Law No. 105/AN/24/9th L amending Law No. 111/AN/11/6th L on the Fight Against Terrorism and Other Serious Offenses

Law No. 105/AN/24/9th L amending Law No. 111/AN/11/6th L on the Fight Against Terrorism and Other Serious Offenses.

• Measure: General
• Publication Date: 07/03/2024
  Edition No. 02 of 07/03/2024
  THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HAS ADOPTED
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC PROMULGATES
  THE LAW WHOSE TEXT FOLLOWS:
  VU the Constitution of September 15, 1992;
  VU the Constitutional Law No. 92/AN/10/5th L of April 21, 2010 revising the Constitution; VU Law 59/AN/94 of January 5, 1995 establishing the Penal Code; VU Law No. 60/AN/94/3rd L establishing the Code of Criminal Procedure of January 5, 1995; VU Law No. 196/AN/02/4th L of December 29, 2002 on money laundering, confiscation, and international cooperation regarding proceeds of crime; VU the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism of December 9, 1999, ratified on March 13, 2006, cited in Article 1, paragraph a; VU Law No. 96/AN/05/5th L ratifying the United Nations Convention against Corruption; VU Law No. 104/AN/24/9th L on the fight against the financing of terrorism; VU Law No. 106/AN/24/9th L on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; VU Decree No. 2006-0083/PR/MJAPM on the organization and operating procedures of the Financial Intelligence Service of March 27, 2006, created within the Central Bank of Djibouti; VU Decree No. 2023-083/PRE of March 30, 2023 on the reorganization of the institutional framework responsible for the fight against terrorism; VU Decree No. 2021-105/PRE of May 24, 2021 on the appointment of the Prime Minister; VU Decree No. 2021-106/PRE of May 24, 2021 on the appointment of the Government; VU Decree No. 2021-114/PRE of May 31, 2021 fixing the attributions of Ministries; VU Decree No. 2022-001/PRE of January 2, 2022 on ministerial reshuffle; VU Circular No. 67/PAN of 03/03/2024 on the convocation of the National Assembly in public session; The Council of Ministers heard in its session of February 27, 2024. HAS ADOPTED, IN ITS FIRST PUBLIC SESSION ON 06/03/2024, THE LAW WHOSE TEXT FOLLOWS:

TITRE I:
ON TERRORISM
Chapter 1: Acts of Terrorism
Article 1:
1- A terrorist act committed on the territory of the Republic of Djibouti or abroad is either:
a) any act constituting an offense under and according to the definition of one of the conventions listed in the annex to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism as criminalized by the laws of the Republic of Djibouti; or b) any act committed intentionally, intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to a civilian or any other person not directly participating in hostilities in an armed conflict situation, when that act, by its nature or context, aims, exclusively or not, to intimidate a population or compel a government or international organization to commit or abstain from committing any act whatsoever. Included in this definition of a terrorist act are complicity, attempt, encouragement to perpetrate, and threat. The knowledge, intent, or motivation necessary as an element of the offense may be inferred from objective factual circumstances. 2- A person or group is qualified as a terrorist or terrorist group, as the case may be, either:
a) a person or a group of two or more persons whose object or activity is to engage in terrorist acts or facilitate them; or b) a person or group designated as terrorist or associated with terrorism by one of the Resolutions of the Security Council of the United Nations, including, as the case may be, on the basis of Resolution 1373, and whose designation is affirmed by the technical committee as defined in Article 9 of the Law on the fight against the financing of terrorism.
Article 2: Also constitute acts of terrorism when related to an individual or collective enterprise aimed at seriously disrupting public order through intimidation or terror or aimed at compelling a government or international organization to commit or abstain from committing any act whatsoever, resulting in the commission of a number of crimes or offenses listed below:

1. Intentional attacks on life and physical integrity of persons;
2. Kidnapping and hostage-taking as well as the hijacking of aircraft, ships, or any other means of transport;
3. Theft, extortion, destruction, damage, and deterioration as well as computer-related offenses;
4. Manufacture or possession of lethal machines, devices, or explosives;
5. Illicit production, sale, import, or export of explosive substances;
6. Illicit acquisition, possession, transport, or carrying of explosive substances or devices manufactured using said substances;
7. Possession, carrying, and transport of weapons and ammunition of mass destruction;
8. Any criminal act directed against a State whose purpose or nature is to provoke terror.
   Article 3: Also constitutes a terrorist act, when related to an individual or collective enterprise aimed at seriously disrupting public order through intimidation or terror, the act of introducing into the atmosphere, on land, underground, or in waters, including territorial sea waters, a substance capable of endangering human or animal health or the natural environment.
