187 proceedings. Of 384 verdicts which werepronounced in 2008, 50 percent were related toIslamist terrorism, and 39 percent to separatistterrorism. The defendants were acquitted in 29percent of the verdicts. Most, if not all, convic-tions were related to terrorist offences thatoccurred before 2008.

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1 The UK data for 2006 and 2007 is not comparable to that of 2008, due to the fact that the UK could not provideEuropol with comprehensive quantitative data for the TE-SAT 2009.

Islamist terrorism is still perceived as being thebiggest threat worldwide, despite the fact thatthe EU only faced one Islamist terrorist attack in2008. This bomb attack took place in the UK. Thenumber of arrests relating to Islamist terrorismgives an indication of the amount of lawenforcement activities. The number of personsassociated with ‘home-grown’ Islamist terroristgroups is rising in the EU. The threat emanatingfrom Islamist terrorism inside the EU is linked, toa certain extent, to the developments in conflictzones and politically instable countries, such asNorth Africa, the Sahel region, Iraq, Somalia,Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, but also India.Afghanistan and Pakistan seem to have replacedIraq as preferred destinations for volunteerswishing to engage in armed conflict. EU–basedsuspects continue providing logistical supportto Islamist terrorist groups and networks basedoutside the EU.

Separatist terrorism remains the terrorism areawhich affects the EU most. This includes Basqueseparatist terrorism in Spain and France, andCorsican separatist terrorism in France. The num-ber of separatist terrorist attacks decreased from532 in 2007 to 397 in 2008, a figure that is com-

parable to 2006. The vast majority of these ter-rorist attacks were executed in France and Spain.Past contacts between ETA and the FARC illus-trate the fact that also separatist terrorist organ-isations seek cooperation partners outside theEU on the basis of common interests. In the UK,dissident Irish republican groups, principally theRIRA and the CIRA, and other paramilitary groupsmay continue to engage in crime and violence.

The total number of left-wing terrorist attacks inthe EU has risen in 2008. Left-wing and anarchistgroups were responsible for 28 attacks; 58 indi-viduals were arrested during 2008. In Greece, theuse of violence by the Epanastatikos Agonas orRevolutionary Struggle has escalated and has thepotential for further escalation.

Right-wing terrorist attacks were not reportedin 2008. The majority of member states con-sider these activities as right-wing extremism.Several arrested right-wing extremists wereacting individually and were not linked to anorganisation.

Animal rights extremists dominated the illegalactivities of single issue extremism.

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3. TE-SAT 2009: INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY

The EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report(TE-SAT) was established in the aftermath of the11 September 2001 attacks in the United Statesof America as a reporting mechanism from theTerrorism Working Party (TWP) of the Council ofthe EU to the European Parliament. The contentsof the TE-SAT reports are based on informationsupplied by the member states of the EU andinformation drawn from open sources.

In accordance with ENFOPOL 65 (8196/2/06),the TE-SAT is produced annually to provide anoverview of the phenomenon of terrorism in theEU from a law enforcement perspective. It seeksto establish basic facts and figures regardingterrorist attacks and arrests in the EU. The reportalso aims at presenting trends that can bededuced from the information available.

The TE-SAT is a situation report which describesand analyses the outward manifestations ofterrorism, i.e. terrorist attacks and activities. Itneither attempts to analyse the root causes ofterrorism nor to assess the threat posed by ter-rorism.

Furthermore, the TE-SAT does not assess theimpact or effectiveness of counter-terrorismpolicies and law enforcement measures taken,despite the fact that they form an importantpart of the phenomenon.

The current methodology for producing thereport has been developed by Europol in 2006in consultation with the Advisory Board, whichat the time included representatives of the

Finnish and German Presidencies of the EUCouncil. It was endorsed by the Justice andHome Affairs Council on 1 and 2 June 2006. Thisedition of TE-SAT has been produced by Europolin accordance with the 2009 Advisory Board,composed of representatives of the present,past and future EU Presidencies, i.e. the CzechRepublic, France and Sweden (the ‘Troika’), alongwith SitCen (the EU Joint Situation Centre),2

Europol and Eurojust.

The TE-SAT is an unclassified document anddoes not contain confidential information orinformation that could jeopardise ongoinginvestigations.

For the preparation of this report, Europol col-lected qualitative and quantitative data on ter-rorist offences in the EU and data on arrests ofpeople on suspicion of involvement in thoseoffences, provided or confirmed by memberstates. Similar data were collected, when avail-able, of offences in which EU interests wereaffected outside of the EU. Eurojust has con-tributed data on convictions and penalties forterrorist offences in EU member states.

Included as ‘arrests’ are those judicial arrestswarranted by a prosecutor or investigatingjudge, whereby a person is detained for ques-tioning on suspicion of committing a criminaloffence for which detention is permitted bynational law. That the person may subsequentlybe provisionally released or placed under housearrest does not impact on the calculation of thenumber of arrests.

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2 SitCen monitors and assesses events and situations worldwide with a focus on potential crisis regions, terrorismand proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

What the term ‘terrorist offences’ include is indi-cated in Article 1 of the Council FrameworkDecision of 13 June 2002 on combating terror-ism (2002/475/JHA), which all member stateshave implemented in their national legislation.3

This Framework Decision specifies that terroristoffences are intentional acts which, given theirnature or context, may seriously damage a coun-try or an international organisation when com-mitted with the aim of

• seriously intimidating a population, or

• unduly compelling a government or interna-tional organisation to perform or abstainfrom performing an act, or

• seriously destabilising or destroying the fun-damental political, constitutional, economicor social structures of a country or an inter-national organisation.4

In cases in which the wording of Article 1 of theFramework Decision leaves room for interpreta-tion, the TE-SAT 2009 respects the memberstates’ definitions of terrorist offences on theirterritories. At times, it can be difficult to assesswhether a criminal event is to be regarded as anact of ‘terrorism’ or as an act of ‘extremism’.Contrary to terrorism, not all forms of extremismsanction the use of violence. Nevertheless,extremism as a phenomenon may be related toterrorism and exhibit similar behavioural pat-terns. Therefore, the TE-SAT 2009 mentionscriminal acts with the potential to seriouslydestabilise or destroy the fundamental political,constitutional, economic or social structures of acountry, when they were reported by the mem-ber states as extremism, in an effort to provide aclearer picture of the phenomenon and its rela-tion to terrorism. However, these cases were notconsidered in the statistical data of this report,which exclusively reflect incidents reported asterrorism by the member states.

3.1. Types of terrorismThe TE-SAT categorises terrorist organisationsby their source of motivation. However, manygroups have a mixture of motivating ideologies,

although usually one ideology or motivationdominates. The choice of categories used in theTE-SAT reflects the current situation in the EU, asreported by the member states. The categoriesare not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Islamist terrorism is perpetrated by individuals,groups, networks or organisations which evokeIslam to justify their actions.

Ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorist groups,such as Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) or BasqueFatherland and Liberty, seek international re-cognition and political self-determination. Theyare motivated by nationalism, ethnicity and/orreligion.

Left-wing terrorist groups, such as the DevrimciHalk Kurtulus Partisi / Cephesi (DHKP-C) or Revo-lutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front, seek tochange the entire political, social and economicsystem of a state according to an extremist left-ist model. Their ideology is often Marxist-Leninist. The agenda of anarchist terroristgroups is usually revolutionary, anti-capitalistand anti-authoritarian. Not all member statesdistinguish between activities of left-wing andanarchist terrorist groups in their contributions.For this reason, both categories are discussed inthe same chapter of this report.

Right-wing terrorist groups seek to change theentire political, social and economic system onan extremist right-wing model. The ideologicalroots of European right-wing extremism andterrorism can usually be traced back to NationalSocialism.

Single issue terrorism is violence committedwith the desire to change a specific policy orpractice within a target society. The term isgenerally used to describe animal rights andenvironmentalist terrorist groups.

3.2. Data collectionFor the TE-SAT 2009, terrorist activities are notlonger part of the quantitative data collectionbut have moved to the qualitative data collec-tion. This amendment of the methodology has

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3 See annex 3.4 See annex 2.

been made in consultation with the AdvisoryBoard of the TE-SAT 2009.

As was the case for the 2007 and 2008 editionsof the TE-SAT, the UK was not able to provideEuropol with comprehensive quantitative datafor the TE-SAT 2009. Nevertheless, as for the TE-SAT 2007 and 2008, the total number of attacksand arrests under the UK Terrorism Act 2000without specification of the type of terrorismwere contributed. For the TE-SAT 2009, thearrests and attacks in Northern Ireland werecontributed for the first time, which resulted in ahigher total number of arrests and attacks in theUK than in previous years.

The EU Council Decision on the exchange of infor-mation and cooperation concerning terroristoffences of 20 September 2005 (2005/671/JHA)obliges the member states to collect all relevantinformation concerning and resulting from crimi-nal investigations conducted by their law enforce-ment authorities with respect to terrorist offencesand sets out the conditions under which thisinformation should be sent to Europol. Europolprocessed the data and the result was cross-checked with the member states and, in case ofdivergences or gaps, corrected and comple-mented and then validated by the memberstates.

Eurojust also collected data on the basis of theaforementioned EU Council Decision, accordingto which the member states are equally obligedto collect all relevant information concerningprosecutions and convictions for terroristoffences and send it to Eurojust. Eurojust cross-checked the collected data with the memberstates and, in case of divergences or gaps, this

data was also corrected and complementedand then validated. If convictions that tookplace in 2008 were appealed but came to a con-clusion before the end of the year, Eurojustcounted the proceedings as one. The arrestsand convictions may be related to terroristoffences that took place before 2008 and, conse-quently, may not be related to activities andattacks referred to in the TE-SAT 2009.

Ten member states reported information onconcluded trials to Eurojust: Belgium, Denmark,France, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Italy,the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

3.3. TE-SAT data analysisThe TE-SAT is both a situation and a trend re-port. A trend can be defined as ‘a general ten-dency in the way a situation is changing ordeveloping’. The TE-SAT 2009 presents a trendanalysis regarding the period 2006 to 2008.

Although the member states continue to reporton terrorist attacks and arrests in a varyingdegree of elaboration, it can generally be statedthat the data contributed by the member statesfor 2008 was of high quality. The analysis of thequantitative data, however, was impaired bythe fact that the UK was not in the position toproduce statistics in similar detail as other mem-ber states have done.

Gaps in the data collected by Europol may bedue to the fact that the investigations into theterrorist attacks or activities concerned are stillongoing. In addition, it is a well-known fact thatterrorist activities are not always prosecuted asterrorist offences.

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4. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION IN THE EU 2008

4.1. Terrorist attacks

In 2008 seven member states reported a total of515 failed, foiled or successfully perpetratedattacks. For this edition of the TE-SAT, the number

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5 If the UK data is included, the total number of terrorist attacks in the EU still decreased by 12 percent from 2007to 2008.

Figure 1: Number of failed, foiled or successfulattacks and number of arrested suspects2006-2008

Key findings

■ During 2008, 515 terrorist attacks were carried out in the member states; 1009individuals were arrested for terrorism-related offences.

■ The majority of the suspects were arrestedfor membership of a terrorist organisation.

■ Islamist and non-Islamist terrorist groupsuse different methods of financing. Islamistterrorist groups generate more money thannon-Islamist terrorist groups.

■ The number of women arrested for terrorism-related offences remains lowwithin the EU. Nevertheless, women play animportant role as associates in supportingterrorist organisations.

■ Modern communication techniques are a facilitating factor for all types of terroristand extremist organisations. Several terrorist and extremist organisations runtheir own websites in different languages.

■ During 2008, 359 individuals were tried on terrorism charges in the member statesin a total of 187 proceedings. Twenty-nine percent of the verdicts were acquittals.

of terrorist attacks reported by the UK included,for the first time, terrorist attacks committed inNorthern Ireland. Therefore, this figure cannot becompared to the previous years. For the rest ofthe member states, the total number of attacksdecreased by 24 percent from 2007 to 2008.5 Thelarge majority of the attacks, i.e. 90 percent or441 attacks, were carried out successfully. Theattacks were mostly arsons and bombings. Only10 percent of the attacks were claimed, while twothirds were attributed to a terrorist organisation.

