Counterterrorism laws in Europe outdated

Counterterrorism laws in Europe outdated

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Illustration

As though anyone still entertained any doubts, Europe’s counterterrorism laws cannot deal with the current situation where terror groups are flooding the continent. This has become all the more evident given the turn of events surrounding one of ISIS’ most notorious activists.

Before Mohammed Emwazi, the British-Kuwaiti Islamic State (ISIS) fighter now known as “Jihadi John” traveled to Syria and began beheading victims, including American journalist James Foley, he was already on the radar of British intelligence officials.

Emwazi described the pressure he was experiencing from surveillance in a series of e-mails to the Mail on Sunday newspaper between December 2010 and 2011. He said that the pressure of being watched was getting to him. “I’ll take as many pills as I can so that I will sleep forever,” he wrote, adding that he felt, “like a dead man walking.”

According to HomeLand Security News Wire, shortly after being deported from Tanzania in August 2009, Emwazi met with representatives of CAGE, a Muslim advocacy group. In a meeting recorded by the group, Emwazi claimed his plans for a safari vacation were disrupted when he was detained at the airport and sent back first to Amsterdam and then to Dover, England, where he was interrogated by British security officials.

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Emwazi told representatives of CAGE that he had been accused of traveling to Tanzania to link up with al-Qaeda-backed terror group al-Shabaab in neighboring Somalia. He revealed that British security officials had been monitoring his phone conversations even before he made his trip, but he assured CAGE officials that he had no connection to terrorism and denounced extremism.

CNN News is reporting that British administrative court documents suggest Emwazi was part of a radical West London recruitment network for terrorist groups in East Africa. One figure in the group identified as “CE” was allegedly trained by al-Qaeda terrorists in Somalia in 2006 and was later placed under “control order”. This is a British administrative measure designed to restrict the movement of terror suspects. A December 2011 court document regarding CE’s case named Emwazi as part of the same extremist network.

Nevertheless, in 2013, the conflict in Syria proved to be a galvanizing force for UK-based Muslim individuals and organizations. The threat of European fighters traveling to Syria and then returning home radicalized to violence and dangerous drew significant attention and resources.