34 Righting Wrongs: Criminal Law Provisions in the Philippines related to National Security and their Impact on Human Rights Defenders B. Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA) The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA) was signed into law in 2012. This law was passed with a view to fulfilling the country’s obligations under the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (ICTSF), requiring States to identify and investigate funding of terrorism and to hold those responsible criminally liable. The ICTSF requires States to establish criminal offences for persons who: Art. 2 (1) …by any means, directly or indirectly, unlawfully and willfully, provides or collects funds with the intention that they should be used or in the knowledge that they are to be used, in full or in part, in order to carry out: An act which constitutes an offence within the scope of and as defined in one of the treaties listed in the annex; or Any other act intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to a civilian, or to any other person not taking an active part in the hostilities in a situation of armed conflict, when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.230 The TFPSA criminalizes the financing of acts of terrorism as well as the financing of “terrorist organizations”. The act of financing terrorism is also considered a predicate offense to money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The TFPSA appears to incorporate the definition of “terrorist acts” set out in the HSA. However, it adds to this definition by stating that a terrorist act is also any act which constitutes an offense under the law and is within the scope of the nine treaties which are set out in the Annex to the ICTSF, to which the Philippines is a party. 231 Human rights defenders and groups interviewed by the ICJ reported no explicit impact so far of the TFPSA on their ability to raise funds or functioning, although some expressed concern that it may make independent funding more difficult to obtain due to donor apprehension of being prosecuted under this law. The ICJ also received information that banks were beginning to require more details about transactions, especially from foreign institutions, but so far, these additional requirements do not affect the operations of human rights defenders’ organizations. C. Analysis of the HSA and TFPSA provisions in the light of international standards: States have the duty under international law to protect people from terrorist acts committed by nonState actors in a manner that respects and protects human rights. Such acts impair the enjoyment of human rights. States also have the obligation to prosecute and punish all perpetrators of terrorist acts, in a manner that is consistent with human rights.232 These obligations are implicit in the obligations of the state under Article 2(1) of the ICCPR, to respect and ensure the rights guaranteed in the ICCPR to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, without distinction.233 230 Article 4 of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. 231 Section 3(3)(j)(3) of the TFPSA states that a terrorist act is “any act which constitutes an offence under this Act that is within the scope of any of the following treaties of which the Republic of the Philippines is a State Party: (a) 1970 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft; (b) 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation; (c) 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents; (d) 1979 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages; (e) 1980 Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material; (f) 1988 Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation; (g) 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation; (h) 1988 Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms located on the Continental Shelf; (i) 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. 232 International Commission of Jurists, Legal Commentary to the ICJ Berlin Declaration: Counter-Terrorism, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law, Human Rights and Rule of Law Series No. 1, Geneva, 2008, at p. 5. 233 Human Rights Committee General Comment 31 on the Nature of the General Legal Obligation of States Parties to the Covenant, UN Doc, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add. 13 (2004) para 8.