With regard to Islamist terrorism, one attack wasreported by the UK.

Attacks Arrests

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2006 2007 2008

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4.2. Arrested suspects

In 2008, 1009 individuals were arrested in themember states for terrorism-related offences.The number of arrests reported by the UK for2008 included the arrests related to terrorism inNorthern Ireland, which were not included inprevious years. For this reason, no comparisoncan be made. For the rest of the member states,however, the total number of arrests decreasedby 11 percent from 2007 to 2008.7

An overview of all contributed attacks andarrests for 2006, 2007 and 2008 can be found inannexes 4 and 5.

The TE-SAT provides a separate overview foreach of the different types of terrorism. In thisgeneral overview, differences or similarities ofthese different types are pointed out.

The average age of the arrested suspects is 35years.8 As in previous years, suspects arrestedfor Islamist terrorism are older than thosearrested for separatist and left-wing terrorism.The member states reported that individualsinvolved in right-wing extremism are oftenyounger than 30.

The number of separatist terrorist attacksdecreased from 532 in 2007 to 397 in 2008, a fig-ure that is comparable to 2006. The vast majori-ty of these terrorist attacks were committed inFrance and Spain. The overall number of report-ed casualties and fatalities is limited. However,four persons were killed in attacks by ETA in2008.

Left-wing and anarchist groups were responsi-ble for 28 attacks; 58 individuals were arrestedduring 2008. In line with their national law, anumber of member states reported activities byleft-wing and anarchist groups as extremismand not as terrorism.

No attacks classified as right-wing terrorism andno arrests for right-wing terrorist offences wererecorded during 2008. All activities were report-ed as right-wing extremism.

France reported five single issue terroristattacks for 2008 and three arrests related tothese attacks. Some member states reportedalso on single issue activities. The majority ofthese activities were linked to animal rightsextremism and environmental issues.

6 The UK provided Europol with information on a total number of 74 attacks in 2008, without specification of thetype of terrorism. Unlike previous editions of the TE-SAT, this number also includes attacks carried out in NorthernIreland.

7 If the UK arrests are included, the total number of arrests in 2008 is still 4 percent lower than in 2007.8 This calculation is based on data of 753 arrests in the member states, with the exception of the UK data.

Member State Islamist SeparatistLeft

WingRight Wing

Single Issue

Not Specified

Total 2008

Austria 0 5 0 0 0 1 6

France 0 137 0 0 5 5 147

Greece 0 0 13 0 0 1 14

Ireland (Republic of) 0 2 0 0 0 0 2

Italy 0 0 5 0 0 4 9

Spain 0 253 10 0 0 0 263

UK – – – – – – 74

Total 2008 0 397 28 0 5 11 515

Figure 2: Number of failed, foiled or successful attacks in 2008 per member state and per affiliation6

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The majority of arrests were carried out on sus-picion of membership of a terrorist organisa-tion. The activities of which the remainder of thesuspects were accused include attack-relatedoffences, propaganda, financing of terrorism,facilitation and training.

4.3. Terrorist activities

Financing of terrorism

No terrorist activities can take place without theavailability of funds. All terrorist organisationsneed to raise funds, regardless how small theproceeds. Recent research at Europol, based oncontributions by several member states and ondata contributed for previous editions of the TE-SAT, showed that Islamist and non-Islamist ter-rorist groups use different methods of financingand that Islamist groups generate more moneythan non-Islamist groups.

Illegal sources for the funding of terrorismappear to cover a wide range of criminal activi-ties, spanning from fraud and counterfeit to bur-glary, kidnapping and extortion. The majority ofthe persons arrested on suspicion of financing ofIslamist terrorism were involved in fraud.

Regarding separatist and left-wing terrorism, themajority of individuals arrested on suspicion offinancing of terrorism were accused of extortion.

Alongside criminal activities for funding, fundsare also derived from legitimate sources. Somecharitable organisations have proven to be vul-nerable to being misused by individuals who mis-appropriate voluntary contributions destined forgenuine purposes for terrorist purposes.The exis-tence of alternative remittance systems helpsto avoid compliance with national and interna-tional identification and notification regulations,thereby allowing funds that have been generatedto be transferred from one country, in or outsidethe EU, to another country and from one terroristcell to another without detection.These methodsare used frequently by Islamist terrorists.

InternetModern communication techniques are a facili-tating factor for all types of terrorist and extrem-ist organisations. High-speed Internet access,new and low-cost communication tools, anony-mity and a low level of regulation make it easyfor these organisations to communicate andspread propaganda and, thus, are instrumental


WingRight Wing

Single Issue

Not Specified

Total 2008

Belgium 17 1 4 0 0 0 22

Cyprus 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

Denmark 3 0 0 0 0 0 3

France 78 283 37 0 3 1 402

Germany 8 1 3 0 0 0 12

Ireland (Republic of) 3 49 0 0 0 0 52

Italy 9 35 7 0 0 2 53

Lithuania 0 2 0 0 0 0 2

Slovakia 1 1 0 0 0 0 2

Spain 61 129 6 0 0 1 197

Sweden 3 0 0 0 0 0 3

the Netherlands 4 0 0 0 0 0 4

UK - - - - - - 256

Total 2008 187 501 58 0 3 4 1009

Figure 3: Number of arrested suspects in 2008 per member state and per affiliation9

9 The UK provided Europol with information on a total of 256 arrests in 2008, without specifying the affiliationof those arrested. Unlike previous editions of the TE-SAT, this number also includes arrests carried out in NorthernIreland.

for attracting sympathisers and recruiting newmembers.

Several terrorist and extremist organisations runtheir own websites in different languages. In2008 the number of Islamist extremist websitesin western languages increased, in particularwebsites and weblogs on which translations ofstatements by Islamist terrorist organisationsare published. Other terrorist groups prefer tospread their statements, videos and publica-tions via password-protected or open Internetforums. There are indications that some terroristorganisations, in particular Islamist terroristgroups, have started expanding their propagan-da efforts to specific audiences, defined by lan-guage or ethnic affiliation, in addition to tryingto reach the wider general public.

Websites and Internet forums are often used toclaim attacks. Reports and commentaries, inwritten form or as audio or video speeches, areposted on websites in a bid to counter the pre-vailing opinions of the media coverage onevents related to terrorism.

Left-wing, anarchist, right-wing and single issueextremist organisations use their websites notonly to spread their ideology and make propa-ganda but also to announce their activities(demonstrations, concerts, etc.).This informationis generally available via a secure access formembers only.

Several websites are hosted on servers locatedoutside the EU. Their owners and webmasterscannot be identified easily.

Role of womenThe number of women arrested for terrorism-related offences remains low within the EU. Thetasks assigned to women in terrorist organisa-tions appear to differ from those of men.Womenare more involved in propaganda, facilitation,support and financial activities, whereas menare more involved in attack-related activities.

The percentage of women among the arresteddepends to a noticeable extent on the type ofterrorism. Between 2006 and 2008, female sus-

pects have constituted, in average, 7 percent ofIslamist terrorists arrested; 15 percent in case ofseparatist terrorists; and 23 percent for left-wingterrorists.

Nevertheless, women play an important role asassociates in supporting terrorist organisations(translating texts on websites, providing theirnames for subscriber registration, acting ascouriers, spreading propaganda, arranging mar-riages of convenience, etc.). Their contributionshould not be underestimated.

Outside the EU, with regard to Islamist terrorism,the number of female suicide bombers increa-sed again during 2008. Female suicide bombersare continuing to carry out attacks in Iraq andincreasingly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

4.4. Convictions and penalties

In the course of 2008, 359 individuals weretried on terrorism charges in the memberstates in a total of 187 proceedings. Most, if notall, convictions were related to terroristoffences that occurred before 2008. Of the 359individuals, 39 were women. The majority ofthese women were tried for offences related toseparatist terrorism.

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Member State 2006 2007 2008

Belgium 24 5 12

Denmark 0 11 16

France 21 54 75

Germany 16 7 10

Greece 0 17 0

Ireland (Republic of) 0 6 9

Italy 0 47 25

Spain 154 231 141

Sweden 3 0 1

the Netherlands 20 8 12

UK 3 33 59

Total 241 419 360

Figure 4: Number of individuals tried in 2008 for terrorism charges per member state10

10 One individual was tried both in Spain and Italy and has thus been counted twice in Figure 4, thereby bringingthe total for 2008 to 360.

In 2008 the number of individuals tried for ter-rorism charges increased, as compared to 2007,in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, theRepublic of Ireland, the Netherlands and in the

UK. Spain saw a large decrease in individualsbeing prosecuted and tried.

The data concerning 2006 were incomplete as aresult of underreporting of some memberstates.11 Therefore, a comparison can only bemade between 2007 and 2008.

As in 2007, trials involving large groups ofdefendants took place. This was the case inFrance, where in one case of separatist terrorism18 individuals were tried. In Belgium, five mem-bers of a group related to the first Europeanfemale suicide bomber were tried. The five menwere found guilty of being part of a Brussels-based terrorist cell that provided assistance tothe Belgian woman who on 9 November 2005drove a vehicle-borne improvised explosivedevice (VBIED) into an American convoy in Iraq.Their assistance had consisted in organisinglogistics for her travel to Iraq and bringing herand her husband into contact with an Islamistterrorist group connected to al-Qaeda inMesopotamia. The court sentenced the fiveindividuals to up to ten years’ imprisonment. On27 June 2008, the court of appeal reduced thesentences of three of them and acquitted theother two. In a related trial at the Paris magis-trate’s court on 11 December 2008, four men

were found guilty of having been involved in anIslamist terrorist recruitment ring linked to thisBelgian cell. They were sentenced to prisonterms of three to six years.

The court proceedings resulted in 384 verdicts,of which 50 percent were related to Islamist ter-rorism and 39 percent were related to separatistterrorism. The number of verdicts does not cor-relate directly to the number of suspects triedon terrorism charges as some suspects weretried for more than one offence in separatecourt proceedings (e.g. in Denmark, theNetherlands, Spain and the UK).

In the UK, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands,the vast majority of verdicts were linked toIslamist terrorism. For France and Spain, themajority of the verdicts were linked to separatistterrorism. The verdict in Sweden was in relationto a sentence imposed in 1989 for a series ofbombings in Copenhagen and Amsterdam in1985, transforming a life sentence into 30 years’imprisonment.

Of the 384 verdicts, 272 were convictions; 112 or29 percent were acquittals. Of the 39 womentried for terrorism charges, 13 or 33 percentwere acquitted.

Court proceedings in relation to Islamist terror-ism had, as in 2007, the highest acquittal rate (34percent).

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11 TE-SAT 2008, page 13.


WingRight Wing

Not Specified

Total

Belgium 5 7 0 0 0 12

Denmark 10 0 0 0 7 17

France 31 44 0 0 0 75

Germany 8 2 0 0 0 10

Ireland (Republic of) 0 9 0 0 0 9

Italy 20 3 2 0 0 25

Spain 49 85 25 0 3 162

Sweden 1 0 0 0 0 1

the Netherlands 13 0 0 0 0 13

UK 53 5 0 2 0 60

Total 190 155 27 2 10 384

Figure 5: Number of verdicts for terrorism charges in 2008 per member state and per affiliation

12 Some individuals received more than one verdict in different court proceedings. In the Netherlands, one indi-vidual was acquitted in one and convicted in another trial on different charges in 2008. In Denmark, a verdictwas issued against an organisation. For these reasons, the total number of verdicts differs from the number ofindividuals in the previous figures. In Italy, the Supreme Court confirmed the conviction of one individual for hisconnection to international Islamist terrorism to eight years’ imprisonment, while in Spain the Supreme Courtconfirmed, in July 2008, the acquittal of the same individual for charges of involvement in the Madrid bombing.

13 For the purpose of this overview, sentences exceeding 40 years have been counted as 40 years. In one conclud-ed trial in the UK, the pronouncement of the sentence for three convicted individuals has been postponed to2009 and could thus not be included in the calculation.

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In Belgium, a trial linked to the DHKP-C is cur-rently under appeal, after the court of cassationreferred the case back to trial.

