July 30, 2020: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed “The Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020]” and “The United Nations (Security Council) (Amendment) Bill, 2020” with a majority vote amid sloganeering from the opposition benches.
The legislation is related to fulfill certain requirements of the Financial Action Task Force in order to bring Pakistan out of FATF’s grey list.
The legislation is also aimed at empowering the federal government to direct authorities in Pakistan to implement various measures in compliance with the UN Security Council resolutions including the freezing and seizure of assets, travel ban and arms embargo on the entities and individuals, who are designated on the sanctions list of the United Nations.
It is worth mentioning that the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 requires member states to implement counter-terrorism measures, especially countering the financing of terrorism through their domestic laws.
This obligation is implemented in Pakistan through Anti-Pakistan Act, 1997.
