Subject: British Rights groups voice concern about anti-terrorist laws Assalamu'alaikum, Rights groups voice concern about anti-terrorist laws http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrights/story/0,7369,440093,00.html Staff and agencies Monday February 19, 2001 New anti-terror laws which target groups using Britain as a base for terrorist acts abroad come into force today, but civil rights groups are worried the law could be used to stifle legitimate protest. Radical Islamic groups such as Hamas and Hizbullah could be outlawed under the Terrorism Act, which replaces the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1973. Cyber-terrorists who hack into computers to undermine governments or threaten lives are also targeted. The act allows ministers to add groups to a list of proscribed organisations, which currently includes Irish terror groups such as the IRA and the Ulster Volunteer Force. Groups which could be banned include the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, the Kurdistan People's Party (PKK) of Turkey and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Once an organisation is on the list, it is illegal to be a member of the group, support it financially, display its emblems or share a platform with a member at a meeting of three or more people. Home secretary Jack Straw said the new legislation strengthened civil liberties and increased police powers to clamp down on terrorism. He denied that moves to outlaw groups using Britain as a base for terrorist action abroad could be seen as anti-Islamic, saying he was one of the government's leading campaigners against "Islamophobia". Although he would not say which particular groups could be proscribed under the new powers, he insisted that they would not be used to silence all protest. One reason for introducing the new law was to strengthen the position of individuals by making the law comply with the new Human Rights Act, he said. The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Simon Hughes, said his party had serious reservations about some parts of the legislation. Most worrying was the wide definition of terrorism, which he believed could easily be used to stifle legitimate protest. He said that trade union leaders calling for a strike at a hospital could be caught by the legislation. The leader of the Muslim parliament, Ghayasauddin Siddiqui, said many British Asians would feel intimidated by the new laws. He added that Pakistanis campaigning for self-determination in Kashmir would feel they were being discriminated against, for example