National security authorities try to prevent anddisrupt acts of terrorism from occurring. Thisexplains the relatively high number of arrestsand the smaller number of persons tried for ter-rorism charges. Judicial authorities, though, haveto find evidentiary support to the charges ofplanning, intent or promotion of terrorism, whichis less tangible than evidence of a successfullyperpetrated terrorist attack and explains thesubstantial numbers of acquittals. Often, sus-pects arrested for terrorism-related offences arelater tried for offences other than terrorism.

In the Republic of Ireland and the UK, life sen-tences were imposed. In the UK, there was anindication of a minimum term to be served,amounting to 32 years in one case and ten yearsin another.

The average length of sentences in Spaindropped to less than twelve years in 2008, com-pared to fourteen years in 2007.

The highest sentence in France was 30 years,imposed on a separatist terrorist who attempt-ed to kill a French gendarme in Lucq de Bearn(France) on 28 November 2001.

Please note that aside from imprisonment,France often imposes a penalty of banishmentfrom its national territory. Also, in some cases afinancial penalty was imposed.

Member State Convicted Acquitted Total Verdicts Acquitted %

Belgium 7 5 12 42

Denmark 11 6 17 35

France 74 1 75 1

Germany 10 0 10 0

Ireland (Republic of) 7 2 9 22

Italy 23 2 25 8

Spain 87 75 162 47

Sweden 1 0 1 0

the Netherlands 7 6 13 46

UK 45 15 60 25

Total 272 112 384 23

Member State 2008 Average Years

Belgium 3

Denmark 5

France 7

Germany 9

Ireland (Republic of) 11

Italy 6

Spain 12

Sweden 30

the Netherlands 6

UK 10

Figure 6: Number of verdicts, convictions and acquittals in 2008 per member state12

Figure 7: Average penalty per individual convicted in 200813

5. ISLAMIST TERRORISM

In 2008 the EU was confronted with one attackrelated to Islamist terrorism. A UK national deto-nated a bomb in a restaurant in the South-Westof England.

There were no further Islamist terrorist attackswithin the EU during 2008. However, there areclear indications that a range of activities relat-ed to Islamist terrorism took place during 2008.This was demonstrated by several arrests relat-ed to attack planning activities by law enforce-ment authorities in Spain, Belgium, France andother countries.

Although the majority of EU member stateshave not been targeted by Islamist terrorists,some report that the perceived threat remainshigh or even estimate that the risk of an attackhas increased for reasons that include militarypresence in Afghanistan or Iraq,14 as illustratedfor example in Germany by threat videos explic-itly naming the country.15 France also considersitself a potential target of Islamist terrorist

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14 Member states with a military presence in Iraq during the whole year or part of 2008 were Bulgaria, the CzechRepublic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and the UK. Apart from Cyprus and Malta, all EU memberstates participated, with more or less troops, in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistanin 2008.

15 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Germany.

Key findings■ In 2008 one bomb attack with Islamist

terrorist background took place in the UK.

■ Arrests made in Spain, Belgium, France and other countries were related to attack planning activities. These plans indicatethat Islamist terrorists aim at causing indiscriminate mass casualties.

■ A number of member states judge thatthey continue to face a high-level threatfrom Islamist terrorism for reasons thatinclude military presence in Iraq orAfghanistan or accusations of anti-Muslimattitudes.

■ In 2008, 187 people were arrested on suspicion of Islamist terrorism. The majorityof arrests took place in France and Spain.Arrested suspects had a variety of backgrounds, including North African,South Asian, Turkish and also European.

■ ‘Home-grown’ terrorism is a cause of concern. A majority of the arrested individuals belonged to small autonomouscells rather than to known terrorist organisations.

■ Islamist recruitment activities have largelybeen driven underground. Radicalisationactivities are noted to have moved from

mosques and other public places intoprivate spaces. Prisons and the Internetcontinue to be locations of concern regarding this phenomenon.

■ Afghanistan and Pakistan seem to havereplaced Iraq as preferred destinations for volunteers wishing to engage in armedconflict.

attacks in the light of statements by terroristgroups referring to the country’s military pres-ence in Afghanistan, but also its history as acolonial power; its support of the presentAlgerian government; and its alleged hostilitytowards Muslims following the law banning thewearing of Muslim headscarf in schools.16

The Netherlands believe that a conceivablethreat from Islamist terrorism continues to existfollowing the release of the film ‘Fitna’.17 The film,produced and disseminated by a Dutch politi-cian, has been interpreted, in the context of thesingle narrative, as proof that the Netherlandsare an active player in an unjustified global waron Islam. Denmark has found itself in a compara-ble situation ever since the publication of car-toons in a Danish newspaper depicting theprophet Muhammad in early 2006.


Bomb attack in the UK

In May 2008, a bomb exploded in a restaurantlocated in a shopping mall in Exeter, South-WestEngland. The device, which consisted of caustic

soda, drain cleaner, kerosene and nails, went offprematurely. In the event, only the attacker him-self was injured.18

The suspect was an apparently vulnerable 22-year-old UK national who had converted toIslam. Acting alone, he was apparently ‘self-radi-calised’ and ‘encouraged’ by literature and othermaterial on the Internet.

In October 2008, the suspect pleaded guilty toattempted murder and preparing an act of ter-rorism. In January 2009, he was jailed for life witha recommendation that he should serve a mini-mum of 18 years.

5.2. Arrested suspectsOf the 1009 persons that, according to informa-tion from the member states, were arrested inthe EU in 2008 on suspicion of involvement interrorism, 187 were arrested in relation toIslamist terrorism. This is a decrease of 7 percentas compared to 2007, following an earlierdecrease of 21 percent from 2006 (257) to 2007(201).19 The majority of the arrests took placeagain in France and Spain, with 78 and 61arrests, respectively.

The number of member states which reportedarrests related to Islamist terrorism decreasedfrom 14 in 2007 to ten in 2008. These wereBelgium, Denmark, France, Germany, theRepublic of Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands,Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

As in 2006 and 2007, the majority of the arrestedsuspects came from North African countries,most notably Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia,although the share of Moroccan and Tunisiancitizens in the numbers of arrests halved as com-pared to 2007. Like for 2007, France reported ahigh number of arrests of French nationals in2008. Other suspects apprehended in France in2008 originated from various EU member states(55 percent), including Belgium, Germany, Spainand the Netherlands, and outside the EU (37percent), such as Pakistan, Afghanistan andTurkey.

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Figure 8: Number of failed, foiled or successfulattacks and number of arrested suspectsfor Islamist terrorism in member states in 2008

16 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: France.17 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: the Netherlands.18 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: UK.19 TE-SAT 2008, page 18.

Suspected membership of a terrorist organisa-tion was by far the most common reason forarrest in relation to Islamist terrorism. In a num-ber of cases, it could be established or inferredthat the suspects were members of terroristorganisations including al-Qaeda in the IslamicMaghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic Movement ofUzbekistan (IMU).

However, two thirds of the individuals arrestedon suspicion of involvement in Islamist terror-ism could not be linked to terrorist organisa-tions known to the authorities. This could beseen as an indication of the existence of individ-uals or groups unaffiliated to a terrorist organi-sation but adhering to a common ideology ofglobal jihad, as promoted by al-Qaeda. It alsounderlines the fact that al-Qaeda is evolvinginto a sort of franchise organisation, which actsas a point of reference for independent terroristgroups or individuals.20

Individuals were also arrested for financing ofterrorism; the preparation of a terrorist attack orrelated activities; terrorist training; recruitmentand propaganda.

Between 2005 and 2008, a number of individualsarrested in France were members of networksdispatching volunteers to Iraq. Recent develop-ments, however, indicate that Afghanistan isreplacing Iraq as a destination for those whowant to participate in armed conflict.21

In Spain, police arrested 14 individuals ofPakistani and Indian citizenship in January 2008for allegedly planning to carry out suicide bombattacks in Barcelona and other European cities.22

Nearly half of the individuals arrested in 2008 forlinks with Islamist terrorism were between 31

and 40 years of age at the time of their arrest.People of this age group were engaged fre-quently in training activities and relatively oftenin financing of terrorism. Most of those arrestedin relation to recruitment and propaganda wereof younger age.

5.3. Terrorist activities

Radicalisation and recruitment

Among the large population of second gener-ation Muslim immigrants in the EuropeanUnion, some individuals and groups of individ-uals have proven vulnerable to recruitmentand radicalisation. For some time, there havebeen indications of connections between UK-based supporters of violent jihad and theircounterparts in Pakistan.23

Information from member states and opensources indicates that the role of mosques inthe radicalisation and recruitment of Islamistterrorists is declining. This is due, to a largepart, to the fact that Muslim communities havebecome more vigilant and willing to confrontextremism.24 Although some mosques contin-ue to be used for radicalisation,25 Islamist ter-rorist recruitment efforts have largely beendriven underground, with little overt propaga-tion and recruitment now occurring at mos-ques. The main players in Islamist terroristrecruitment are no longer ‘radical imams’, but‘activists’, i.e. members of terrorist cells actingoutside the organisational framework ofmosques. Prisons and other places in whichindividuals are likely to be vulnerable, lack ori-entation or experience personal crises (‘placesof vulnerability’) continue to be a cause of con-cern.26 Sources in member states point out therisk of radicalisation in prisons.27

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20 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Italy.21 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: France.22 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Spain.23 TE-SAT 2008, page 21.24 P.R. Neumann and B. Rogers,‘Recruitment and Mobilisation for the Islamist Militant Movement in Europe’, a study

carried out by King’s College, London, for the European Commission (Directorate General Justice, Freedom andSecurity), London, December 2007.

25 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Spain.26 Neumann and Rogers, ‘Recruitment and Mobilisation’.27 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Spain.

There are marked regional differences withinthe EU with regard to radicalisation and recruit-ment linked to Islamist terrorism. To a number ofmember states, the topic of radicalisation is ofvery small concern or is not an issue on their ter-ritories at all.28

The Internet plays a pivotal role in recruitmentand indoctrination. It offers the possibility todisseminate tailor-made propaganda to restrict-ed target audiences. (See also above, page 13.)Nevertheless, the Internet cannot fully replacethe personal interaction between potentialrecruits and recruiters.

PropagandaTerrorists can promote their agenda throughthe media and, in particular, the Internet withgreat ease. Events in areas such as the MiddleEast, Pakistan and Afghanistan are exploited bypropagandists of the ideology of global jihad topromote the single narrative of an alleged glob-al war on Islam. These and other factors con-tribute to the fact that an increasing number ofpeople are attracted to the global messagearticulated by actors such as the al-Qaeda lead-ership and subsequently recruited by terroristgroups. Besides this, the greater number of peo-ple known to adhere to extremist ideas is also aresult of the continuing efforts made by theauthorities involved to better understand thenature of the threat in order to take effectivecounter-action, thereby exposing the scale ofthe problem.29

One of the reasons for the attraction of the ide-ology of global jihad may be that it gives mean-ing to the feeling of exclusion, prevalent in par-ticular among second or third generation immi-grants who no longer identify with the countryand the culture of their parents or grandpar-ents, yet feel also excluded from western socie-

ty, which still perceives them as foreigners. Forthis group, the idea of becoming ‘citizens’ of thevirtual worldwide Islamic community, removedfrom territory and national culture, may bemore attractive than for first generation immi-grants.30

In its single narrative, al-Qaeda’s ideology linksthe perceived exclusion of Muslims from societyin Europe to regional conflicts worldwide, suchas in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq,Algeria, and Somalia. Ideologues of the al-Qaedaleadership and affiliated terrorist groups, suchas AQIM, are quick to respond to any politicaland military crisis in these regions, with specialattention to the developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The UK reports that loose-knit terrorist networkslinked to al-Qaeda take their lead from the radi-cal propaganda readily available on the Internet.The extent to which such material may cause aperson to contemplate carrying out acts of vio-lence is rarely clear cut but has undoubtedlybeen a factor in some of the investigations inthe UK during 2008. Perhaps most notable wasthe bomb attack in a restaurant in Exeter in May(See above, page 18).31

In Austria, two individuals stood trial in Viennain March 2008 on charges of spreading propa-ganda messages on the Internet under thename of the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF).32

They were convicted, in the trial of first instance,of translating into German and disseminatingpropaganda of Islamist terrorist organisations,and publishing a video message in an attemptto coerce the governments of Austria andGermany to withdraw from Afghanistan. Thetwo defendants were sentenced to imprison-ment of four years and 22 months, respectively.At the time of writing, their appeals were stillpending.33

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28 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Latvia,Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden.

