Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the following report entitled A review of regulations re-listing Jama'at Nusrat al-lslam wal-Muslimin and Islamic State Khorasan Province as terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code Act 1995.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I present today the statement of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for the review of regulations relisting Jama'at Nusrat al-lslam wal-Muslimin and Islamic State Khorasan Province as terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code Act 1995.

Under the Criminal Code, regulations may be made specifying an organisation as a terrorist organisation for a three-year period. Organisations can be relisted, provided the minister for the Australian Federal Police, currently the Attorney-General, is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the organisation continues to directly or indirectly engage in terrorism or advocates the doing of a terrorist act.

The effect of being listed as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code is to trigger the application of offences for supporting or associating with the organisation in specified ways, such as being a member of, recruiting for, or providing funding to, the organisation.

The committee's review examined the Attorney-General's decision to relist these particular organisations. Section 102.1A of the Criminal Code provides that the committee may review a regulation which lists or relists an organisation as a terrorist organisation and report its comments and recommendations to each house of the parliament before the end of the applicable 15 sitting day disallowance period. This statement serves this purpose and is being presented within the required period.

In determining whether the regulations for the relisting of these organisations should be supported, the committee reviewed the merits in accordance with the Attorney-General's explanatory statement and statement of reasons for the organisations as well as other publicly available information. The committee also invited public submissions on the listings. No submissions were received.

The committee noted the following information about the two organisations.

Jama'at Nusrat al-lslam wal-Muslimin is a religiously motivated organisation whose primary goal is to build a Salafi-Islamist state in West Africa.

The organisation is primarily based in Mali but is active across much of West Africa, including Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo.

JNIM's activities have brought the organisation into conflict with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. Over the past decade, more than 300 peacekeepers associated with the MINUSMA—the mission—have been killed as a result of targeted insurgent attacks.

JNIM, the terrorist organisation, has been listed as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Islamic State Khorasan Province is a religiously motivated violent extremist group that adheres to extreme Salafi jihadist ideology promoted by the Islamic State. IS-KP, as they're called, are primarily based in Afghanistan; however, the group also operates in parts of Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Bangladesh.

IS-KP has been listed as a terrorist organisation since November 2017. Since the group were relisted in 2020, they have re-shifted their operational focus towards urban warfare in Afghanistan and parts of north-western Pakistan, which has resulted in an escalation of IS-KP's operations, particularly in Afghanistan.

IS-KP is subject to sanctions by the United Nations Security Council and IS-KP has been listed as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United dates, Canada and New Zealand.

There is evidence that these groups continue to be engaging in, preparing, assisting with or fostering terrorist activities that could potentially and profoundly impact the Australian people.

After examining the evidence that has been provided, the committee is satisfied with the relisting processes and considers that they have been followed appropriately for these organisations. The committee therefore supports the relisting of Jama'at Nusrat al-lslam wal-Muslimin and Islamic State Khorasan Province as terrorist organisations under division 102 of the Criminal Code in order to protect Australians and Australia's interests and finds no reason to disallow the regulations and the listing.

I commend this report to the parliament.