Dutch bill criminalising ‘glorification of terrorism’ threatens democratic rule of law and must be withdrawn
The Dutch government has submitted a draft bill that would make ‘glorifying terrorism and publicly expressing support for terrorist organisations’ a criminal offence. SOMO has serious objections to both the content and the repercussions of this proposed legislation and has recorded these in a response to the online consultation(opens in new window)
. In short, we advocate for withdrawing this unnecessary, vague and dangerous bill.
SOMO is concerned about the proposed law that makes ‘glorifying terrorism’ and publicly supporting ‘terrorist organisations’ a criminal offence. There is no doubt that terrorism can be a threat to Dutch society. However, we do not believe this bill is the right way to protect society as a whole. In fact, in our view, the proposed law actually poses a threat to people committed to peace and justice.
What exactly do ‘public glorification of terrorism’ and ‘public support for terrorist organisations’ entail? The bill does not go beyond naming one concrete example: ‘Publicly waving a flag of the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS)’. The lack of clarity around what would constitute a criminal offence produces a vast grey area with plenty of scope for the criminalisation of innocent citizens.
This is a real danger in light of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Politicians have unjustly and repeatedly labelled solidarity with the Palestinians as support for a terrorist organisation. As The Rights Forum(opens in new window) wrote earlier, this happened in September last year when Esther Ouwehand, leader of the Party for the Animals (PvdD), shared an image of a watermelon on X. People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) leader Dilan Yesilgöz(opens in new window) responded to this during a parliamentary debate: according to her, the watermelon – which is widely recognised as a national Palestinian symbol – symbolises ‘support for [terrorist organisation] Hamas’. This is just one example of an innocent action that could become a criminal offence under the proposed legislation.
What is not yet a reality in the Netherlands is already the case in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom shows how such anti-terrorism legislation can be abused to stifle free speech and the right to protest. Recently, the Palestine Action group – which campaigns against arms manufacturers that do business with Israel, among other things – was labelled a terrorist movement under existing anti-terrorism law. Many human rights organisations and groups, like Amnesty International(opens in new window) , have strongly opposed and condemned this move by the British government. Meanwhile, hundreds of people have been arrested(opens in new window) for expressing their support for the action group during a demonstration in London on 9 August. The message of the activists, as could be read on countless protest signs, was: ‘Stop the genocide.’
Anti-terrorism legislation, such as the bill currently being debated in the Netherlands, is characteristic of authoritarian regimes. It opens the door to political persecution and censorship and undermines the democratic rule of law. As a society, we must not go down that path. SOMO, therefore, joins the thousands of human rights organisations, activists, lawyers and concerned citizens who have already voiced their concerns and calls for the withdrawal of the bill.
