Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - ?Human Rights

Special meeting of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee on Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms

BMUSONI — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 17:13:00 +0000

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Member States continue to face a significant and growing threat from the abuse of information and communication technologies (ICT), in particular the Internet and social media, for terrorist purposes. In a number of resolutions, the Security Council recognizes this risk, and calls upon Member States to adopt necessary measures to prevent and address the threat this represents.

In its Presidential Statement in May 2016 (S/PRST/2016/6), the Security Council requested its Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) to present a proposal for a comprehensive international framework with recommended guidelines and good practices to effectively counter the ways in which terrorist groups use their narratives to encourage, motivate, and recruit others to commit terrorist acts. As part of this work, and following on other initiatives, the Counter-Terrorism Committee will organize a special meeting on ��Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.�� Taking place at United Nations headquarters on Thursday 1 December 2016 in Conference room 4, the special meeting is open to Member and Observer States, members of the media including photographers with valid accreditation, United Nations staff and interns, UN entities, intergovernmental organizations, and specialized agencies, as well as invited guests with a valid UN grounds pass. The event will be webcast at webtv.un.org.

The special meeting will be preceded by a series of preparatory technical sessions, organized by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) on Wednesday 30 November and in the morning of Thursday 1 December.

Additional details can be found below. More information about the special meeting on a similar theme held in December 2015 can be found here.

Please RSVP here.

Documents

Concept note

Agenda, technical meeting

Agenda, CTC special meeting

ICT4��AV report �C Private sector engagement in responding to the use of the Internet and ICT for terrorist purposes

Presentations

2016-11-30-Session I 30 Nov �C Arije Antinori, European Counter-Terrorism Centre (ECTC)

2016-11-30-Session I 30 Nov �C V.S. Subrahmanian, University of Maryland

2016-11-30 �C Vidia Arianti, ICPVTR

2016-11-30-Session V 30 Nov �C Maxim Grigoryev, The Foundation for the Study of Democracy

2016-12-01-Session I 1 Dec �C Rafal Rohozinski, CEO and Chief Innovation Officer at SecDev Group, ICT4��AV

2016-12-01-Session V 1 Dec �C Dr. Mahmoud Nagah Ahmed Farag Khalaf, Al-Azhar Observer

Speech By Jan Kleijssen Director Information Society and Action against Crime Directorate Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law �C DGI Council of Europe

Contribution de Mme Patricia Herdt, Repr��sentante permanente a.i.
de l��Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) aupr��s des Nations Unies

��International Cooperation and Public-Private Partnership while Respecting International Human Rights�� A Speech Delivered by: Dr. Reham Abdullah Salamah

Media coverage

Related media coverage

Special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee: Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms (1 December 2016: Session III)

CTED-organized meeting: Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms (1 December 2016: Session V)

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On eve of first-year anniversary of the Madrid guiding principles, side event on foreign terrorist fighters focuses on prosecution, rehabilitation, and reintegration challenges

BMUSONI — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:13:00 +0000

At a side event held at the United Nations on 1 July 2016 on the theme of foreign terrorist fighters, Member States, UN entities, and civil society representatives discussed prosecution, rehabilitation, and reintegration challenges of this threat. On the eve of the first-year anniversary of a special meeting of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee in Madrid, the side event �C which was co-organized by New Zealand and Spain �C offered participants a chance to discuss lessons learned and the Madrid guiding principles on stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters.

In his opening remarks, Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) Jean-Paul Laborde stressed that as Dae��sh is losing territory on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq, there will be an increase in foreign terrorist fighters returning to their countries of origin. ��The involvement of FTF returnees in terrorist plots increases the rate of execution of those plots by 61 per cent and the rate of fatalities by 129 per cent,�� he said. ��These new and emerging threats demonstrate that the Counter-Terrorism Committee must continue to counter the threats posed, and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism bodies be coordinated in their responses and approaches.��

