LEGISLATIVE MEASURES TO COUNTER TERRORISM
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
It's a war fought with diplomacy, by the investigations of law enforcement,
by gathering intelligence and by cutting off the terrorists' money.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
7 November 2001
Introduction
In the aftermath of September 11 incidents, Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir and President Bush met at a private session at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing in October 2001. This was followed by a visit to the Pentagon by the Malaysian Defence Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak in April 2002 which paved the way for an official visit by the Prime Minister of Malaysia to the White House in May 2002. During the Prime Minister’s visit to the White House, U.S and Malaysia signed a joint declaration to fight terrorism in Southeast Asia, making Malaysia’s efforts part of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). The said declaration agreed to mutual cooperation in counter-terrorism in defence, banking, intelligence sharing, border control, transportation and law enforcement19. Consequently, the existing defence cooperation has not only been enhanced but also opened another avenue in the form of non-military, antiterrorism related cooperation such as intelligence exchange, financial control on terrorist funding, training etc.
In the wake of 11th September 2001 Attack on America (more popularly known as 9/11), numerous countries around the world employed the use of legislation as one of the counter measures designed to crack down on international terrorism. Anti-terrorism laws are implemented in places as diverse as the United States, United Kingdom, India, Egypt and South Africa. South East Asia is no exception. Particularly in five countries -Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore – Southeast Asia braced up to face the latest humanity’s – terrorism.
Malaysia
The primary piece of anti-terrorism legislation being enforced in Malaysia is the Internal...