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WORKSHOP G - TERRORISM


COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE Colombo, Sri Lanka


58th Workshop G - 12 September 2012


TERRORISM – THE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, PEACE AND SECURITY


Moderator: Hon. Elijah Okupa, MP, Uganda


Discussion Leaders: Sen. Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Pakistan Hon. Maj. Jim K. Muhwezi, MP, Uganda Hon. Irene Ng, MP, Singapore


Preventative measures against terrorism must address social distributive justice by implementing national policies to alleviate alienation and deprivation, said Members speaking at this workshop. Social injustice and hatred must


be denied at all levels and registers of approved religious teachers should be established to ensure that the right ideologies are taught. Terrorism must be dealt with in a multidimensional level. Offending countries must be isolated and funding and resources blocked.


Parliamentarians must reach


out to the community and deepen relations with the citizenry. As leaders, they must protect the world from terrorist ideology by delivering positive messages and providing good governance, speaking out with passion to lead the fight against terrorism. The workshop noted that terrorists have become very creative in their


272 | The Parliamentarian | 2012: Issue Four


outreach through the internet. In 2002 there were 202 websites; today there are more than 300. People are seduced and recruited via online communication. internet websites promoting terrorist ideology and tools of terror should be banned and the terrorist held accountable. Cyber terrorism has also become a real threat to governments. The fight against terrorism might require the suspension of certain rights and freedoms of citizens, it was suggested. Unless it provides the fruits of


freedom, democracy becomes meaningless. In the pursuit of true democracy, peace and security, terrorism is an enormous challenge. It impacts on democracy and affects people’s lives and must be separated from religion. The fight against terrorism might


include the suspension of certain rights and freedoms of citizens, said some delegates.


Terrorism and Democracy Sen. Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah of Pakistan determined that terrorism poses a direct and indirect threat to democracy. The direct threat is a result of terrorism’s ability to undermine the fundamental security that nations and international organizations provide their citizens, which is the foundation of the legitimacy of a government. Terrorism also poses a direct threat to the basic human rights of life and property. But he argued that the indirect


threat to democracy is by far the most dangerous. The war on terrorism challenges the very existence of democratic institutions of nations and their ability to ensure the security of their citizens without harming innocent people. Terrorists can and indeed are


attempting to cause democrats to ignore principles of democracy to counter the fears that terrorism brings. When democrats abandon


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