The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) joined EUROMED Police, a European Union funded project, for a three-day conference from 17-19 September in Amman, Jordan to discuss the fight against terrorism, counterfeit documents, firearms trafficking, and online investigations. The conference follows a meeting on counter-terrorism held in Madrid in January 2018.
EUROMED Police is currently implementing phase IV, which consists of seven core areas. CTED has worked closely with EUROMED Police, especially within the framework of the digital evidence initiative brought about after expert consultations in February 2017. EUROMED Police works to bring together leading regional stakeholders in the field. CTED and the Tech Against Terrorism (TAT) initiative have been able to facilitate numerous advances with EUROMED Police, including engagement with Communications and Information Service Providers (CIPS) and providing assistance in convening law-enforcement agencies of South Partner Countries (SPCs).
Attendees included Algeria, France, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, USA, Spain, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). CTED contributed in particular to the first day of the conference, which focused on online investigations and judicial exchange of information, by providing a presentation on its work on terrorist exploitation of the Internet, as well as its joint work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) on digital evidence.
While positive advances, such as Europol’s database of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and a French single-entry platform of illegal online content, were put forward by participants, throughout the conference, concerns were raised by numerous participants as to the lack of cohesion between States on firearms legislation. In this regard, participants called for a centralized database, information-sharing and international cooperation.
CTED will continue to support the work of EUROMED Police and its partners to build security and counter terrorism.