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Moscow Times
September 21, 2004
Duma Regroups With Eye on Terror
By Nabi Abdullaev
Staff Writer

State Duma deputies on Monday began to sort through more than 30 anti-terrorism bills submitted by government agencies and individuals after President Vladimir Putin demanded that new laws be passed to arm the government in its fight against terror.

The bills, which are at the top of the Duma's fall agenda, have not been made public but, judging from details leaked to the Russian press, they promise to increase the Federal Security Service's powers, limit media coverage of terror attacks and create new headaches for migrants.

Deputies reconvened after summer vacations Monday and will discuss the security measures at the Duma's first plenary meeting Wednesday.

Putin said on Sept. 13 that a raft of anti-terrorism measures would be submitted to parliament this fall in an effort to prevent a repeat of the devastating terrorist attacks that have rocked the country in recent weeks and killed more than 400 people.

A bill titled "On Counteracting Terrorism" and backed by the FSB and the Justice Ministry promises to become the new legal cornerstone for the anti-terrorist effort. Under the bill, a counterterrorism operation can be proclaimed not only by the prime minister, as stipulated under current law, but also by the FSB director.

The FSB director would then appoint a subordinate to head the operation.

The bill, as described in Vremya Novostei, says that no one could take away the authority of the FSB's head of the operation -- meaning that even the president could not interfere. But full responsibility for the operation is also placed on the shoulders of the person appointed to head it, in what appears to be a damage-control provision for the president.

In addition to the current state of alert that is invoked after a terrorist attack, the bill introduces an alert that can be ordered after authorities "obtain information indicating the possible preparation ... of a terrorist attack and when circumstances do not allow the information to be checked," Kommersant reported Monday.

This alert, which could be ordered virtually on any day, allows the government to limit the movement of people and transportation, ban rallies, and boost security at potentially dangerous industrial facilities. No media censorship or suspension of elections is envisioned under the alert, Kommersant said, quoting from the bill.

The bill is intended to replace a law titled "On Fighting Terrorism," which deals mostly with what to do if a terrorist attack has taken place.

Alexander Kruglov, a deputy with the nationalist-populist Rodina faction, has drafted a bill that would ban all media except the press and news wires from covering terrorist attacks in real time.

"A terrorist attack loses its meaning if it is not covered by journalists and especially by television," he said in remarks published in Gazeta on Monday.

Kruglov's bill would not ban radio, television and Internet reporters from working at the scene of an attack, but would forbid them broadcasting until the crisis is resolved, Gazeta said.

The initiative, supported by Rodina's leadership, follows suit from the previous Duma's attempt to cut short media coverage of terrorist attacks in the wake of the Dubrovka hostage crisis in October 2002. The former Duma overwhelmingly approved a bill to limit drastically the media's ability to report on terrorism in November of that year, but Putin almost immediately vetoed it.

However, media leaders in early 2003 adopted a charter that repeated many provisions of the rejected bill, including pledges not to publish or air comments from terrorists and not to report about the actions of special services during attacks.

Another major trend in anti-terrorist legislation is the limitation of people's movement. Moscow city authorities have repeatedly called for stricter controls on movement, and their effort seems to have caught up with Duma deputies, who will consider a bill introducing limits on visits of people in "regions with complicated demographic or criminal situations," Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported Monday.

Drafting of the bill, called "On Citizens' Right to Freedom of Movement," will be completed by the end of September, the head of the Duma's Constitution and State Affairs Committee, Vladimir Pligin, told the newspaper.

The bill, supported by Moscow city authorities and the Interior Ministry, puts stronger obligations on incoming migrants to register with police and allows violators to be deported to the places where they are registered as permanent residents, Nezavisimaya Gazeta said. It would also grant police the right to search apartments during passport checks.

In a move that would help authorities to track people's movement, Putin on Monday ordered the formation of an interagency governmental commission tasked with creating a new generation of passport and visa documents with biometric information. Putin aide Viktor Ivanov was appointed as head of the group, which also includes senior officials from the Interior Ministry, FSB, military intelligence, Foreign Ministry, Justice Ministry, Finance Ministry and Federal Migration Service.

The pro-Kremlin United Russia party, which controls the Duma, ruled out on Monday proposals to lift a moratorium on capital punishment in the case of convicted terrorists, Interfax reported.

The threat of capital punishment would only harden the resolve of terrorists, jeopardize hostages, and set back any prospect of extraditing suspects wanted on terrorism charges from Europe, an unidentified Duma official told Interfax.

In the Federation Council, meanwhile, FSB director Nikolai Patrushev asked senators on Monday to take measures to recruit informers, Duma Deputy Alexei Mitrofanov said.

At a closed session, Patrushev suggested turning to prominent cultural figures with a request to help popularize the act of informing, which continues to be viewed with contempt after Soviet times, Mitrofanov said.

Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev called on senators to come up with measures to strengthen controls over the circulation of explosive substances, while Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov said salaries of police and FSB officers need to be raised to combat corruption, Mitrofanov said.

A Federation Council commission set up to investigate the Beslan hostage-taking left for Beslan on Monday as it started its work. Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov told journalists Monday that the commission is comprised of 11 senators and they will be joined by 10 Duma deputies on Wednesday. Eight deputies will be from United Russia, one from the Communist Party and one from Rodina, he said.

He said commission members have been warned not to issue personal comments during their investigation and added that there was no deadline set for the commission's work.

He said the commission's findings will be made public.

Staff Writer Francesca Mereu contributed to this report.