Country Reports on Terrorism 2011 - Singapore
|Publisher||United States Department of State|
|Publication Date||31 July 2012|
|Cite as||United States Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2011 - Singapore, 31 July 2012, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/501fbca131.html [accessed 26 May 2013]|
|Disclaimer||This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.|
Overview: Singapore continued its strong bilateral and multilateral counterterrorism intelligence and law enforcement cooperation. As of December, Singapore held in detention 14 persons for links to terrorist groups. Detainees included 12 people with links to Jemaah Islamiya (JI) who had plotted to carry out attacks in Singapore in the past. An additional three persons with links to terrorist groups were newly detained in 2011. Singapore released 47 persons on restriction orders and one on suspension direction, all of whom were monitored by the Singapore authorities and required to report to authorities on a regular basis.
Legislation and Law Enforcement: Singapore used its Internal Security Act (ISA) to arrest and detain suspected terrorists without trial. The ISA authorizes the minister for home affairs (MHA), with the consent of the president, to order detention without filing charges if it is determined that a person poses a threat to national security. The initial detention may be for up to two years, and the MHA may renew the detention for an unlimited number of additional periods of up to two years at a time with the president's consent.
Law enforcement actions included:
In January, Singapore detained JI member Jumari Kamdi. Kamdi was apprehended in Malaysia in 2010 and deported to Singapore in January 2011.
In June, Singapore took JI member Samad Subari into custody. Subari was one of the pioneering members of the Singapore JI network, according to the MHA. He had also undergone terrorist training in Afghanistan with al-Qa'ida in 2001. He was arrested in Indonesia in June of 2009, jailed for immigration offenses, and deported to Singapore upon completion of his prison sentence in June.
In September, Singapore released a member of JI, Mohamed Khalim Jaffar, on a suspension direction. Jaffar was detained under the ISA in January 2002.
Countering Terrorist Finance: Singapore is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, a FATF-style regional body. There were no assets frozen or confiscated for counterterrorist finance related crimes. For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.
Regional and International Cooperation: In June, the Singapore Navy participated in the annual Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism exercise, together with the U.S. Navy and the navies of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. In November, the Singapore Armed Forces conducted Exercise Northstar, a 16-day counterterrorism training exercise with more than 700 personnel from the army, police, and the Singapore Civil Defense Force.
Countering Radicalization and Extremism: Singapore maintained a disengagement program that focused on countering extremist ideology. Detainees were required to undergo a program of religious counseling with a group of volunteer religious counselors. Singapore enlisted the support of religious teachers and scholars to study JI's ideology, develop teachings to counter the group's spread within Singapore's Muslim community, and provide counseling to detainees. Religious counseling for detainees continued after release from detention. There were no reported cases of recidivism among the individuals released from detention.