29 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: UK.30 Neumann and Rogers, ‘Recruitment and Mobilisation’, page 28.31 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: UK.32 See also TE-SAT 2008, page 22.33 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Austria. In the absence of final decisions, this case was not included in the

overall number of convictions (see paragraph 4.4).

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TrainingIn 2008, 15 persons were arrested in the EU forparamilitary training activities linked to Islamistterrorism. All of these arrests took place inFrance in the region of Carcassonne.Three of thearrested persons were women.

The Internet is also an important tool for train-ing. Nevertheless, like in recruitment, it cannotreplace real-life training and personal interac-tion with experienced fighters and activistsabroad. The Internet is best viewed as a resourcebank for self-radicalised and ‘home-grown’ auto-nomous cells, or in situations where real lifetraining is considered to be problematic, ratherthan as a substitute for classical training in mili-tary training camps.34 As a result, recruits stilltravel to training camps as part of their radicali-sation process.35

Logistical supportAlthough some member states consider thethreat from Islamist terrorism as moderate tolow, many report on activities related to logisti-cal support of Islamist terrorist groups on theirterritory.36 Terrorist cells in Spain, e.g., facilitatedthe entry into the country of Islamist terrorists,either by providing them with false documents(passports, residence permits, proof of resi-dence, employment contracts) or by providingmoney and safe accommodation.

In Austria, several investigations were conductedon suspicion of financing of Islamist terrorism in2008. Most of the cases were initiated inresponse to notifications from financial institutes.The investigations focused on both natural andlegal persons. Suspects included individuals ofNorth African origin who allegedly raised fundsfor terrorist organisations via property-relatedcrime. There were indications that these peoplewere active participants in a European network.37

In Sweden, most resident Islamist individualsand networks that promote violence are foundnot to primarily intend to carry out attacksagainst the country and its interests, but ratherto use Sweden as a base for providing logisticalsupport for activities in other countries. Thesame applies to individuals and groups inSlovenia. Slovenia reports also that it could beused as a transit area to allow terrorists to reachtarget countries. In the UK, there are — in addi-tion to individuals who may seek to carry outattacks, whether in the UK or abroad — otherswho remain prepared to provide support to ter-rorists through the provision of funds, logisticalsupport and training. The kinds of trainingoffered range from the practical skills requiredto carry out terrorist acts to the promotion ofextremist material.38

5.4. Situation outside the EUIn 2008 several EU nationals were killed in ter-rorist attacks or became victims of acts ofIslamist terrorists outside the EU. Developmentsand events in relation to terrorism in certainregions or countries which have impacted mem-ber states or could become of relevance to theEU are briefly described.

North Africa and SahelAfter its alignment with the al-Qaeda leader-ship, AQIM, formerly known as the Salafist Groupfor Preaching and Combat (GSPC), perpetratedlarge-scale coordinated suicide attacks onAlgerian and international targets in theAlgerian capital Algiers on 11 April and 11December 2007. In 2008 the number of suicideattacks in Algeria was even higher than in 2007.The capital Algiers was spared major terroristattacks.39 Some of the suicide attacks caused lar-ge numbers of casualties, such as on 19 August2008, when a suicide attacker killed 43 people

34 Anne Stenersen, ‘The Internet: A Virtual Training Camp?’, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 20, Issue 2 (April2008), pages 215 to 233.

35 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Belgium, Germany.36 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Latvia, Slovenia,

Sweden, Spain.37 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Austria.38 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Slovenia, Sweden, UK.39 However, the Algerian security forces stated that they thwarted a plot to perpetrate suicide attacks in Algiers

on the first anniversary of the 11 April 2007 attacks.‘Algeria forces kill 10 rebel bomb plotters-source’, Reuters,16 April 2008.

and injured 38 in front of a paramilitary policetraining school.40 The vast majority of incidentslinked to AQIM in 2008 took place in the Kabylieregion east of Algiers, one of its traditionalstrongholds, where the group’s central com-mand is said to be located.41

As in past years,42 AQIM continued to considerthe Algerian government and all westernnations as potential targets and threatened toperpetrate more attacks on western interests. Itclaimed to have expanded its activities to neigh-bouring states in the Maghreb and the Saheland to have recruited members from as farsouth as Nigeria.43 In online statements andvideos, AQIM’s leader commented on the situa-tion in Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.Special interest was placed on Mauritania: AQIMclaimed responsibility for a gunfire attack on theIsraeli Embassy in Nouakchott on 1 February2008 and an attack on a Mauritanian army con-voy on 14 September 2008. In an online state-ment, AQIM accused the USA, France and Israelof connivance in the coup d’état in Mauritaniaand called for a jihad against the new militarygovernment.

Two Austrian tourists were kidnapped in south-ern Tunisia on 22 February 2008.They were final-ly released in Mali on 31 October 2008. The kid-napping was claimed in online statementssigned in the name of AQIM. The statementsdemanded, among other things, the withdrawalof Austrian soldiers from Afghanistan and therelease of two alleged members of the GIMFsentenced in Austria for publishing threatvideos against Germany and Austria.

IraqThere are indications that the influence of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, now forming part of theIslamic State of Iraq, has diminished in Iraq andthat some of the foreign fighters have now left

the country. Individuals affiliated with al-Qaedahave begun to leave for other conflict zones,including Afghanistan and Pakistan.44

Reliable figures on the total number of foreignfighters who have travelled to Iraq since the US-led invasion are unavailable. Some reports esti-mate that they constituted around 10 percent ofthe forces of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia in Iraqand that these 10 percent were responsible for90 percent of the suicide bomb attacks in thecountry.45

YemenIt is difficult to assess the situation and thedegree of organisation of the Yemeni branch ofal-Qaeda, the establishment of which had beenpublicised in 2007 on various Islamist websites.However, one of its branches, the Kata’ib Jund al-Yemen or Yemen Soldiers Brigades, has commit-ted a number of terrorist attacks, including sui-cide bombings, targeting foreigners and foreigninterests in Yemen in 2008.

Among the attacks against EU interests claimedby this group in 2008 was an attack which led tothe killing of two Belgian tourists on 18 January2008, and one against the Italian embassy inSana’a on 30 April 2008.

SomaliaA number of Islamist militant groups in Somaliacontinued to fight the Somali transitional gov-ernment and Ethiopian troops in Somalia,before the latter withdrew from the country inJanuary 2009.

Terrorist attacks, carried out by means ofimprovised explosive devices (IEDs) and sui-cide attacks, have been committed in the coun-try. Some attacks targeted African Unionpeacekeepers. A roadside bomb killed three aid

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40 ‘Bombing kills dozens in Algeria’, BBC News, 19 August 2008.41 Hanna Rogan,‘Violent Trends in Algeria Since 9/11’, CTC Sentinel, Vol. 1, No. 12 (November 2008), pages 16 to 19.42 TE-SAT 2008, page 24.43 ‘An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal’, New York Times, 1 July 2008.44 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: France.45 ‘Foreign fighters leaving Iraq, military says’, USA Today, 31 March 2008.

workers including a French member ofMédecins sans frontières in January 2008.46

Several aid workers and journalists have alsobeen kidnapped in Somalia.

The fighting in Somalia has seen the emergenceof a group called Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahidin or Mujahideen Youth Movement, whichpromotes martyrdom operations and, further-more, publicises its activities in a manner com-parable to al-Qaeda and its affiliates.

In 2007 credible evidence indicated that non-Somali fighters were active in the countryalongside the Somali Islamist groups and alsoproviding training in tactics and propaganda.47

AfghanistanIn 2008 the Taliban were responsible for a num-ber of attacks in Afghanistan, including attackson high-profile targets such as the Serena hotelon 14 January and a suicide attack on the Indianembassy in Kabul, as well as an attempt on thelife of President Karzai at a ceremony takingplace outside Kabul.

No reliable statistics regarding the number ofsuicide attacks in Afghanistan are available for2008. However, the number of suicide attackscommitted in 2006 an 2007 appears to rangebetween 135 and 145. This modus operandi isstill employed by terrorists in Afghanistan andleads to large numbers of civilian casualties.

A number of these attacks appear to have beencommitted by foreign fighters including at leastone by a German citizen.

Furthermore, during 2008, the Taliban wereresponsible for the deliberate killing of a num-ber of aid workers, including a British Christianwoman, who was accused by the Taliban of pros-elytising, and three female International RescueCommittee (IRC) employees, who were labelledas spies.

The killing of at least 19 aid workers in 2008appears to be a deliberate policy of the Taliban

to deter foreign aid and deteriorate the situationof the Afghan people in a bid to further under-mine the position of the Afghan government.

PakistanTogether with Afghanistan, Pakistan remains thecentral front in the fight against the al-Qaedaleadership and movements affiliated to its ideol-ogy such as the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba or theIslamic Jihad Union (IJU). There is strong suspi-cion that at least part of the al-Qaeda leadershipis located in the Pakistan tribal areas andattracts new contingents of foreign volunteers,including some from the EU member states, tothe region.

Reports indicate that the Pakistani Terhik-e-Taliban movement is in full control of the tribalareas and has gained ground in the North-WestFrontier Province. A Polish engineer was kid-napped in a tribal area in September 2008.48

Most of the suicide attacks reported in Pakistanin 2008 took place in the North-West FrontierProvince.

The suicide attack against the Marriott hotel inIslamabad on 20 September 2008 could be seenas a major blow for the Pakistani authorities.Thishotel had previously been targeted by a suicideattack and no specific additional security meas-ures appear to have been put into place by thetime of the second attack, which killed 60 peo-ple including five foreigners, among them theCzech ambassador to Pakistan.

Other attacks directly targeted western citizens:on 15 March a bomb detonated at a popularrestaurant in Islamabad and, on 2 June, theDanish embassy became the target of a VBIED.The latter was claimed by the ‘central command’of al-Qaeda.

IndiaBetween May and October 2008, India experi-enced a number of terrorist attacks, such as theseries of bombs detonated in Jaipur, Bangalore,Ahmadabad, Delhi, Gujarat, Agarta Imphal and

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46 ‘Aid staff withdrawn from Somalia’, BBC News, 1 February 2008.47 See also TE-SAT 2008, pages 25 to 26.48 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Poland.

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Assam. Not all of these attacks were committedby Islamist terrorist groups.

A series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai from26 to 29 November killed 174 people.49 The tar-gets included two iconic hotels of the Indianfinancial capital, namely the Taj Mahal and theOberoi Trident. The attacks, which were attrib-uted to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, aimed at causing a maximum of casualtiesin the ‘soft targets’ chosen. Part of the plan wasapparently to attract large media coverage as a

result of a great number of victims, including cit-izens of western states.

The attack against these two hotels follows onfrom the assault on the Serena hotel in Kabul on14 January 2008 and from the two suicideattacks against the Marriott hotel in Islamabadon 26 January 2007 and 20 September 2008. Theapparently thorough planning of the Mumbaiattacks indicates that the attackers could rely onexperiences of previous attacks and adaptedtheir operation accordingly.50

49 ‘Death toll in Mumbai attacks revised down to 174’, The Guardian (UK), 30 November 2008.50 Europol research shows that, outside the EU, four, ten and eleven terrorist attacks against hotels were carried out

in 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively, with total numbers of fatalities of five, 36 and 109.These figures exclude theMumbai attacks in November 2008. Both in 2006 and 2008, one attack per year against hotels was carried out inthe EU without causing fatalities. No terrorist attacks against hotels were carried out in the EU in 2007.

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6. ETHNO-NATIONALIST AND SEPARATIST TERRORISM


In 2008, 397 terrorist attacks were claimed orattributed to separatist terrorist organisations.Of these attacks, 98 percent took place in Franceand Spain.

The number of separatist terrorist attacks in2008 is comparable to that of 2006, butdecreased by 25 percent in comparison to 2007.This is mainly due to the fact that, in 2008,France experienced 46 percent less attacks thanin 2007. Also in Spain the number of separatistterrorist attacks decreased by 4 percent in com-parison to 2007. Of the total number of attacks,91 percent were carried out successfully.

