The Terrorist Attack in New Zealand

Around the first week of September 2021, a terrorist attack occurred in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had stated that around 2:40 pm, there was a violent terrorist attack within the area and mentioned how senseless it was. She also stated that the terrorist was from Sri Lanka and had an 1“ISIS ideology” which meant that the beliefs coming from the terrorist were believed to be a “security threat”. Due to the man’s background history, he was constantly under surveillance by multiple governmental agencies which is how he was spotted during the recent incident.

About the Attack:

New Zealand's Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster, spoke about how the attacker managed to grab a knife from the supermarket and stabbed the shoppers with it. Once the police arrived, they managed to shoot him, and he died at the scene. Overall, there were six people who were injured and three others who were in a critical situation as reported by the emergency crews. Police forces and ambulances surrounded the scene and in order to assist with the situation.

The Prime Minister did not want to publicly announce the attacker's identity as he was known to be in court several times due to his background. However, he has now been identified as Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, who had a refugee status when he arrived in New Zealand and died as a 32-year old. He had received a student visa in 2011 and became a part of the national security interest in 2016. He claimed that he and his father were persecuted in their home country, Sri Lanka. As mentioned earlier, he was already under the surveillance of numerous governmental agencies that were trying to monitor his activities due to his ideas about terrorism and placed him under their terrorist watchlists. Some local media reports stated that he was given one year of supervision for spreading ISIS propaganda. According to Stuff, Samudden's search history contained the Islamic State and the prison life in New Zealand regarding clothes and food. These factors have raised several questions about the inefficiency and incompetence of the governmental security agencies in monitoring him and not taking quicker action given the fact that his history was a point of concern. However, the judge has mentioned that he was not detained because the planning of a terrorist attack is not considered an offense under the current laws implemented by the state. Therefore, a statement has been released in the nation regarding the history of anti-terror laws.

Citizens' Response:

The citizens of New Zealand submitted multiple additions and changes to give rise to new policies which could be a part of the current laws. The Prime Minister mentioned that a select committee is potentially considering these policies and changes which could change things and prevent such attacks from happening. Although these policy changes do benefit the future of the population, a lot of politicians are hesitant about implementing them since the aspects of the recent crime point to an urgent need for proper evaluation to ensure that the policies being proposed are well-thought out and efficient if they are to be successful in preventing further attacks from happening.

Therefore, two certain legal actions need to be reviewed as of now which are the possession of any form of weapons during violent scenarios. Although it is considered to be unlawful in the country, there are still rising stakes regarding the policies that surround this. Another one would be the correlation of the recent incident where security risk is at a higher state in which the attacker was able to enter the premises without proper security. Within these circumstances, New Zealand would need to ensure that citizens or non-citizens of the country should display their stance among the country and if there is a threat that is drawn to attention, deportation would need to be considered. Thus, the policies that are proposed by the citizens are focused upon the threats that the country may encounter during further incidents.

As for the past actions that also surround the topic of terrorist attacks, the laws implemented in this case have been generated but, as stated earlier, weren’t revised thoroughly. The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 was followed by the attacks that happened in the United States during the known incident of 911 that occurred on September 11, 2001. One of the attacks that happened in New Zealand (March 15, 2019) has also pushed citizens to change the laws that were implied that focus on the anti-terror law. After that attack, the government had responded by taking into account the prohibition of firearms be used from thereon. Even multiple agencies had the same act where they had to change some aspects to revise their actions through the effort they pulled through.

New Zealand has been pushing its efforts on fighting terrorists to prevent further incidents from happening again such as the Christchurch Call and the recent attack in the supermarket. Progress has been made which included the Global Internet Forum to Counter-Terrorism and having a protocol which requires immediate response to be made to a terrorist attack which holds an 4“effective cooperation” from forces to encounter terrorism. As for the role of online platforms, it has given the public the power to spread awareness of the issue.

However, threats could also evolve from the media because of the algorithms it implements. Therefore, New Zealand has joined with the Budapest Convention to prevent cybercrime from happening. This way, countries would develop solutions and a 4“comprehensive national legislation” that goes against the crime that is happening in the media. It certainly is challenging to prevent the attacks as they could be sudden but so far, New Zealand’s government has been practicing a proper framework to have an effective policy implemented against terrorist attacks.

How You Can Help:

For further assistance to support those who were affected through the attack, there is a fundraising page listed from this website and details into the support that is needed to these victims who were injured: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christchurch-mosque-victims-start-fundraising-page-for-those-hurt-in-mall-terror-attack/EBXK2WHTPID6OXSFQ45GGA5GEU/

You can also read up and educate yourself on these issues and about the laws and policies surrounding terrorism in different parts of the world and encourage the people around you to educate themselves too.

References:

1Yeung J. Chaos inside a New Zealand supermarket after shoppers stabbed in “terrorist attack.” CNN. Published September 3, 2021. Accessed September 6, 2021. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/03/asia/new-zealand-attack-intl-hnk/index.html

2BBC News. New Zealand supermarket stabbing: Government to toughen anti-terror laws. BBC News. Published September 4, 2021. Accessed September 6, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58446260

3New Zealand needs to go beyond fast-tracking counter-terrorism laws to reduce the risk of future attacks - ABC News. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-04/nz-needs-to-go-beyond-fast-tracking-counter-terrorism -laws/100434754. Published September 4, 2021. Accessed September 6, 2021.

4Burton J. New Zealand’s latest terror attack shows why ISIS is harder to defeat online than on the battlefield. The Conversation. Published September 4, 2021. Accessed September 6, 2021. https://theconversation.com/new-zealands-latest-terror-attack-shows-why-isis-is-harder-to-defeat-online-than-on-the-battlefield-167336