JCB BLOG

Swiss Supreme Court keeps Youssef Nada on the Terrorist List

On November 14, the Swiss Supreme Court (in a ruling published on November 27) dismissed a claim filed by Youssef Nada to be removed along with several entities, including Al Taqwa Bank, from the Swiss Decree of October 2, 2000, implementing UN sanctions against individuals and entities associated with Osama Bin laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Youssef Nada justified his claim that he should be removed from the list, with the decision of the Swiss Federal Prosecutor of 31 May 2005 to drop the charges against him and Al Taqwa Bank, following a criminal investigation on Al Taqwa opened in October 2001.

The Supreme Court, referring to previous judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), ruled that the Swiss sanctions were not “autonomous”, but the result of the “binding effect” of the decisions of the UN Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. This decision “not only prevails over the domestic law of the member states, but also over any other obligations from international conventions, according to article 103 of the Charter”. The Court therefore ruled that “the global uniform application of UN sanctions would be jeopardized if the courts of individual member states could amend or reverse sanctions against individuals or entities because of possible violations of fundamental rights under the European Convention of Human Rights and the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”.

Following previous ECJ rulings, the Court stated that the binding effect of UNSC decisions could only be limited by a norm of “jus cogens”, mandatory fundamental provisions of the international law applicable to all international legal entities, including the organs of the UN.

Regarding Nada’s claim that UN sanctions were adopted in contradiction to norms of jus cogens (usually referring to basic human rights) the Court ruled that “fundamental rights (such as property rights, rights of defense and the right to effective judicial protection) are not absolute”. It further stated that the UN sanction mechanism was limited in its nature and time and provides a delisting process.

The Court found that the procedural guarantees raised by the plaintiff as ineffective in the case of the UN sanctions (right to a fair trial and right to an effective remedy) were not considered as “core provisions of international human rights conventions”. In fact, article 15-2 of the European Convention on Human Rights excluded such provisions from the norms for which no derogations are admitted. Therefore, the Court concluded that such norms were not “jus cogens”.

Interestingly, the same day of the Swiss Supreme Court ruling, the U.S. government and the UN decided to remove another Al Taqwa director, Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, from the terrorist sanctions list.

According to a statement of the U.S. Treasury Department, the decision was taken because Mr Nasreddin “no longer fits the criteria for designation” after he has submitted signed statements to the Office of Foreign Assets Control certifying that he has terminated any business relationships with Nada, Bank al Taqwa, “and any other designated individuals and entities, and that he will have no such dealings in the future.” “In the event that Mr. Nasreddin recommences his support for designated terrorist entities, OFAC will not hesitate to re-designate him,” the Treasury statement said. Is Youssef Nada next?

The Swiss Supreme Court ruling is available in its original German language (tf_youssef_nada.pdf).

European terror arrests: The Bosnian connection

A European terror cell that recruited suicide bombers and insurgent fighters for Iraq and Afghanistan has been dismantled yesterday in a series of coordinated raids in Italy, France and Portugal.

20 Algerian and Tunisian militants have been arrested throughout Europe. The leaders of the group, Dridi Sabri, Mehdi Ben Nasr and Imed Ben Zarkaoui where operating from Northern Italy since at least 2002.

Among the arrested cell members in Italy was Bechir Kaouana (37), a Tunisian who since 1999 is known to have connections with the terrorist network of Essid Sami Ben Khemais. During searches at his home at the time, propaganda material was found, including a videotape on “Jihad in Chechnya” with pictures of fighting mujahideen and summary executions of Russian soldiers captured by Chechen rebels.

Another arrested cell member, Tunisian Habib Ignaoua (47), was also identified in 1998 as a member of the cell of Ben Khemais. According to Italian legal records, Ignaoua is as a veteran of the Bosnian war.

Two other men were arrested in England under an extradition warrant from the Italian authorities on charges of providing logistical support to the cell between 2003 and 2005. The Italians charged them for providing forged documents facilitating the illegal entry into Italy of recruited volunteers on their way to fight jihad in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ali Ben Zidane Chehidi (34), was arrested in the London suburb of Croydon, and Mohamed Salah Ben Hamadi Khemiri (53), was arrested in the northern English city of Manchester.

Interestingly, Khemiri is also a veteran of the Bosnian war, where he is believed to have fought with the Muslim Mujahideen Brigade according to our sources. One document from the Bosnian police lists “Mohamed Salah Khemiri”, son of Hamad, born on April 7, 1954 in Beja, Tunisia. Khemiri was granted Bosnian citizenship in 1995, as were hundreds of foreign fighters.

In a pattern recently highlighted by the British MI5 Director-General, the cell was recruiting young candidates for suicide bombings. The core of the network was led and coordinated by Algerian and Tunisian veterans of the Bosnian war, that now appears as a key factor in many European terrorist networks.

According to the Italian investigation, the cell was financed by the trafficking of false passports and by donations raised in mosques. The cell was using legitimate businesses fronts to cover its activities, including butcher shops, call centers and car dealers.

During an intercepted telephone conversation in November 2006, the leader of cell reportedly said: “We want projects for the long term. Create a group of three or four persons with no criminal records, and with legal documents. We should open three or four butcher shops in Italy, and France. We should open a call center and trade in clothing. I’m talking about projects that bring profits."

Click to view an exclusive surveillance video of the cell provided by the Special Operations Unit of the Italian police (ros_surveillance_tape.avi).

An inside look at the Swiss investigation on Yassin Al Kadi

The Canadian press recently provided an inside look into the Swiss investigation on Yassin Al Kadi. According to the report, in 2006 the Swiss judge investigating the case of Yassin Al Kadi has requested the Canadian judicial cooperation to provide insights on Kadi’s relationship to Ibrahim Afandi, a Saudi businessman who has been for years a member of the executive board of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and whose name appeared on a list of individuals referred to within al Qaeda as the “Golden Chain,” wealthy donors to mujahideen efforts, that we’ve recovered from archives of a Bosnian charity in 2003. His name also appeared in the Al Taqwa Bank phonebook seized at Youssef Nada's house in 2001.

The Swiss judge specifically requested access to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) files in order to assess “links and/or interesting similarities between some financial set-ups performed by Mr. Yasin Al Kadi and Mr. Ibrahim Afandi”.

In an unusual interview during the course of an ongoing investigation, the Swiss judge said she was “looking for evidence, for connections with other proceedings” in America and Europe.

The Canadian press report suggests that the Swiss authorities are carrying out a broad investigation, extended from the Swiss transactions that have shaped the initial prosecution, to include international collateral and tangential networks.

The ongoing case against Al Kadi was opened by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor on October 15, 2001. Al Kadi was formally charged in July 2003 of participating to a criminal organization. In June 2005, the case was transferred to a Swiss Federal investigative judge.