Debates in New Zealand on terrorism law as country prepares to mark mosque attacks’ anniversary

Shaimaa Hefzi

New Zealand faces difficulty formulating a law to trim violence and terrorism as it prepares to mark the second anniversary of attacks in two of its mosques that sent shockwaves across the world.

Threat still present

On March 4, New Zealand police arrested two people after making threats to the two mosques that were the scene of a terrorist operation two years ago.

The authorities said that an online threat was directed at an earlier time against the al-Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Center.

The attacks, which invited attention to terrorism in New Zealand, targeted the two mosques. They were carried out by a white fanatic of the far right in 2019. They left 51 people dead, becoming the most violent in New Zealand’s modern history.

In an effort to avoid a repetition of these attacks, New Zealand is working with many international partners to improve its capacity to combat terrorism.

It tries to do this through policies, legislation and practical initiatives that help prevent terrorist financing, extremism, and recruitment by terrorist organizations.

This European country also supports the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, co-sponsoring a number of terrorist designations.

There is an ongoing national process to ensure New Zealand’s commitment to terrorist sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council on these entities.

Crisis of the law

At the level of application, however, there is a widespread debate in New Zealand about the anti-terrorism law.

These debates come at a time Turkish authorities try to repatriate to New Zealand a woman accused of traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The law in New Zealand makes bans the detention of the woman in the country unless the court establishes that she knowingly participated in a terrorist group.