NEW COUNTERTERRORISM MEASURES CREATE "VERTICAL OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 003115

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL PTER RS
SUBJECT: NEW COUNTERTERRORISM MEASURES CREATE "VERTICAL OF
SECURITY"

REF: 05 MOSCOW 15657

Classified By: Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs Kirk
Augustine. Reasons 1.4 (b and d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. On March 6 President Putin signed a bill "On
Counteracting Terrorism" that had hastily moved through the
Duma and Federation Council in the preceding days. Passed on
its first reading in December 2004 (reftel) after the Beslan
tragedy, the bill was then shelved because of several
controversial provisions. It again gained urgency early this
year because it was essential to implement Putin's February
16 decree establishing the National Counterterrorism
Committee (NCC),to be headed by Federal Security Service
(FSB) Chief Patrushev, which will coordinate all federal
counterterrorism policies and operations. Many observers
view the NCC decree and the law primarily through the prism
of internal Kremlin politics, with Patrushev and the FSB seen
as having gained a vote of confidence from Putin and having
bested Internal Affairs (MVD) Minister Nurgaliyev for control
of counterterrorism efforts. Human rights activists worry
that the Kremlin -- and especially the FSB -- has gained
instruments that could potentially be abused for political
ends. END SUMMARY.
.
New National Counterterrorism Committee
--------------


2. (C) After the Beslan tragedy in 2004, President Putin
vowed to develop an effective counterterrorism strategy and
mechanisms to implement it. However, the issue quickly
stalled because of government infighting about who would take
ultimate responsibility for counterterrorism activities. The
main competition was between the FSB, led by Nikolay
Patrushev, and the Interior Ministry, led by Rashid
Nurgaliyev. Moscow Carnegie Center regional expert Nikolay
Petrov told us the February 16 Presidential Decree "On
Measures to Counteract Terrorism," which granted the FSB full
control over the fight against terrorism, was significant
primarily as a victory for Patrushev against Nurgaliyev.
Given that rumors have long swirled that the FSB chief might
soon be removed, Petrov continued, the latest decision also
marks Putin's vote of confidence in Patrushev. On the other
hand, Federation Council member Vladimir Slutsker, who has
long been sharply critical of Patrushev to us in private,
told us March 15 that the latest developments marked an
institutional victory for the FSB, rather than a personal
victory for its current chief.


3. (SBU) Putin's decree created a "vertical of security"
running from Regional Counterterrorism Commissions (RCCs)
headed by governors to the NCC at the national level. The
decree also established operational headquarters for both the
NCC and RCCs: the former will be overseen by the deputy chief
of the FSB and the latter will be led by regional FSB heads.
Three hundred specialists assigned to the NCC will be based
at the FSB. The NCC will include the ministers of Interior,
Emergency Situations, Health, Communications, Foreign
Affairs, Justice, and Transportation, the chair of the
foreign intelligence service, and the deputy speakers of the
State Duma and Federation Council. The Armed Forces Chief of
Staff will represent the Defense Ministry on the NCC. Also
included on the list of committee members will be a deputy
head of the Presidential Administration (PA),and speculation
is that Igor Sechin, rather than Vladislav Surkov, will serve
in that role, given Sechin's prominence in the Kremlin's
"power group." In the event of a terrorist incident, all
governmental agencies represented on the committee would be
required to implement NCC decisions. The FSB Director is
empowered to develop further details, including the
regulations and procedures under which the committees will
work. In addition, he is to appoint the person responsible
for informing the public of the committee's operations.


4. (SBU) Creation of the vertical of security has generated
some serious concerns among civil society activists. Head of
the All-Russia Movement for Human Rights Lev Ponomarev argues
that the decree is dangerous as it creates "a new organ
headed by the FSB that operates like a parallel government to
the cabinet of ministers and whose decrees will be obeyed by
all the structures that form the committee." Viktor
Ilyukhin, a Duma deputy from the Communist Party and the
former head of the State Duma Security Committee, shared that
view, telling "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" that the "NCC will have
the opportunity to intervene in the work of any authority,
whether federal, regional, or municipal, and one should not
rule out that it will do so not only in the interests of
fighting terrorism."
.
Parliament Approves Law "On Counteracting Terrorism"
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5. (SBU) The law "On Counteracting Terrorism" was introduced
by Duma members and quickly passed its first reading in
December 2004 in the wake of the Beslan tragedy. It was then
shelved for more than a year because of concerns over several
provisions, including strict limits on the right of the media
to cover a terrorist attack and an unclear understanding of
the term "terrorism danger regime." Both the PA's legal
office and civil society groups reportedly strongly opposed
the bill. However, Putin's February 16, 2006, decree
creating the NCC made the law essential, and it was revived
and rushed through the Duma and Federation Council. On
February 26, the bill was adopted almost unanimously by the
Duma -- 423 votes in favor, one against, and eight
abstentions ) and it passed unanimously in the Federation
Council four days later.


6. (SBU) According to "Gazeta.Ru," Duma Security Committee
member Gennadiy Gudkov said that almost ninety percent of the
bill had been rewritten in response to the president's
decree. In the first draft, authority to fight terrorism had
been given to a Federal Counterterrorism Commission under the
prime minister. Now, the law replicates almost in its
entirety the text of the presidential decree creating the
NCC. The new legislation establishes a single chain of
command in counterterrorism operations, specifies all actions
for security structures, and holds the people in charge
personally accountable. In addition, the law significantly
expands the concept of terrorism. It emphasizes that
terrorist activity goes beyond "organizing, planning,
preparing, financing, or perpetrating an act of terrorism,"
and also covers promoting "terrorist ideas" and distributing
materials or information that encourage terrorist activity or
incite individuals to commit an act of terrorism.