   Chapter 2: Sanctions
   Article 4: A terrorist act is punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 5,000,000 FD. If the terrorist act results in the death of one or more persons, it is punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of 10,000,000 FD.
   Participation in a group formed or an agreement established for the preparation, characterized by one or more material acts, of one or more crimes against persons or property is punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 10,000,000 FD.
   Article 5: The act of organizing, directing, facilitating, encouraging, or favoring, through aid or advice, the commission of a serious offense involving a group as defined in this paragraph is punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 10,000,000 FD.
   Article 6: Kidnapping, hostage-taking, and offenses against persons enjoying international protection committed with the aim of compelling a third party, namely a State, an international or intergovernmental organization, a natural or legal person, or a group of persons, to commit any act or abstain from doing so as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the hostage, are punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 10,000,000 FD.
   Article 7: Any person who attempts to commit a terrorist act is exempt from punishment if, having warned the administrative or judicial authority, they have enabled the prevention of the offense and the identification of the perpetrators.
   Article 8: Legal entities may be declared criminally liable for the acts of terrorism defined in Chapter 1.
   TITLE II:
   CORRUPTION AND TRAFFICKING IN INFLUENCE
   Chapter 1: Corruption
   Article 9:
   Definitions:
   a) "Public official" means: i) any person holding a legislative, executive, administrative, or judicial office in the Republic of Djibouti, whether appointed or elected, on a permanent or temporary basis, whether remunerated or not, and regardless of their hierarchical level; ii) any other person exercising a public function, including for a public body or public enterprise, or providing a public service, as these terms are defined in the law of the Republic of Djibouti and applied in the relevant branch of Djiboutian law; iii) any other person defined as a "public official" under the law of the Republic of Djibouti. b) "Foreign public official" means any person holding a legislative, executive, administrative, or judicial office in a foreign country, whether appointed or elected; and any person exercising a public function for a foreign country, including for a public body or public enterprise; c) "Official of a public international organization" means an international civil servant or any person authorized by such an organization to act on its behalf. Anyone who intentionally promises, offers, or grants, to a foreign public official or an official of a public international organization, directly or indirectly, an undue advantage, for themselves or another person, including a family member, or an entity, in order for them to commit or abstain from committing an act in the exercise of their official functions, with a view to obtaining contracts or another undue advantage in connection with international trade activities, is guilty of corruption and punishable by imprisonment from one year to fifteen years and a fine of 8,000,000 FD. A foreign public official or an official of a public international organization who intentionally solicits or accepts, directly or indirectly, an undue advantage for themselves or another person, including a family member, or an entity, in order to commit or abstain from committing an act in the exercise of their official functions, is guilty of corruption and punishable by imprisonment from one year to fifteen years and a fine of 8,000,000 FD.
   Article 10: Anyone who, without right, solicits or accepts offers or promises, solicits, or receives gifts, presents, or other undue advantages is guilty of corruption and punishable by imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of 7,000,000 FD.
   The act of promising, offering, or granting to a foreign public official or an official of a public international organization, directly or indirectly, an undue advantage, for themselves or for another person or entity, in order for them to commit or abstain from committing an act in the exercise of their official functions, with a view to obtaining or retaining a contract or another undue advantage in connection with international trade activities, is punishable by 15 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 8,000,000 FD. The act of a foreign public official or an official of a public international organization soliciting or accepting, directly or indirectly, an undue advantage for themselves or for another person or entity, in order to commit or abstain from committing an act in the exercise of their official functions, when committed intentionally, is punishable by 15 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 8,000,000 FD. Any public official who intentionally misappropriates, diverts, or illicitly uses, for their own benefit or for the benefit of another person, including a family member, or an entity, all public or private assets, funds, or values, or any other thing of value entrusted to them by reason of their functions, is guilty of misappropriation, diversion, or illicit use of assets, as the case may be, and punishable by imprisonment from one year to fifteen years and a fine of 7,000,000 FD.