Several speakers addressed the benefits of rehabilitation and reintegration, including reducing prison-based recruitment, and enabling intervention before serious criminal conduct occurs. Moreover, they called for rehabilitation and reintegration to be integrated within judicial and prosecutorial strategies. As Mr. Luigi Marini, Legal Advisor, Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, highlighted ��there needs to be a balance between opportunity, rule of law, rehabilitation, and the criminal justice system, in order to identify and analyse threats to national security.��

Speakers further underlined the importance of having individualised and adaptive measures in order to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Mr. Chris O��Donnell, DDR Policy and Planning Officer in the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) in the Department of ��AVkeeping Operations (DPKO) of the United Nations, provided an example of an alternative to incarceration. He described a rehabilitation programme in Somalia that provides vocational training, community engagement, and religious outreach for returning al-Shabab fighters. Moreover, Dr. Bibi Van Ginkel, Senior Resarch Fellow, Clingendael Institute and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT), called for ��Member States to take into consideration the role that the military can potentially play as first responders in evidence collection.��

Other experts, such as Mr. David Scharia, Senior Legal Officer with CTED, spoke about the ways in which ��Member States can develop a broad set of legal tools and work with prosecutors and investigators to avoid binary options. Prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration should be all part of one holistic FTF strategy�� Mr. Scharia also called for risk-based evidence and stressed the importance of different ��exit points during the criminal proceedings�� in which Government officials and local communities can assist people to move away from the radicalisation process.

Speakers stressed the importance of the 35 Guiding Principles, adopted in Madrid last year and later endorsed by the Security Council, as an important and effective tool to countering terrorism.

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S/2016/50 �C Global survey of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1624 (2005) by Member States

BMUSONI — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 19:11:00 +0000

Security Council resolution 1624 (2005) is aimed primarily at the threat posed by incitement to commit a terrorist act or acts.

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Special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and technical sessions of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate on preventing and combating abuse of ICT for terrorist purposes, New York, 16-17 December 2015

BMUSONI — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 22:29:00 +0000

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How can terrorists be stopped from exploiting the Internet and social media?

Special meeting of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate 16-17 December 2015

#RECLAIMINGTHEWEB

Webcast recordings of the event can be viewed here:

Terrorist groups continue to utilize the Internet and social media to facilitate their activities, including incitement to commit terrorist acts, radicalization to violence, recruitment, training, planning, collection of information, communication, preparation, financing, and execution of attacks. Surpassing Al-Qaida, the terrorist organization that calls itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has successfully used the Internet to broadcast its ideology and to recruit foreign terrorist fighters on an unprecedented scale �C with currently some 30,000 foreign fighters coming from over 100 countries.

On 17 December 2015, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) will hold a special meeting on Preventing terrorists from exploiting the Internet and social media to recruit terrorists and incite terrorist acts, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. This meeting will be complemented by CTED-organized thematic sessions (16-17 December), which will all take place in Conference room 1. The meeting will feature panellists from inter alia Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and Weibo, as well as the Chief Prosecutor of Paris, and civil society activists engaging with terrorist recruiters on the digital frontlines.

The briefing is open to Member and Observer States, United Nations entities, intergovernmental organizations, and specialized agencies. The event is also open to members of the media, including photographers, with a valid accreditation to the United Nations in New York.

Chair summary and plan of action

Concept Note

Special Meeting Agenda

Technical Meeting Agenda

Logistical Note

List of Hotels

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In a first for the Counter-Terrorism Committee, the Security Council body holds open briefing on the role of women in countering terrorism and violent extremism

BMUSONI — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 14:07:00 +0000

Despite the growing awareness of women playing an important role in terrorism and violent extremism �C including as suicide bombers �C the potential for women to act as a vital resource in policy and planning on countering violent extremism (CVE) has traditionally remained largely untapped. In 2013, this began to change, when the Security Council reaffirmed the Council��s intention to increase its attention to women, peace and security issues in all relevant thematic areas of work on its agenda, including in threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts (resolution 2129). A more recent Security Council resolution, 2178 (2014) on stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, encourages Member States to engage relevant local communities in developing strategies to counter the violent extremist narrative that can incite terrorist acts and address the conditions conducive to the spread of violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, including by empowering inter alia youth, families, and women. And in its Presidential Statement of 28 October 2014 (S/PRST/2014/21), the Council noted that violent extremism is frequently targeting women and girls, which can lead to serious human rights violations and abuses against them, and encouraged Member States to engage with women and women��s organizations in developing CVE strategies.

