There is no way to combat terrorism with a velvet glove. These are words of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior Chief Secretary Georgi Kostov. He said that in connection with the meeting of the National Security Council at the Council of Ministers called by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov for a discussion and approval of the bill for an Anti-terrorism Act. Georgi Kostov further commented that while discussions were underway on the bill the professional body demanded a greater possibility to carry out its duties. The balance, as he put it, is fragile - between what the powers of security services should be and what civil rights should be restricted. As to civil rights, it is sure that restrictions will be introduced, because there is no other way to attain balance.

Other senior officials have voiced similar stands. Protecting citizens' rights should be combined with their restriction, so as to be able to guarantee the security of citizens - this was how the Chairman of the parliamentary group of the ruling party GERB Tsvetan Tsvetanov explained the changes introduced with the Anti-terrorism Act. „The main objective of the Anti-terrorism Act is to guarantee the lives of citizens, even if this might be coupled with restrictions of the rights of persons involved in the process of terrorism”, Interior Minister Rumiana Bachvarova said. The nuance in her statement is that she names only persons involved in terrorism. And as to the criticisms of the Act from human rights organizations, the public has been reassured that when decisions on this issue will be made they will be the best possible decisions for as many people as possible.

A new point in the bill is that the armed forces too shall take part in anti-terrorist operations. If the bill is passed they will have the right to carry out searches, check possessions, detain individuals and use guns. Minister of Defense Nikolay Nenchev said that the military should begin training immediately given that they have no experience in such missions and operations. As to plans to limit rights and freedoms of citizens during anti-terrorist operations, the defense minister explained that such measures and their scale would be up to the specific threat. It is a different matter that when the army is involved strict law abidance is not possible. This has repeatedly been proved in world practice.

So, terrorism is not combated with a velvet glove. This means the glove will be made of iron. It is true that terrorism is not something to joke with, and terrorists do not have sense of humor. It is also true that the fight with terrorism is actually war in the literal sense of the word. Interior Minister Bachvarova is right that a terrorist act in itself is a threat to human life and this means it forfeits a basic human right. The question is what we are told with this Act. Let us hope that the message is not that the baby will be thrown out with the bath water where terrorism is concerned.

Otherwise, everything has been duly laid out. For example, where persons for whom there is data or evidence for possible involvement in the preparation of a terrorist attack, precautions shall be applied referring to limiting movement and taking documents away. The procedure of applying precautions has been described in detail and it is specified that they are subject to judicial review. The bill introduces basic rules for the execution of an anti-terrorist operation in case of availability of data for a concrete threat or a committed terrorist attack. In such cases partial or temporary limiting of some civil rights is allowed. Under the new rules declaring a state of emergency is allowed by way of a National Assembly resolution or by way of a decree of the President of Bulgaria. The objective is to give priority to saving human lives and protecting human health. This goal is justifiable. Time will tell what means will be used to justify it: something that the public expects to see clearly articulated in the Anti-terrorism Act.

English Daniela Konstantinova