Figure 9: Number of failed, foiled or successful attacks and number of arrested suspectsfor separatist terrorism in member states in 2008

Key findings■ Separatist terrorism remains the area of

terrorism which affects the EU most. Fourpersons died in attacks committed by ETAin 2008.

■ A total of 397 separatist terrorist attackswere perpetrated; 501 suspects werearrested. The number of attacks decreasedin 2008 by 25 percent in comparison to2007, thereby reaching the level of 2006.

■ The majority of arrests related to separatistterrorism occurred in France and Spain.Significant arrests in these countries led tothe dismantling of several ETA cells whensome top leaders were arrested.

■ Youth organisations linked to ETA continueto be responsible for the vast majority ofthe Basque separatist terrorist attacks inSpain.

■ Target selection remains dependent on the political goals of the groups concerned.As in previous years, Corsican separatistterrorist groups mainly targeted privateproperty or individuals, while Basque separatist terrorist groups mainly carriedout attacks against business and govern-mental targets.

■ The activities of separatist movements outside the EU have an impact on the security situation inside the EU.

As in previous years, the number of casualtiesand fatalities caused by separatist terroristattacks remained limited. However, Spanish lawenforcement officials and some groups of busi-nesspeople remained an explicit target ofBasque separatist terrorism. In 2008 four per-sons died in four separate attacks carried out byEuskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA, Basque for ‘BasqueHomeland and Freedom’): a Guardia Civil agent,a warrant officer of the army, a politician and abusinessman.

The businessman assassinated by ETA was theowner of a company working on a high-speedtrain route between the autonomous region ofthe Basque Country and Madrid. ETA has threat-ened many companies and their workersinvolved in this train project, which it considershas been imposed on the Basque Country bythe Spanish and French governments.51 ETA’sgoals are centred on the sovereignty and self-determination of Euskal Herria, which comprisesthe Spanish autonomous regions of the Basque

Country and Navarre as well as the FrenchBasque Country.

ETA had declared a ceasefire which lasted fromMarch 2006 to June 2007. After the ending ofthe ceasefire, ETA has resumed its attacks. In2008 ETA carried out 35 attacks, spread almostevenly over the period of February to December2008. The majority of the attacks by ETA cellstook place either in the autonomous region ofthe Basque Country or in neighbouring Spanishprovinces.

The modus operandi used by ETA to commitattacks involved the use of explosives: IEDs,followed by VBIEDs. The decreasing trend in theuse of commercial explosives in ETA attacks thatstarted in 2007 continued in 2008: more IEDscontaining home-made explosives were used.This may indicate that ETA is encounteringincreasing difficulties in the acquisition of com-mercial explosives.52

The majority of terrorist acts perpetrated byBasque separatist terrorists in Spain are so-called Taldes Y attacks, which are committed bya network of individuals with links to ETA’syouth organisation SEGI.53 In 2008, 211 Taldes Yattacks were committed. ETA encourages itssupporters to engage in street fights againstanyone voicing criticism of ETA. These fightstook the form of attacks against buildings ofgovernment agencies, law enforcement andpolitical parties, bank offices, public transportsystems, or businesses related to the high-speed train under construction.

Of the Taldes Y attacks in 2008, 43 percent werecommitted in the first two months of the year.The high frequency of attacks in this period oftime seems to be a response to the banning ofthe political party Acción Nacionalista Vasca(ANV), the successor organisation of the previ-ously declared illegal Batasuna.

The modus operandi of Taldes Y attacks remainedunchanged in 2008. Mainly incendiary devicesor flammable liquids were used.

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Attacks Arrests

Nu

mb

er

2006 2007 2008

226

0

100

200

300

397

501

532548

420

400

500

600

Figure 10: Number of failed, foiled or successfulattacks and number of arrested suspectsfor separatist terrorism in member states2006-2008

51 ‘ETA asesina a tiros en Azpeitia a un empresario vinculado con la “Y vasca”’, El Mundo, 3 December 2008.52 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Spain.53 TE-SAT 2008, page 28.

The terrorist group Resistência Galega, whichoperates in the Spanish autonomous region ofGalicia, carried out seven attacks. These had lim-ited effects and caused only small-scale proper-ty damage.54

In France, 123 attacks were carried out byCorsican separatist groups, one third of whichwere claimed under the umbrella of the Front deLibération Nationale de la Corse (FLNC). Basqueseparatist groups carried out 14 attacks.

As in the previous years, Basque and Corsicanseparatist groups carried out attacks against dif-ferent types of targets. Although there is a

decrease in the attacks against private propertyand individuals in France,55 these continue to bethe main targets of Corsican separatist terroristgroups. Basque separatist terrorist groups inSpain and France focused mainly on attacksagainst business and governmental targets in2008.56

Corsican separatist terrorist groups mainlyattack property of people considered non-Corsicans. A high number of targets of Corsicanseparatist terrorist groups are holiday apart-ments and houses. In addition, cars of non-Corsican residents and real estate agenciesrenting holiday houses were attacked.

27

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ETA

Figure 11: Number of Taldes Y / SEGI attacks and ETA in Spain 2006-2008

54 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Spain.55 Private property includes holiday apartments and cars.56 Governmental targets in Spain include government offices, court houses, and political parties. Business targets in

Spain include ATMs, bank branches, real estate agencies. Business targets in France include real estate agenciesand the tourist sector. Critical infrastructure in Spain includes highways and railways.

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Although the Irish National Liberation Army(INLA) has declared a cease-fire in 1998, two sep-aratist terrorist attacks targeting private proper-ty took place in the Republic of Ireland and wereattributed to the INLA in 2008. The increase interrorist activities in the Republic of Ireland isreflected in the number of persons arrested andcharged with unlawful membership of theorganisation and other related offences during2008.57

In Austria, three failed and two successful arsonattacks were reported for 2008. All of the attackswere attributed to PKK/KONGRA-GEL.58 At leasttwo of the attacks targeted directly Turkishinterests.

6.2. Arrested suspects

In 2008 a total of 501 persons were arrested ineight member states for offences related to sep-aratist terrorism. The majority of the individualswere arrested in France and Spain. During thelast months of 2008, several ETA cells were dis-mantled and some top leaders were arrested inFrance and Spain. This will probably impact onETA’s capabilities in 2009.

In Spain, 40 percent of the arrested wereaccused of attack-related offences, 22 percentfor facilitation.59 During 2008, several operationsagainst Taldes Y / SEGI resulted in the arrest of 67suspects in the autonomous regions of the

TE-SAT2009

28

Figure 12: Type of targets in attacks by Corsican and Basque separatist terrorists in France and Basque separatistterrorists in Spain 2006-2008

57 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Republic of Ireland.58 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Austria.59 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Spain.

Basque Country and Navarre. In addition, a num-ber of other suspects were arrested in theprocess of committing the attacks.60

In France, 64 percent of the suspects werearrested for Corsican and 34 percent for Basqueseparatist terrorist offences. Of the individualsarrested for Corsican separatist terrorism, 62percent were suspected of attack-relatedoffences. Almost half of the Basque separatistterrorist suspects in France were arrested forfinancing of terrorism.

In 2008 German authorities arrested a numberof presumed PKK/KONGRA-GEL members,including several leaders, such as area chiefs.Only one person was arrested for terrorism-related offences. In October 2008, a 40-year-oldTurk of Kurdish background was arrested. Theindividual arrested was accused of having ledwhat was then the PKK/KONGRA-GEL regionSouth in Germany during the period of January1993 until at least 1994.61

In March 2008, Italian authorities arrested a cashcourier of the PKK/KONGRA-GEL.62 In Slovakia,one individual was arrested on suspicion of sup-porting the PKK/KONGRA-GEL.63

In the Republic of Ireland, 49 persons were arres-ted for offences related to separatist terrorism.The majority of them, 28, were members of theINLA, while nine were members of the Real IrishRepublican Army (RIRA) and four were linked tothe Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA).64

As in previous years, a number of suspectedmembers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) were arrested in the EU for offenceslinked to financing of terrorism. In Italy, 34 LTTEmembers were arrested. Of these, 33 were sus-pected of extortion and transferring money toSri Lanka.65 In France, two individuals werearrested for similar offences.66

6.3. Terrorist activitiesETAInside the EU, France remains ETA’s main fallbackbase, from which the group continually impro-ves its logistical means and where its reserveactivists are hosted and trained militarily.67

Overall, the influence of Spanish Basque sepa-ratist terrorism outside the EU is marginal.However, past contacts between ETA and theFuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Colombianas(FARC) or Revolutionary Armed Forces ofColombia came to light during 2008.68 The FARCmay have entertained these contacts for strate-gic reasons, aiming at benefitting from ETA’sexperience and expertise in urban terrorism toincrease their own capabilities in this field.

The UK extradited three ETA members to Spain.Canadian authorities extradited one ETA mem-ber to Spain and deported another.

CorsicaIn France, the death of four activists of the clan-destine scene in 2006 and 2007 and a number ofarrests led to the emergence of a group callingitself ‘FLNC 1976’. It called upon the ‘combatants’of the two main terrorist separatist groups, theFront de Libération Nationale de la Corse – Uniondes Combattants (FLNC-UDC) and the Front deLibération Nationale de la Corse du 22 Octobre(FLNC-22 Octobre), to unite on the basis of theprogramme of the original FLNC.

Northern IrelandAlthough the terrorist threat related to NorthernIreland has diminished in recent years, with theProvisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and themain loyalist groups ceasing their terrorist cam-paigns and engaging in peaceful politicalprocess, dissident Irish republican groups,

29

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6.ETHN

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60 Crónica: Boletín de documentación y actualidad, no 1404 (Bilbao: Vasco Press, 12 January 2009).61 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Germany.62 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Italy.63 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Slovakia.64 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Republic of Ireland.65 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Italy.66 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: France.67 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Spain, France.68 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Colombia.

principally the RIRA and the CIRA, and otherparamilitary groups continue to engage incrime and violence, including shootings and theuse of IEDs. Incidents have included the placingof incendiary devices in commercial premises,attempted attacks against infrastructure, suchas roads and railways, and attacks targeting thepolice, including an IED attack against an off-duty police officer, which resulted in seriousinjury.69 It can be expected that these terroristactivities may continue in the future.

PKK/KONGRA-GELIn Turkey, the armed wing of the PKK/KONGRA-GEL, named the People's Defence Forces, hasbeen fighting for an independent Kurdistan or,at the very least, for cultural and political auton-omy of the Kurdish people in south-easternTurkey. Developments in this region have a di-rect impact on the level of security in Europe.70

With relatively large communities of Kurds insome member states, the PKK/KONGRA-GEL isable to organise propaganda activities, such asdemonstrations, marches, culture festivals andvarious campaigns, in an attempt to attract newsupporters in Europe.

In mid-October 2008, the lawyers of thePKK/KONGRA-GEL founder imprisoned in Turkeydeclared that their client had been physically mis-treated by the prison personnel. Subsequent topublications by Kurdish media on the torture ac-cusations, the political-propagandistic wing of thePKK/KONGRA-GEL appealed to the Kurds in Eu-rope to organise ‘democratic’ protest meetings.71

Against this background, demonstrations withKurdish participants were held in several mem-ber states. During the demonstrations, pre-sumed PKK/KONGRA-GEL members or sympa-thisers committed sporadic criminal or terroristoffences, such as incendiary attacks, arson, andassault and property damage. These actionsmainly targeted Turkish organisations.72 Consi-dering the timing of the demonstrations, it canbe assumed that these were centrally organisedby the PKK/KONGRA-GEL.

LTTEThe LTTE aims to create an independent statefor the Tamils, referred to as Tamil Eelam, in thenorthern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. Thefight between the Singhalese-dominated gov-ernment and the resistance movement of theTamil minority in Sri Lanka has been ragingsince 1983. A cease-fire was observed betweenFebruary 2002 and January 2008,73 when the SriLankan government started to advance into theareas controlled by the LTTE.74

The LTTE controls a global network of Tamils andassociations with structures dedicated tofundraising, procurement and propaganda firm-ly established in Europe. The LTTE has built effi-cient mechanisms to exercise strong controlover Tamil communities in the EU and otherparts of the world.75 One of the core activities ofthe LTTE in the EU is the collection of funds fromTamil communities on a monthly basis tofinance military procurement.76 The LTTE hasbeen on the EU list of terrorist organisationssince 2006.77

TE-SAT2009

30

69 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: UK.70 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Austria.71 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Germany, Finland, Austria.72 For the time being, the attacks committed by PKK/KONGRA-GEL in Germany are of minor significance.