As a concrete follow-up, the Counter-Terrorism Committee on 9 September 2015 organized, for the first time ever, an open briefing on The role of women in countering terrorism and violent extremism. Three women��s activists from three regions affected by terrorism and violent extremism �C Hanaa Edwar from Iraq; Pastor Esther Ibanga from Nigeria; and Sureya Roble from Kenya �C shared their testimonies with the Committee in New York. Other speakers included Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, H.E. Ambassador Raimonda Murmokait��, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations; Jean-Paul Laborde, Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED); and Yannick Glemarec, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy and Programme with UN Women. Moderator was Professor Jayne Huckerby with Duke University.

Describing the abduction of Yazidi women and girls by ISIS in her home country Iraq, Ms. Edwar said that ��

[They] were assaulted in practices reminiscent of practices in previous eras of history, such as the sale of women into sexual slavery, rape, torture, murder, not to mention the psychological violence of humiliation, threats, and forcing them to convert to Islam. At least more than 3,000 of the abducted women and girls are still being held.�� Ms. Edwar also pointed out that out of the 2,070 citizens executed in Mosul last July and August some 300 were women.

��Although the estimated number of foreign women who have joined ISIS is only 10 percent of the total number of Western men fighting, it is still significant that women are joining an organization that a majority of the world deems oppressive towards women and extraordinarily violent,�� Ms. Roble remarked.

Panellists, as well as numerous Member States, took the floor to point out the positive and proactive role that women can play to build resilience to radicalization to violence and conflict, inter alia through their influence on the family, community, and Government. Women��s inclusion is therefore an indispensable component of any comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy.

��Even though in Nigeria, as well as most African nations, the involvement of women in security issues is not only seen as an alien culture but also a taboo and sometimes quite offensive to the men, women civil society groups tap into the needs of communities, where women and children are disproportionally impacted by terrorism,�� Pastor Ibanga said.

The open briefing on this theme being a first, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and CTED will continue its work on the role of women in countering terrorism and violent extremism.

A webcast of the open briefing is available here; a webcast of a press briefing held earlier the same day can be accessed here.

Brief bios of the three participating women��s activists

An advocate for women��s rights and equality and for peace and democracy in Iraq, Ms. Hanaa Edwar is the Secretary-General of the Iraqi Al-Amal Association (IAA), an NGO working to improve the socio-economic conditions of the Iraqi people, and founder of the Iraqi Women��s Network (IWN), which represents over 80 Iraqi women��s groups.

Ms. Esther Ibanga is a Christian Pastor and interfaith peace activist who works in Plateau State, a highly volatile region of central Nigeria. In response to the ethno-religious conflicts that have afflicted the region since 1994, Pastor Ibanga has become a leader of a strong coalition of diverse women��s groups united in their desire for peace.

Ms. Sureya Roble is a women��s rights activist and national vice chairperson of the Mombasa-based Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO), a non-profit voluntary women��s organization working to improve the quality of life of rural Kenyan communities, especially for women and youth.

Open Briefing Agenda
Open Briefing Concept Note
Open Briefing �C Statement by Australia
Open Briefing �C Statement by Ms. Nelly Sihloh, Counsellor, Head of Human Rights Division, Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations
Open Briefing �C Statement by Norway
Open Briefing �C Speaking Points from Spain
Open Briefing �C Statement by Sweden
Open Briefing �C Statement by United States
Open Briefing �C Intervention by EU Delegation to the UN
Open Briefing �C Remarks by OHCHR
Open Briefing �C Intervention by WILPF and GJC Civil Society
Open Briefing �C Intervention by Hanaa Edwar
Open Briefing �C Statement by Pastor Esther Ibanga
Open Briefing �C Statement by Sureya Roble

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