   Chapter 2: Abuse of Function and Illicit Enrichment
   Article 11: The act of a public official abusing their functions or position, that is, committing an act in the exercise of their duties in violation of the laws to obtain an undue advantage for themselves or another person, is punishable by 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of 5,000,000 FD.
   Article 12: The act of a public official being unable to reasonably justify a substantial increase in their assets compared to their legitimate income is punishable by 15 years of imprisonment and a fine of 5,000,000 FD.
   Chapter 3: Corruption in the Private Sector
   Article 13:
   The act of promising, offering, or granting, directly or indirectly, an undue advantage to any person directing or working for a private sector entity, in any capacity whatsoever, for themselves or another person, in order that, in violation of their duties, they commit or abstain from committing an act, is punishable by 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of 7,000,000 FD when committed in the context of economic, financial, or commercial activities. The act of any person directing or working for a private sector entity, in any capacity whatsoever, soliciting or accepting, directly or indirectly, an undue advantage, for themselves or another person, in order to commit or abstain from committing an act in violation of their duties, is punishable by 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of 7,000,000 FD when committed in the context of economic, financial, or commercial activities.
   Chapter 4: Misappropriation of Assets in the Private Sector
   Article 14: The act of a person directing or working for a private sector entity, in any capacity whatsoever, misappropriating any private assets, funds, or values, or any other thing of value entrusted to them by reason of their functions, is punishable by 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of 7,000,000 FD when the act is committed in the context of economic, financial, or commercial activities.
   Chapter 5: Handling Stolen Goods
   Article 15: The act of concealing or continuously retaining assets knowing that said assets originate from one of the offenses provided for in the articles below, is punishable by 5 years of imprisonment and a fine of 6,000,000 FD, when the act is committed after the commission of these offenses and without the perpetrator having participated in said offenses.
   Article 16: Legal entities may be declared criminally liable under the conditions provided for in Article 21 of the Penal Code.
   TITLE III:
   ON HOSTAGE-TAKING, KIDNAPPING, AND DETENTION
   Article 17: The act of threatening to kill a hostage, to injure, or to continue detaining them in order to compel a third party, namely a State, an international or intergovernmental organization, a natural or legal person, or a group of persons, to commit any act or abstain from doing so as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the hostage, shall be punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 15,000,000 FD.
   Article 18: Any person who commits murder, kidnapping, or another attack against the person or liberty of a person enjoying international protection, commits violence against the official premises, private residence, or means of transport of a person enjoying international protection, causing or likely to cause serious injury or death, or destroys or seriously damages installations or aircraft not in service but located in the airport, or interrupts services of an airport serving international civil aviation, will be punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of 20,000,000 FD.
   Article 19: For the purposes of the preceding article, "person enjoying international protection" means:
   Any head of state, including each member of a collegiate body performing the functions of Head of State under the Constitution of the considered State, any head of government, or any minister for foreign affairs, when such a person is in a foreign State, as well as family members accompanying them; any representative, official, or other agent of an intergovernmental organization who, at the date and place where an offense is committed against their person, official premises, private residence, or means of transport, is entitled under international law to special protection against any attack on their person, liberty, or dignity, as well as family members forming part of their household. TITLE IV:
   ON HIJACKING OF AIRCRAFT, SHIPS, OR ANY OTHER MEANS OF TRANSPORT
   Article 20: Any person who commits an act of violence against a person on board an aircraft in flight, if such an act is likely to compromise the safety of that aircraft; who destroys an aircraft in service or causes damage to such an aircraft rendering it unfit for flight or likely to compromise its safety in flight; who places or causes to be placed on an aircraft in service by any means whatsoever, a device or substance likely to destroy said aircraft or cause damage rendering it unfit for flight or likely to compromise its safety in flight; who destroys or seriously damages air navigation installations or services or disrupts their operation, if any of these acts compromises or is likely to compromise the safety of an aircraft in flight, shall be punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 20,000,000 FD.