Therefore, they are not counted as terrorist attacks, although they are considered as politically motivated.Austria reported five attacks by PKK/KONGRA-GEL as terrorist offences. TE-SAT data is based on the memberstates’ definitions of terrorism.

73 The Sri Lankan government called off the cease-fire on 16 January 2008. On 2 January 2009, the Sri Lankan armyentered the LTTE’s ‘capital’ Killinochchi.

74 ‘Sri Lanka navy claims last rebel ship sunk’, www.channelnewsasia.com, 7 October 2007.75 Human Rights Watch, ‘Funding the “Final War”: LTTE Intimidation and Extortion in the Tamil Diaspora’, Vol. 18,

No. 1(C), 14 March 2006.76 ‘Feeding the Tiger: how Sri Lankan insurgents fund their war’, Jane’s Intelligence Review, 1 August 2007.77 EU Council Common Position 2006/380/CFSP of 29 May 2006.

31

TE-SAT2009

out successfully but caused only property dam-age. No injuries or fatalities were reported.

The majority of left-wing and anarchist terroristattacks in 2008 were carried out using an IED.Arson attacks represented 32 percent of thetotal number of attacks as compared to 55 per-cent in 2007. In Greece and Italy most of theattacks were bombings. The majority of thearson attacks took place in Spain. The choice oftargets remains unchanged: business and gov-ernment interests were the main targets in both2007 and 2008.78

7. LEFT-WING AND ANARCHIST TERRORISM

7.1. Terrorist attacksIn 2008 Greece, Spain and Italy reported a totalof 28 attacks carried out by left-wing and anar-chist groups. This constitutes an increase of 25percent as compared to 2007. In 2006, however,the number of attacks had reached a similarlevel. The majority of these attacks were carried

78 Governmental targets include government offices, police offices, and buildings of international institu-tions. Business targets include ATMs, bank branches, private and commercial companies (oil companies, cardealers, etc.).

Figure 13: Number of failed, foiled or successfulattacks and number of arrested suspectsfor left-wing and anarchist terrorism inmember states in 2008

Key findings■ Three member states reported a total

number of 28 left-wing terrorist attacksfor 2008. These took place in Greece,Spain and Italy.

■ The majority of left-wing and anarchist terrorist attacks targeted business and governmental targets.

■ Most attacks were carried out by IEDs.Arson accounted for one third of thereported incidents.

■ In 2008, 58 individuals were arrested forleft-wing terrorism. Nearly half were members of the DHKP-C, arrested in France,Germany and Cyprus.

■ GRAPO is assessed to be no longer operational.

■ Left-wing and anarchist groups have established links across Europe. Most oftheir actions reflect a common agenda.

TE-SAT2009

32

Greece reported a total of 13 left-wing and anar-chist attacks in 2008.

The terrorist group Epanastatikos Agonas orRevolutionary Struggle remained active in 2008and claimed three attacks targeting a police sta-tion in April, an international oil company inOctober and a police bus carrying 19 officers inDecember. The use of firearms during attacksagainst police targets raises concern that violentacts by the Epanastatikos Agonas could furtherescalate.

The group Synomosia Pyrinon Fotias Athina-Thessaloniki or Cells of Fire Conspiracy ofThessalonica and Athens claimed seven attacksin 2008. Main targets were police and the mili-tary but also a vehicle of the Italian embassy inAthens. One attack on 25 June 2008 in Greecetargeting a building housing the offices of sev-eral international companies was originally

reported as ‘not specified’ and is categorised assuch in the general overview. However, theattack is now attributed to the left-wing organi-sation Laiki Thelisi or People’s Will. 79

In Spain all ten attacks in 2008 are attributed toanarchist groups. The majority took place inBarcelona and targeted business interests. Sixattacks were successfully carried out, albeit withlimited repercussions.

Italy reported five successful attacks in 2008.Four attacks were directed against banks andcar dealerships; one targeted a police station.

7.2. Arrested suspects andterrorist activities

A total of 58 persons were arrested in 2008 forleft-wing and anarchist terrorism in six memberstates: France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany and

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79 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Greece.

Cyprus. With 48 arrests in 2007, this is anincrease of 21 percent.

The majority of the arrested were suspected ofmembership of a terrorist organisation. Another20 people were arrested, in France and Italy,for attack-related offences. Furthermore, eightarrests for financing of terrorism — all linked tothe Turkish left-wing party Devrimci HalkKurtulus Partisi / Cephesi (DHKP-C) or Revolutio-nary People’s Liberation Party/Front — werereported by France and Germany. Spain repor-ted five arrests for, among other charges, pro-paganda.

As a result of an Italian investigation into theactivities of the terrorist organisation PartitoComunista Politico-Militare (PCP-M), four mem-bers of the Belgian branch of Secours RougeInternational (Secours Rouge/APAPC) werearrested in Belgium. Amongst those four per-sons was a former member of the CellulesCommunistes Combattantes (CCC), a left-wingterrorist group active in Belgium in the mid-1980s.80

In Spain, the decrease from 17 arrests for left-wing and anarchist terrorism in 2007 to six in2008 can be attributed to the dismantling, inrecent years, of the Spanish terrorist organisa-tion Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primerode Octubre (GRAPO). In January 2008, fiveGRAPO members were arrested on suspicion ofpropaganda, financing, recruitment and train-ing activities for the group. No activities byGRAPO have come to notice in 2008. It isassessed that currently only a few militants arestill at large.81

Italian authorities see a continued threat posedby left-wing terrorist groups after the disman-tling of the PCP-M in 2007. Although no attackswere attributed to the Federazione AnarchicaInformale (FAI) in 2008, a number of investiga-tions confirmed the vitality of the anarchistinsurrectionist movement in Italy.82

In 2008 suspected members of the DHKP-C werearrested in France, Germany and Cyprus. InOctober, the French wing of the organisationwas dismantled with the arrest of six personsaccused of financing terrorist activities inTurkey. The DHKP-C continues to maintainorganisational structures in Germany, which ituses mainly for purposes of logistics and propa-ganda. During 2008, three presumed leaders ofthe DHKP-C in Europe were arrested in Germany.No violent acts which could be attributed to thegroup have been noticed in Germany since1999.83

One Turkish citizen linked to the DHKP-C wasfound in possession of false documents andarrested at Larnaca airport in Cyprus.

In November 2008, after a lengthy investiga-tion, French authorities arrested ten personssuspected of a series of attacks on the high-speed rail network. They were suspected ofbeing involved in sabotaging the overheadpower cables and the ensuing disruption of railtraffic in France.

7.3. ExtremismBelgium reported an increase in actions by anar-chist groups, mainly in the cities of Brussels andGhent. Furthermore, it appears that actions bythese groups became more radical in 2008.Anarchists are reported to have made increas-ing use of Molotov cocktails. There are estab-lished links with French, Greek and Italian anar-chists, as demonstrated by a case in which aGreek citizen, driving a car registered in Francewith Belgian, Greek and Italian persons onboard, was caught when he painted graffiti onthe walls of the Brussels courthouse.84

Activities of particular groups within the anar-chist movement are inspired by particularthemes, such as anti-militarism, support for‘political prisoners’, immigration and environ-mentalism, which are part of the traditional

33

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80 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Belgium.81 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Spain.82 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Italy.83 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Germany.84 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Belgium.

TE-SAT2009

34

campaign topics of the international anarchistscene.85

The UK reported a noticeable increase in protestand street activity by extreme right-winggroups. This was accompanied by an increase incounter-protests on these occasions by greaternumbers of violent ANTIFA or anti-fascist ele-ments. (See also right-wing terrorism.)

In December 2008, a series of demonstrationstook place in Greece after a 15-year-old student

was shot and killed during a police intervention.Initially, anarchists mixed with the protesterswith the aim of causing riots targeting policestations, public buildings and shops. A numberof solidarity demonstrations, some resulting inviolent public disorder, took place in Italy andSpain.

Austria reports a noticeable decrease in thelevel of activities by left-wing groups as a resultof reduced public interest in the Iraq crisis in2008.86

85 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy, UK.86 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Austria.

8.1. ExtremismIn 2008 right-wing extremists organised streetprotests, marches, demonstrations or so-calledWhite Power Music (WPM) concerts in several

EU countries. The member states which report-ed on right-wing extremists notice that thesegroups and individuals maintain contacts withlike-minded people in other countries.87

In the UK, several individuals were arrested forright-wing extremism. All of these were actingalone without direction from any knownextreme right-wing group. The extreme right-wing movement in the UK tends to make itspresence felt less by their own public manifesta-tions than by counter-protests: most right-wingstreet events attracted counter-demonstrationsfrom anti-fascist groups. Numbers of ANTIFAprotesters have increased in 2008. Extremeright-wing events are expected to attract similarcounter-protests in 2009.88 (See also chapter onleft-wing terrorism.)

Italy arrested eleven individuals on charges ofright-wing extremism.89

The WPM scene on one side and the auto-nomous movement on the other constitute thetwo poles of political extremism. Whereas polit-ical extremism is not a tangible threat inSweden, certain groups and individuals pose athreat to individuals and private property, andto public order and safety. The WPM scene iscomposed of groups and networks with right-wing extremist and racist views whose mem-bers are prepared to use politically motivatedviolence. The autonomous movement consistsof loosely connected networks using a variety ofnames to characterise their organisations andactions. The autonomous movement is split in

35

TE-SAT2009

8. RIGHT-WING TERRORISM

87 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, UK.88 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: UK.89 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Italy.

Key findings■ The member states did not report any

right-wing terrorist attacks or arrests related to right-wing terrorism for 2008.All right-wing activities were reported asextremism.

■ Extreme right-wing activities became evident in concerts, demonstrations andmarches.

■ Several member states reported on clashesbetween left-wing and right-wing extremist groups. Extreme right-wingevents attract counter-protest activity from anti-fascist (ANTIFA) groups and vice versa.

■ A number of extreme right-wing organisations maintain close internationalcontacts. However, several arrested right-wing extremists were acting alonewithout links to an extremist organisation.

■ Individual members of the WPM scenehave exhibited their readiness to use violence, threats or coercion to reach theirpolitical goals.

TE-SAT2009

36

a great number of ideological currents, but anar-chism, i.e. the elimination of all forms of compul-sory government, is one of the more widespreadelements. In both the WPM scene and theautonomous movement, individual membershave exhibited their readiness to use violence,threats or coercion to reach their politicalgoals.90

In Belgium, the WPM network Blood & Honourorganised several concerts in 2008. As in previ-ous years, each of these concerts attracted hun-dreds of people from all over Europe. Followinga concert in October 2008, the Belgian authori-ties conducted several searches. Several extrem-ists were detained during the searches but allwere released afterwards.91

In Austria, right-wing extremist groups were dis-mantled by the authorities in the 1990s, butleading members of these groups remain activeat present, mainly in the background. Individualactivists of the revisionist movement make theirpresence felt mostly through publications. Right-wing extremists manifest themselves throughprovocative and violent actions. Most of themare linked to each other in loose networks. Since2007, however, Austrian right-wing extremists insome federal states have clearly tried to build upstructures in an attempt to establish a nation-wide network. In addition, structured and coordi-nated public manifestations took place in 2008,in particular in places in which an older genera-tion of right-wing extremists have had a directinfluence for a prolonged space of time.92

90 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Sweden.91 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Belgium.92 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Austria.

Key findings■ France reported five single issue terrorist

attacks for 2008. The majority of memberstates reported single issue activities asextremism.

■ The majority of animal rights extremismorganisations in the EU are supportive of,and inspired, by the ideology of StopHuntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC).

■ The focus of animal rights extremism seems to have shifted from the UK to the European mainland in 2008.Cooperation between animal rightsextremists in Europe has led to European-wide extremist activities.

■ Environmental issues are increasingly in the focus of single issue extremists.

