From 1 -3 October 2019, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) attended a regional conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia about “The role of parliamentarians in preventing and countering terrorism and addressing conditions conductive to terrorism in the Asia-Pacific region.” The conference was jointly organised by the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Office on Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and hosted by the House of Representatives of Malaysia within the framework of the IPU-UN Joint Programme on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism which is being implemented with the support of the IPU High-Level Advisory Group on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism.
The conference aimed to address how parliamentarians can act to prevent and counter terrorism in the Asia-Pacific region. A number of parliamentarians stressed the need for the solution of ongoing conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region to help stem the flow of violent extremism and terrorism and emphasized the need for cooperation between states to help deal with the growing issue of Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) in the region including the monitoring of cross border travel in order to track the movements of FTFs.
CTED contributed in particular to the discussions on developments in the international counter-terrorism legal framework and the need to update national legislation as well as on tailored and comprehensive prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration (PRR) strategies required by Security Council resolutions. CTED briefed participants on the 19 international counter-terrorism instruments and the requirements of the relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 2396 (2017) and 2462 (2019). CTED stressed the need to comply with international human rights law when countering terrorism and violent extremism. A number of tools were offered including the 2015 Madrid Guiding Principles and the 2018 Addendum to the guiding principles on the FTFs as well as the CTED Technical Guide to help States work in compliance with international human rights law whilst making efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism. CTED also briefed participants on the requirements for the development of comprehensive and tailored PRR strategies and on the challenges encountered by Member States in their development and implementation of such strategies. CTED highlighted the importance of using evidence-based, comprehensive assessment tools and of ensuring compliance with the rule of law.
A host of parliamentary representatives from a number of States joined the conference including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Egypt, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and others.
Working alongside UNODC and UNOCT, CTED looks forward to the implementation of the adopted outcome document that was discussed with State parliamentary representatives, CTED, UNODC and UNOCT, following the conference.