   Article 21: Any person who commits against a person, in an airport serving international civil aviation, an act of violence that causes or is likely to cause serious injury or death, or destroys or seriously damages installations or aircraft not in service but located in the airport, or interrupts services of an airport serving international civil aviation, shall be punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 15,000,000 FD if any of these acts compromises or is likely to compromise safety in that airport.
   Article 22: Any person who commits an act of violence against a person on board a ship or a fixed platform:
   – Destroys or causes serious damage to a ship, its cargo, or a fixed platform; – Places or causes to be placed on a ship or fixed platform, by any means whatsoever, a device or substance likely to destroy the ship or fixed platform or cause damage to the ship, its cargo, or the fixed platform; – Destroys or seriously damages maritime navigation installations or services or seriously disrupts their operation, shall be punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 20,000,000 FD if any of these acts compromises or is likely to compromise the safety of the ship or fixed platform; – Any person who threatens to commit any of the offenses provided for in the preceding paragraphs with the aim of compelling a natural or legal person to commit or abstain from committing any act whatsoever shall be punishable by 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of 10,000,000 FD.
   Article 23: For the purposes of this section, an aircraft is considered to be in flight from the moment when, boarding being completed, all its external doors have been closed; until the moment when one of these doors is opened for disembarkation; in case of forced landing, the flight is deemed to continue until the competent authority takes charge of the aircraft as well as the persons and goods on board;
   An aircraft is considered to be in service from the moment when ground personnel or the crew begins preparing it for a specific flight until the expiration of a twenty-four-hour period following any landing; the service period extends in any case to the entire time during which the aircraft is in flight as defined in paragraph (a) of this paragraph. TITLE V:
   ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND TRAFFICKING IN MIGRANTS
   Article 24: The act of committing any of the following acts, for the purpose of exploiting, recruiting, transporting, transferring, hosting, or receiving persons, by threat of force or recourse to force or other forms of coercion, by abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of authority or of a situation of vulnerability, or by offering or accepting payments or advantages to obtain the consent of a person having authority over another, is punishable by 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of 10,000,000 FD.
   The purposes of exploitation include, among others, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs.
   The consent of a victim of one of the offenses provided for in this article to exploitation is irrelevant when any of the means set out in paragraph 1 has been used.
   The offenses provided for in this article, when committed for the purpose of exploiting minors, are punishable by 15 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 10,000,000 FD regardless of the use of any of the means mentioned in the first paragraph of this article.
   The act of organizing the commission of an offense established in accordance with this article or giving instructions to other persons to commit it, is punishable by 15 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 15,000,000 FD.
   Article 25: The act of committing any of the following acts in order to derive, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material advantage, is punishable by 5 years of imprisonment and a fine of 3,000,000 FD.
   – securing the illegal entry into a State of a person who is neither a national nor a permanent resident of that State; – fabricating, procuring, providing, or possessing a fraudulent travel or identity document to enable the illegal entry described in paragraph 1; – allowing a person, who is neither a national nor a permanent resident, to remain in the State, without meeting the necessary conditions for legal stay, by any illegal means, to enable the illegal entry as described in paragraph 1. The offenses provided for in this article are aggravated and punishable by 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of 5,000,000 FD:
   – when committed in a manner that endangers or risks endangering the life or security of the migrants concerned; or – when inhuman or degrading treatment of migrants is committed, including for exploitation.
   Article 26: Legal entities may be declared criminally liable under the conditions provided for in Article 21 of the Penal Code.
   TITLE VI:
   TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS, THEIR PARTS,
   COMPONENTS AND AMMUNITION
   Article 27: The act of committing any of the following acts is punishable by 5 years of imprisonment and a fine of 3,000,000 FD:
   – manufacturing or assembling firearms, their parts, components, or ammunition; – without marking firearms at the time of their manufacture; in accordance with marking provisions or having been subject to illicit trafficking, or without a license or authorization from the competent State authority; – importing, exporting, acquiring, selling, delivering, transporting, or transferring firearms, their parts, components, or ammunition from the territory of the State or across it to the territory of another State, either without legal authorization, or if the firearms are not marked co