9.1. Terrorist attacks andarrested suspects

France reported five single issue terrorismbomb attacks. Two attacks against speed radarswere claimed by the Fraction Nationaliste ArméeRévolutionnaire (FNAR), while two others wereattributed to them. The FNAR was nothing morethan a one-person organisation. This individualwas arrested on 28 May 2008, after he injuredhimself while priming an IED containing home-made explosives.

37

TE-SAT2009

9. SINGLE ISSUE TERRORISM

The fifth attack was attributed to the Comitéd’Action Viticole (CAV). This organisation is activein the south of France and campaigns againstthe import of foreign wines.

9.2. ExtremismActivism for animal rights and environmentalissues usually does not take the form of terroristoffences. Animal rights extremists are more like-ly to carry out acts of criminal damage, vandal-ism, intimidation and arson targeting individu-als linked to companies and academic research.Belgium, France, Portugal, the Netherlands andthe UK have been affected by arson, while vic-tims of animal rights extremism (ARE) in Austria,Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain and Swedenhave mostly been affected by systematic harass-ment; vandalism of fur shops and companiesassociated with the contract animal-testingcompany Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS); andthe ‘release’ of caged animals such as minks.

The majority of ARE organisations in the EU areinspired by and support the ideology of theStop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC).93 SHACtargets suppliers, customers and financial insti-tutions linked to HLS. During the second half of2008, several British SHAC leaders were foundguilty, among other charges, of having orches-trated, in 2007, blackmail of companies whichare suppliers of HLS.These trials and convictionsappear to have caused a decrease in ARE activi-ties in the UK. A number of arrests in January2008 were also linked to criminal activities by

93 For SHAC's foundation and aims, see TE-SAT 2008, page 40.

TE-SAT2009

38

individuals associated with the 2007 SHAC cam-paign against HLS. The individuals arrestedwere experienced animal rights extremistswho are believed to have been responsible forcoordinating the campaign. At the time of writ-ing, it is difficult to assess how other extremistswill react to the convictions of the SHAC leaders.In 2008, however, it has become evident that theSHAC campaign in the UK is fragmenting.Moreover, there are indications that the UKauthorities’ firm approach to ARE forces thesegroups to move to the European mainland in aview to continue their actions there.94 The Anti-Dierproeven Coalitie (ADC) is considered to be abranch of SHAC in Belgium.95

Besides SHAC, the second main animal rightscampaign in the UK in 2008 was Stop PrimateExperiments at Cambridge (SPEAC or SPEAK). It isprotesting against a medical research centre atOxford University. SPEAC’s campaigns received amajor blow in November 2008, when one of itstargets, the Oxford University Laboratory, wasofficially opened. Although some acts of crimi-nal damage were reported in early 2008, thesediminished as the year progressed, and therewas little criminal activity in the final quarter of2008.96

In Austria, animal rights extremists carried outactions, causing mainly material damages, underthe name of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Asmaller number of criminal offences occurredunder the acronym SHAC. Austrian animal rightsextremists cooperated with foreign extremists

on different animal rights topics and took part inEuropean-wide actions.97

In the Netherlands, animal rights extremistsfurther intensified their activities in the secondhalf of 2008. Not only the number of criminalacts increased, but also the intensity and gravi-ty of the offences seem to have grown. Twoarson attacks on personal property of employ-ees of the pan-European stock exchangeEuronext in the last weeks of 2008 illustratethis development. It is possible that Dutch ani-mal rights extremists are gradually applyingmethods that have proven successful in othercountries.98

In the UK, environmentalist protests against thepower sector and airport expansion increased in2008. Extremists have demonstrated a determi-nation to take direct action, and there havebeen numerous arrests during this period relat-ed to these causes.

In Sweden, a newly built private house burntdown in Älmhult in Småland in late July 2008.Earlier in the same year, the electric wiring of abuilding crane near the house and a 3G pylon inthe area were sabotaged. In statements pub-lished on the Internet the organisation Jordensbefrielsefront (JBF) claimed responsibility for twoof these events. It was the first time that thisname had been used in Sweden, while its inter-national counterpart, the Earth Liberation Front(ELF), is well-known. These attacks were intend-ed to draw attention to environmental issues.99

94 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: UK.95 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Belgium.96 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: UK.97 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Austria.98 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: the Netherlands.99 Contribution to the TE-SAT 2009: Sweden.

Due to large fluctuations, a clear trend in thenumbers of failed, foiled and successful terror-ist attacks cannot be established. The increasein numbers that was reported in 2007, comparedto 2006, has not continued. During 2008, 515terrorist attacks were committed in the EU. OneIslamist terrorist attack with the aim to causemass casualties caused little damage in the UK.Separatist terrorist attacks dominate the num-bers of terrorist incidents in the EU. A total of397 separatist terrorist attacks were perpetrat-ed, and 501 suspects were arrested. The vastmajority of attacks and arrests relating to sepa-ratist terrorism were, as in previous years, report-ed by France and Spain. Youth organisationscontinue to be responsible for the majority ofthe attacks in Spain.

The numbers of arrested suspects are rela-tively independent of the occurrence of ter-rorist activities. This indicates the existenceof a continuous threat. The majority of thearrests were carried out on suspicion of mem-bership of a terrorist organisation. Women con-tinue to play a minor role in terrorism. The num-ber of women arrested in relation to separatist,left-wing and anarchist terrorism is higher thanfor Islamist terrorism. The numbers of arrests forIslamist terrorism, although lower than in thetwo previous years, give evidence of the factthat the threat emanating from individuals andgroups adhering to the ideology of global jihadremains substantial in some member states.Successful pro-active activities of law enforce-ment agencies and intelligence services are usu-ally not made public.

Islamist terrorists continue to legitimisetheir actions with references to westernpolicies towards Muslims, including the

military presence in conflict zones. Memberstates with a military presence in conflict zo-nes, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, have beenthreatened several times during the last years.Several video statements were released duringthe past years.

The threat of terrorism to EU member stateswill remain diverse. The EU member statescontinue to be confronted with internationalorganised groups, locally inspired groups and‘lone wolves’. The Islamist terrorist attack in theUK in 2008 was carried out by a single offender– a ‘lone wolf’ – inspired by local extremists.Other terrorist acts conducted by individuals arerelated to single issue terrorism. Although thearrests of some ETA top leaders may probablyhave an impact on ETA’s capabilities in 2009, thethreat from ETA remains serious. In the UK, dissi-dent Irish republican groups, principally theRIRA and the CIRA, and other paramilitarygroups may continue to engage in crime andviolence. In France, a single trial for separatistterrorism involved 18 defendants. In Belgium,five members of a group related to the firstEuropean female suicide bomber were triedjointly. Both cases are illustrative of terroristsacting in groups. Extremist groups of both left-wing and right-wing orientation are known toentertain international contacts.

The number of persons associated with‘home-grown’ Islamist terrorist groups isrising in the EU. Reasons for this include thatmembers of terrorist cells acting outside theorganisational framework of mosques havelargely replaced ‘radical imams’ in Islamist ter-rorist recruitment. Prisons and other placeswhere people are vulnerable are being used forrecruitment and radicalisation.

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10. TRENDS

EU–based suspects will continue providinglogistical support to Islamist terrorist groupsand networks based outside the EU. Memberstates continue to report that their country maybe used as a logistical base for terrorist groupsactive outside the EU. Some member states onthe eastern border of the EU are still at risk ofbeing used as transit countries for terrorists inorder to reach other parts of the EU.

Target selection remains dependant on thepolitical or ideological goals of the groups orindividuals concerned. Islamist terrorists aimat causing indiscriminate mass casualties.Corsican separatist terrorist groups continue totarget mainly private property or individuals,while Basque separatist terrorist groups mainlyexecute attacks against business and govern-mental targets. Left-wing and anarchist terror-ists mainly focus on exponents of capitalist soci-ety and on traditional institutions such as busi-ness and (inter)governmental targets.

Activities related to financing of terrorism,carried out inside or outside the EU, continueto be dependent on the procurement offunds by supporting groups in the memberstates. All terrorist organisations need to raisefunds, regardless how small the proceeds. Illegalsources for the funding of terrorism appear tocover a wide range of criminal activities, span-ning from fraud and counterfeit to burglary, kid-napping and extortion. Funds are also derivedfrom legitimate sources. Islamist and non-Islamist terrorist groups use different methodsof financing. Islamist groups generate moremoney than non-Islamist groups.

The Internet continues to be a factor whichgreatly facilitates the activities of terroristgroups. Websites, weblogs and forums are usedby terrorist groups of all affiliations for tailor-made propaganda and communication. Theyear 2008 has witnessed an increase in Islamistextremist websites in western languages as partof a strategy to reach western audiences. Groupsassociated with separatist terrorism use theInternet for claiming attacks. Left-wing, right-wing and single issue terrorist groups use theInternet as a medium to announce manifesta-tions, such as demonstrations and concerts.

Activities by left-wing and anarchist terror-ists and extremists are increasing in quantityand geographical spread in the EU. In Greece,the use of violence by the Epanastatikos Agonasor Revolutionary Struggle has escalated and hasthe potential for further escalation. Left-wingand anarchist groups are increasingly establish-ing links across the EU. Most of their actionsreflect a common agenda.

Right-wing and single issue terrorism is a rel-atively minor factor in the EU. There were noright-wing and only five instances of single issueterrorist activities in the EU in 2008. The inci-dents were almost exclusively regarded as theacts of extremists rather than terrorists. Animalrights extremism (ARE) predominated the illegalactivities of single issue terrorism. Animal rightsextremists are shifting their focus from the UK tothe European mainland. The most stringent AREcampaigns in the EU are inspired by and sup-port the ideology of the Europe-wide StopHuntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC).

Home-made explosives remain the type mostused to carry out attacks. As in the previousyears, home-made explosives remain the type ofexplosive most frequently used to carry outattacks. The bomb prepared for the attack in theUK contained home-made explosives. Thedecreasing trend that started in 2007 in the useof commercial explosives in ETA attacks contin-ued in 2008. In their place, home-made explosiveswere used. Also the majority of left-wing andanarchist attacks involve the use of home-madeexplosives.

The security situation outside the EU contin-ues to have an impact on member states.Afghanistan and Pakistan seem to have replacedIraq as preferred destinations for volunteerswishing to engage in armed conflict. Since 2007,Somalia has also become an important destina-tion for foreign fighters. The number of fightersreturning from these regions is likely to in-crease. In Turkey, the PKK/KONGRA-GEL isinvolved in a struggle for political and culturalautonomy for the Kurdish population. This isreflected in non-violent activities and propa-ganda work in Germany and other Europeancountries.

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ANNEXES

Annex 1: Acronyms

ADC Anti-Dierproeven Coalitie Anti-Animal Testing Coalition

ALF Animal Liberation Front

ANTIFA Anti-fascist groups

ANV Acción Nacionalista Vasca Basque Nationalist Action

APAPC Association des Parents et Amis des Prisonniers Communistes – Secours RougeAssociation of Parents and Friends of Communist Prisoners – Red Aid

AQIM al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Tanzim al-qa’ida bi-bilad al-Maghrib al-Islami

ARE Animal Rights Extremism

CAV Comité d’Action Viticole Committee for Viticultural Action

CCC Cellules Communistes Combattantes Communist Combatant Cells

CIRA Continuity Irish Republican Army

DHKP-C Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi/Cephesi Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front

ELF Earth Liberation Front

ETA Euskadi ta Askatasuna Basque Fatherland and Liberty

EU European Union

FAI Federazione Anarchia Informale Informal Anarchist Federation

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FARC Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Colombianas Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

FLNC-22 Octobre Front de Libération Nationale de la Corse du 22 Octobre National Front for the Liberation of Corsica of 22 October

FLNC-UDC Front de Libération Nationale de la Corse - Union des Combattants National Front for the Liberation of Corsica - Union of Combatants

FNAR Fraction Nationaliste Armée Revolutionnaire Armed Nationalist Revolutionary Faction

GIMF Global Islamic Media Front al-Jabha al-i‘lamiyya al-Islamiyya al-‘alamiyya

GRAPO Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre Anti-fascist Resistance Groups October First

GSPC Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat al-Jama’a al-salafiyya lil-da’wa wal-qital Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat

IED Improvised explosive device

IJU Islamic Jihad Union

IMU Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

INLA Irish National Liberation Army

IRC International Rescue Committee

ISAF International Security Assistance Force

JBF Jordens befrielsefront Earth Liberation Front

KONGRA-GEL Kongra Gelê Kurdistan People's Congress of Kurdistan

LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

PCP-M Partito Comunista Politico-Militare

PIRA Provisional Irish Republican Army

PKK Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan Kurdistan Workers' Party

RIRA Real Irish Republican Army

SHAC Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty

SitCen European Union Joint Situation Centre

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SPEAC/SPEAK Stop Primate Experiments at Cambridge

TE-SAT European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report

TWP Terrorism Working Party of the EU Council

VBIED Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device

WPM White power music

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Annex 2: Excerpt from theCouncil Framework Decisionon combating terrorismAccording to Article 1 of the Council FrameworkDecision of 13 June 2002 on combating terror-ism (2002/475/JHA), terrorist offences are inten-tional acts which, given their nature or context,may seriously damage a country or an interna-tional organisation where committed.

