(Mar. 5, 2021) On February 19, 2020, the crown prince and prime minister of Bahrain, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, issued Decree No. 12 of 2021 on the National Terrorism Lists. The decree is aimed at combating the financing of terrorism by establishing the National Terrorism List and the Sanction List, which will be used as a means of controlling terrorist entities and individuals.
The decree implements chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter and U.N. General Assembly Resolution No. 54/109 of December 1999 for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
National Terrorism List
Decree No. 12 of 2021 consists of 22 articles. The first article defines the term “National Terrorism List” as a list that includes the names of terrorist individuals and entities. The cabinet is the authority designated to decide whether to place individuals and entities on the National Terrorism List. (Art. 1, para. 5.) The decree requires financial institutions in Bahrain to freeze funds related to the persons or entities listed on the National Terrorism List. (Art. 2.) Any financial revenues stemming from those funds must be confiscated as well. (Art. 5.) The decree also prohibits financial institutions and individuals from providing any monetary assistance to persons and entities on the National Terrorism List. (Art. 4.)
The Committee for Combating Extremism, Terrorism and Its Financing and Money Laundering registers the names of individuals and entities on the National Terrorism List. (Art. 7.) The decree grants the individuals and entities placed on the National Terrorism List the right to file a petition before the committee to request that their names be removed from the list. (Art. 8.)
The committee has the right to permit the entities and individuals on the National Terrorism List to use some of their frozen funds to meet basic or extraordinary expenses. (Art. 9.)
The heirs of deceased individuals on the National Terrorism List may file a petition before the committee to erase the name of the deceased person from the list. The committee must ensure that none of the heirs of the deceased person will use the frozen funds. (Art. 10.)
Sanctions List
In addition to the National Terrorism List, Decree No. 12 of 2020 mentions another list, called “the Sanctions List.” The Sanctions List is a list of terrorist individuals and entities subject to specific financial penalties by the U.N. Security Council. (Art. 1 para. 6.)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain is the authority designated to send the names of the persons and entities on the National Terrorism List to be added to the U.N. Security Council’s Sanctions List. (Art. 11.) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must notify the U.N. Security Council when the persons or entities on the Sanctions List use a portion of their frozen funds in Bahrain to meet basic or extraordinary expenses. (Art. 12.)
The committee may notify the U.N. Security Council through the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the names of Bahraini persons or entities may be removed from the Sanctions List if those persons or entities are no longer active in the kingdom. (Art. 15, para. 1.) The committee may also request the U.N. Security Council through the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs to remove the names of specific deceased persons from the Sanctions List on the basis of petitions by their heirs. (Art 15, para. 2.)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to publish on its website the procedures for submitting requests for the ministry to remove names from the Sanctions List and to notify the U.N. Security Council that those names have been removed. (Art. 17.)