CAPE VERDE: 2009 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS PRAIA 000265

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/CT (SHORE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC SMIG CV
SUBJECT: CAPE VERDE: 2009 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

REF: STATE 109980


1. (U) Per reftel, Post submits the following text for
submission in the 2009 Country Reports on Terrorism. Embassy
POC is Jeffrey E. Zinsmeister, +238 260-8995, email:
ZinsmeisterJE@state.gov.


2. (U) Begin text:

Terrorist organizations have not historically operated in Cape
Verde due to its geographic isolation in the mid-Atlantic.
Nonetheless, a recent influx of West African immigrants,
attracted by Cape Verde's relative prosperity and political
stability, has raised concerns. Many Muslims in this
predominantly Roman Catholic country come from mainland Africa,
and mosques in the nation's capital have reportedly been
proselytizing aggressively, and have attracted visiting
religious workers from West Africa and the Sudan. As of
November 2009, however, there were no reports of local mosques
spreading radical messages. In addition, individuals holding
passports from 14 other member-states of the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS) -- Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote
D'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia,
Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo -- may
enter Cape Verde for 90 days without a visa, making it
relatively easy for them to come and go unnoticed.

Cape Verdean authorities also continued to prosecute a case
against Jean-Charles Mendes Da Silva, a French citizen and
alleged member of the Algerian terrorist organization Al-Jama'ah
al-Islamiyah al-Musallah (aka Armed Islamic Group). In 2000, Da
Silva escaped from a French prison where he had been
incarcerated for participating in a Paris-area bombing.
According to media reports, the French Directorate-General for
External Security believes Da Silva contacted terrorist
organizations throughout North Africa after his escape and then
sought refuge in Cape Verde, where he attempted to establish a
terrorist cell. On March 10, 2007, Cape Verdean police arrested
Da Silva on an Interpol warrant and on unrelated forgery and
weapons charges. A Cape Verdean court convicted him of those
crimes, as well as of certain criminal offenses related to his
activities in France, but prosecutors declined to seek a
conviction under Cape Verde's anti-terrorism laws. Moreover,
Cape Verde refused the French government's request to extradite
Da Silva, because he had claimed and obtained Cape Verdean
citizenship prior to his arrest. (The Cape Verdean constitution
forbids extradition of its citizens, and some speculate that Da
Silva claimed citizenship when he arrived in Cape Verde
specifically to obtain this protection.) He was awaiting
sentencing as of November 2009.

With respect to antiterrorism legislation, Cape Verdean law
specifically criminalizes terrorist activity, including the
provision of material assistance to terrorists. The code of
criminal procedure also gives police wider authority to perform
wiretaps and warrantless searches in cases of suspected
terrorism. Additionally, in November 2009 Cape Verde's two
major political parties informally agreed to amend the Cape
Verdean constitution in order to allow nighttime searches and
seizures in such circumstances.

Cape Verdean law enforcement has taken special measures to
prevent terrorists from entering the country. Immigration
authorities check names of visitors against a database of actual
and suspected terrorists, which includes data furnished by the
U.S. government. Cape Verde is in the process of obtaining
access to certain data from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification
System, and also participates in the ECOWAS Warning and Response
Network, an information-sharing program addressing security
issues.

End text.

MYLES