Terrorist offences are committed with the aim of

• seriously intimidating a population, or

• unduly compelling a government or interna-tional organisation to perform or abstainfrom performing an act, or

• seriously destabilising or destroying the fun-damental political, constitutional, economicor social structures of a country or an inter-national organisation.

Terrorist offences include

1. attacks upon a person’s life which may causedeath;

2. attacks upon the physical integrity of a person;

3. kidnapping or hostage taking;

4. causing extensive destruction to a govern-ment or a public facility, a transport system,an infrastructure facility, including an infor-mation system, a fixed platform located onthe continental shelf, a public place or pri-vate property likely to endanger human lifeor result in major economic loss;

5. seizure of aircraft, ships or other means ofpublic or goods transport;

6. manufacture, possession, acquisition, trans-port, supply or use of weapons, explosives orof nuclear, biological or chemical weapons,as well as research into and development ofbiological and chemical weapons;

7. release of dangerous substances, or causingfires, floods or explosions the effect of whichis to endanger human life;

8. interfering with or disrupting the supply ofwater, power or any other fundamental natu-ral resource the effect of which is to endan-ger human life;

9. threatening to commit any of the acts listedabove.

Article 2, paragraph 2, obliges the memberstates to take the necessary measures to ensurethat directing a terrorist group and participatingin its activities, including by supplying informa-tion or material resources or by funding its activ-ities, are punishable.

Article 3 obliges the member states to take thenecessary measures to ensure that terrorist-linked offences include aggravated theft, extor-tion and drawing up false administrative docu-ments with a view to commit certain terroristoffences.

According to Article 4, inciting or aiding or abet-ting offences referred to in the FrameworkDecision should also be made punishable.

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Annex 3: Implementation ofthe EU Framework Decisionon combating terrorism in the member states which provided Eurojust with information on convictions

BelgiumAt the start of 2007, a Royal Decree entered intoforce making it easier for the financial adminis-trative authorities to freeze the assets of individ-uals involved in terrorist offences, as describedin the 19 December 2003 Act on Terrorism. Asecond new bill was published on 15 May 2007on the insurance against damage caused byterrorist acts. This new law supports the victimof a terrorist act in receiving compensation.Also, a Royal Decree of October 2006 enteredinto force on 15 June 2007, allowing a check offinancial transactions, in order to fight moneylaundering and financing of terrorism.

DenmarkAfter the introduction of the first anti-terrorismpackage on 31 May 2002, the Danish Parlia-ment passed an updated package on 2 June2006. In the Criminal Code, the definition of theconcept of terrorism has been laid down inSection 114. Recruitment for terrorism, as wellas training, instruction and teaching have beencriminalised in Sections 114c and 114d. Aidingand abetting to terrorism is punishable with upto six years in prison according to Section114d. Through amendments to the Administra-tion of Justice Act, investigative powers havenow been strengthened for both the policeand the intelligence service. The amendment in2006 also allowed a less restricted access to ex-change of information between the SecurityIntelligence Service and the Defence Intelli-gence Service. In September 2007, a new provi-sion of the Administration of Justice Actentered into force, allowing for the storage ofInternet and telecommunications data for anone-year period.

FinlandFour new significant amendments related to ter-rorist crimes came into force on 1 May 2008 inFinland concerning

1. public incitement to terrorist offences;

2. providing training for a terrorist group;

3. promoting the activity of a terrorist group;

4. recruiting persons for terrorist offences.

FranceSince 9 September 1986, the French law has pro-vided for the possibility that the prosecution,investigation and judgement of terroristoffences take place in Paris. In practice, all ter-rorist cases are centralised in Paris. Since then,the French legislation concerning incriminationof terrorist acts (including financing of terror-ism) as well as rules governing the criminal pro-ceeding have been regularly amended, mostrecently in January 2006. Terrorist acts aredefined by Articles 421-1 to 422-7 of the PenalCode. French law refers in particular to existingoffences that are qualified as terrorist acts“where they are committed intentionally in con-nection with an individual or collective under-taking the purpose of which is seriously to dis-turb public order through intimidation or ter-ror”. The law also provides for the participationin a group or association in order to prepare anyact of terrorism. Concerning the criminal pro-ceedings, it should be noted that, since 2004,specific provisions have applied to terroristoffences. They mainly concern surveillance, infil-tration, custody, searches, interception oftelecommunications, audio and video recordingin specified vehicles and places, and measuresto freeze property.

GermanyAt the end of 2003, the Criminal Code wasupdated to implement the 2002 CouncilFramework Decision. In September 2007, newprovisions in criminal law were proposed toextend the criminalisation of preparatory terror-ist acts (falling under Sections 129 a and b of theCriminal Code), and punish with up to ten yearsin prison instead of six months. With these pro-posals, training and receiving of training will becriminalised. Also, the manufacturing or posses-sion of weapons or fluids and gasses which canbe used for preparing to commit terrorist actswill be criminalised. A further provision will beintroduced criminalising incitement to terrorism

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on the Internet and penalising this crime withup to three years in prison.

GreeceArticle 187a of the Greek Criminal Code containssome of the provisions implementing theCouncil Framework Decision. In this section,threats to commit terrorist acts are criminalised,when they are serious enough and cause terror.Also, the setting up and membership of a struc-tured organisation of more than three persons,acting together and planning to commit terror-ist acts is made punishable with up to ten years’imprisonment. Article 187 provides that perpe-tration of the acts mentioned in article 187amay carry up to a life sentence. After serving 25years, the convicted person can be releasedfrom prison on the basis of article 105 of theCriminal Procedure Code. Special investigationtechniques are allowed under article 253a of theCriminal Procedure Code. Prosecutions on thebasis of article 187a are brought before theCouncil of the Court of Appeal.

Republic of IrelandTerrorist acts are prosecuted under the OffencesAgainst the State Acts 1939 to 1998, in combina-tion with the Criminal Justice (TerroristOffences) Act 2005. The Criminal Justice Act2005 provides for Ireland’s compliance with theCouncil Framework Decision of 2002. TheOffences Against the State Acts provide,amongst others, for the offences of membershipof, providing assistance to, and directing anunlawful organisation. The Criminal Justice Actstrengthens the possibilities to deal with inter-national terrorism and regulates that groupsthat engage in, promote or encourage the com-mission of a terrorist activity are unlawful organ-isations under the Offences Against the StateActs. Terrorist offences are tried at the SpecialCriminal Court which was established under theOffences Against the State Acts.

ItalyTerrorism is defined under Article 270 of theCriminal Code; the definition dates back to 1980.An amendment in 2001 extended the definitionof terrorism to include violence against interna-tional organisations and foreign states. On 31July 2005, a new definition and new offences

(such as recruitment and training) were intro-duced reflecting elements of the CouncilFramework Decision of 2002. New measures toprevent and combat financing of terrorism wereintroduced in 2007, according to Directive2005/60/CE. On 29 December, new measuresconcerning expulsion in case of terrorism wereadopted.

LuxembourgOn 29 July 2008, Luxembourg has ratified theInternational Convention for the repression ofNuclear Terrorism of 14 September 2005 and hasintroduced specific criminal sanctions in case ofviolation.

SloveniaIn 2008 the new Slovenian Penal Code wasadopted, coming into force on 1 November2008. The new Penal Code amends the provi-sions regarding terrorism in the previous PenalCode and adds some new provisions taking intoaccount the content of the Framework Decisionon combating terrorism and its recent amend-ments. Articles 108, 109, 110 and 111 containprovisions with regard to terrorism, financing ofterrorist activities, incitement and public glorifi-cation of terrorist activities, conscripting andtraining for terrorist activities, respectively.

SpainIn October 2007, the government of Spainpassed a law in accordance with the Directive2006/24/EC of the European Parliament and ofthe Council of 15 March 2006: Law 25/2007 onElectronic Communications. The object of thelaw is the regulation of the providers of publicelectronic communications services (fixed net-work telephony, mobile telephony and Internet)concerning their obligations with respect to theretention of data while providing a service, aswell as the possibility to make that data avail-able to the persons in charge of an investigation(with the permission of a judicial authority). Thelaw will apply to the traffic and localisation ofboth legal entities and natural persons and tothe related data necessary to identify the sub-scriber and registered user. It will not apply tothe content of the electronic communicationsor to the information consulted using an elec-tronic communications network. The provider

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46

will have to keep the data for a year, with a pos-sibility to extend the period to two years or toreduce it to six months. The companies had sixmonths after this law has entered into force (7November 2007) to prepare the equipmentrequired to comply with the law.

SwedenThe Swedish government has, during 2008, putforward a proposal to the Swedish Parliamentthat Sweden would approve the changes in theEuropean Council Framework Decision of 13June 2002 on combating terrorism. This meansthat Sweden in the future has to criminalisepublic exhortation of terrorism, recruiting forthe purpose of terrorism and training for thepurpose of terrorism.

The NetherlandsA bill allowing increased possibilities for inves-tigation and prosecution of terrorist crimescame into force on 1 February 2007. The newlaw penalises the establishment of a terroristorganisation, as well as participation to or lead-ership of a terrorist organisation. Conspiracy tocommit terrorist crimes and recruitment for thejihad is also specifically criminalised. Furtherpreventive measures have been introduced inthe criminal procedure law. On the basis of aDecision on investigation of terrorist offences,of the same date, further executive measuresmay be proscribed by special legislation.

Finally, at the end of 2006, a new bill was intro-duced allowing witnesses protected by theintelligence services to testify in court, thusfacilitating the use of intelligence materials interrorism proceedings.

United KingdomThe UK is one of the countries where anti-ter-rorism legislation has been in place for manyyears. The Terrorism Act of 30 March 2006 putin place a number of new offences, includingpreparatory acts, training, encouragement toterrorism and dissemination of terrorist publi-cations. In 2007 new proposals were put for-ward to change the counter-terrorism legisla-tion. The main elements proposed in the newbill are: a possible extension of pre-chargedetention for terrorist suspects beyond thecurrent limit of 28 days; a requirement for con-victed terrorists to provide the police with per-sonal information on their release from prisonand to notify any changes to this information;introduction of a foreign travel order that willenable convicted terrorists to be banned fromtravelling overseas; changes to enable post-charge questioning of terrorist suspects andthe drawing of adverse inferences from a re-fusal to say something that is later relied on incourt; enhanced sentences for those convictedof terrorism-related offences; putting the policecounter-terrorist DNA database on a soundstatutory footing and making other changes toenable the full use of DNA in terrorist cases.

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100 The UK provided Europol with information on a total number of 74 attacks in 2008, without specification of thetype of terrorism. Unlike previous editions of the TE-SAT, this number also includes attacks carried out in NorthernIreland.

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Annex 5: Number of arrested suspects in 2006, 2007 and 2008per member state and per affiliation101

101 The UK provided Europol with information on a total of 256 arrests in 2008, without specifying the affiliation ofthose arrested. Unlike previous editions of the TE-SAT, this number also includes arrests carried out in NorthernIreland.

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NOTES51

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European Police Office TE-SAT 2009 - EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report

2009 - 52 pp. - 297 x 210 mm

ISBN 978-92-95018-74-7ISSN 1830-9712

ISBN 978-92-95018-74-7ISSN 1830-9712

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