7. (SBU) Other counterterrorist measures provided in the law
in the event of a terrorist attack include:

--removing persons from specified locations or buildings;
--conducting ID checks and body-searches;
--monitoring telephone conversations and other information
transmitted through telecommunication channels;
--limiting the movement of vehicular traffic and pedestrians;
--introducing a "legal regime for counterterrorist
operations" with restrictions on residents of the region or
city where it is in force;
--relocating residents temporarily from the region where a
legal regime for counterterrorist operations is in force;
--negotiating with terrorists for the purpose of saving lives
or preventing injuries, but without giving in to political
demands; and
--authorizing the Armed Forces to shoot down planes or sink
ships, even with civilian hostages on board, as well as to
fight terrorism outside of Russia's borders.


8. (SBU) Other provisions establish procedures for paying
compensation for damages sustained in a terrorist attack and
for social rehabilitation for victims. The law specifies
that "killing an individual committing an act of terrorism,
injuring him, or damaging his property is considered lawful."
There is also a list of benefits for military personnel and
executive branch personnel who participate in
counterterrorist operations.


9. (SBU) Finally, the law bans "establishing or operating any
organization whose goals or actions aim to promote, justify,
or support terrorism or crime." It notes that "an
organization will be recognized as a terrorist organization
and subject to closure following a court decision based on a
statement from the Prosecutor General's office." The
property of such an organization will be subject to
confiscation and acquisition by the state. (NOTE: The
concept of "confiscation" is not yet covered in the Criminal
Code; it is one of many legislative acts -- others include
laws on transport security, the media, the Tax Code, the
Federal Security Service, the status of servicemen, and
prevention of political, ethnic, and religious extremism --
that will need to be changed or amended to correspond to the
new law. END NOTE.) Additionally, the Duma decided to
include a special provision that "this article applies to
foreign or international organizations, along with their
departments, branches, and representative offices in the
Russian Federation."


10. (C) Many experts agree that the law as passed marks an
improvement over the 2004 version, which was widely
considered as too draconian. Aleksander Petrov of Human
Rights Watch told us that "it could have been worse" and
that, in the post-Beslan environment, the authorities could
have passed anything they wanted. One of the law's main
drafters, Chairman of the State Duma Subcommittee on

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International Cooperation in Combating International
Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime Igor Barinov,
told us the law had been purposely "watered down to take into
account possible international and domestic criticism," and
he said many in the Duma and the government believe that "the
law doesn't give nearly enough powers to the FSB." In
contrast, according to Georgiy Dzhibladze of the Center for
the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, the law gives
huge powers to the security forces without providing any
public control of them. Dzhibladze said it was similar to
what the government could do under a state of emergency, with
no check on the GOR's authority. He maintained that the law
might be "tested" in various regions to see how suspension of
the rule of law would work.
.
FSB Chief Patrushev Defends New Law
--------------


11. (SBU) On March 21 FSB Chief Patrushev gave a lengthy and
detailed front-page interview to "Rossiiskaya Gazeta" in
which he vigorously defended the new law. Admitting that
serious improvement was needed in the way counterterrorism
operations were conducted in Russia, he said the new law
would help prevent, fight, and minimize the consequences of
terrorist acts by involving not only the security services,
but federal executive branch bodies, regional government
bodies, and local government bodies. The two main issues
that he said demanded immediate attention were detecting and
eliminating financial sources of terrorism and creating
socioeconomic conditions that would prevent recruitment of
new terrorists. He said those issues were particularly
relevant for the Caucasus -- normalization of the situation
there would come about faster by pooling the efforts of all
levels of government. Finally, he emphasized that the law
met international standards, saying that there was a
difference between "abuses" and restrictions on civil
liberties. He maintained that restrictions were permitted by
the Russian Constitution and that "even the European
Convention on Human Rights states that rights are inviolate
save for when restrictions are necessitated by considerations
of state or public security, prevention of crime, etc."


12. (C) COMMENT. In the fight against terrorism, a strong,
centralized institution to prevent, counter, and mitigate the
consequences of terrorist attacks and take responsibility for
counterterrorist operations makes sense. The string of
deadly terrorist incidents, beginning with the Moscow
apartment bombings in 1999 and including the now-household
names of Dubrovka, Beslan, and Nalchik, required that Russia
retool its government to respond. Its new mechanisms may
prove a more effective tool for coordinating the GOR's
response to terrorism, and the marked increase in the
willingness of GOR agencies to cooperate with the U.S.
bilaterally to improve their capabilities is but one example
of a real recognition that Russia must improve its
capabilities and performance. As with the recently enacted
NGO law, however, the danger is in how the GOR may use its
powerful new counterterrorism tools. In a country without
effective checks on central power -- from the courts,
legislature, or media or any tradition of limited powers
within the executive branch -- the temptation to abuse those
tools at the expense of civil liberties will be powerful.
The only effective oversight of the activities of the NCC
will come from the President, and in practice the FSB is
likely to have nearly unlimited power in a declared terrorist
situation.
BURNS