Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - Information and Communications Technologies

Virtual launch event for CTED Trends Report on international cooperation for lawful access to digital evidence

AKHVEDELID — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 16:03:00 +0000

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On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, CTED will hold a virtual event to launch its Trends Report on “The State of International Cooperation for Lawful Access to Digital Evidence: Research Perspectives”.

The report, issued in January 2022, provides a snapshot of the regulatory reform landscape for evidence to digital access as of late 2021.

Its main objective is to identify some of the major trends that contribute to the current overall cross-border situation in this area.

During the launch event, participants will discuss ongoing reform efforts and related issues concerning lawful access to digital evidence and the cross-border sharing of electronic evidence.

Panellists will also address the need to ensure compliance with international human rights law and fundamental freedoms, particularly the right to privacy, as well as options for ensuring interoperability between the various initiatives and other ways forward to enhance access to digital evidence (including the expansion of capacity-building efforts aimed at addressing the various challenges identified in the report).

The launch event will be held from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. EST / 3.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. CET.

Should you wish to attend the event, please complete this form by 12.00 noon EST on Tuesday, 15 February 2022.

All enquiries concerning the report and the launch event should be addressed to Ms. Jennifer Bramlette, CTED Legal Officer & ICT Coordinator (bramlette@un.org).

Here is the draft concept note.

Here is the draft agenda.

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CTED issues Trends Report on “The State of International Cooperation for Lawful Access to Digital Evidence: Research Perspectives”

BMUSONI — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 07:47:00 +0000

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On 25 January 2022, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) issued a Trends Report on “The State of International Cooperation for Lawful Access to Digital Evidence: Research Perspectives”.

Prepared in accordance with Security Council resolution 2617 (2021), this report builds on CTED’s engagement with Member States, including in the context of the country assessment visits conducted on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Committee. It also benefits insights collected from various sources, including privacy- and data-protection agencies, and representatives of the private sector and civil society organizations (CSOs) from around the world, as well as members of relevant international and regional institutions working on cross-border data reforms. This report offers a snapshot of the regulatory reform landscape as of late 2021 and its main objective is to identify some of the major trends that contribute to the current overall cross-border situation in this area.

There are currently several major reform initiatives under way to ensure that law enforcement authorities have access to foreign-held data. In addition to regional initiatives such as that of the European Union and major reforms being introduced in States such as Brazil, China, India, the Russian Federation, and the United States, there are two major multilateral initiatives: the draft United Nations Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes and the recently adopted Second Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (‘Budapest Convention”) on enhanced co-operation and the disclosure of electronic evidence.

Each of these initiatives promises to resolve some aspect of the problems associated with access to electronic evidence. However, as is often the case when there are multiple reform efforts under way, there is a chance of fragmentation and the establishment of several competing and overlapping regimes on cross-border evidence. There are also concerns about a potential reduction in protections for basic human rights, including due process, freedom of expression, and privacy, which must be addressed in step with reform efforts.

The key challenges going forward will therefore include ensuring interoperability between the various initiatives and expanding the capacity of law enforcement agencies faced with a series of new transnational regulatory regimes. This is therefore a moment of opportunity for global and regional institutions, as well as private and multistakeholder groups, to expand capacity-building efforts aimed at addressing these challenges.

CTED will build on this analysis with the aim of supporting the Committee’s work to promote implementation of the relevant Council resolutions relating to information and communications technologies (ICT). In this respect, CTED is committed to:

Continue its work on countering the use of the Internet, other ICTs, and other emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Explore ways to continue to expand its dialogue within the United Nations system and with international and regional actors, as well as to deepen its engagement and cooperation with the relevant civil society and private sector entities.

Make full use of the Committee’s assessment and stocktaking tools and its dialogue with Member States in order to further its assessment and thematic analysis, as well as to identify and promote relevant good practices.
Continue to identify and assess issues, trends, and developments relating to the implementation of the relevant Council resolutions.

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Counter-Terrorism Committee adopts updated Global Surveys of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and other relevant resolutions and Security Council resolution 1624 (2005), respectively, by Member States

AKHVEDELID — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 14:06:00 +0000

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On 2 November 2021, the Counter-Terrorism Committee adopted the updated edition of its Global survey of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and other relevant resolutions by Member States, which is based on the assessment of States’ counter-terrorism efforts by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED). Since 2005, CTED has visited 117 Member States and completed a total of 181 comprehensive, focused, regional and follow-up visits.

Regarded as the most comprehensive analytical documents on counter-terrorism in the UN system, the Committee’s Global implementation surveys (GIS) consider where progress has been made and where gaps remain and identify where the international community might most usefully focus its efforts. The surveys also contain global assessments of Member States’ efforts across all major thematic areas addressed by the relevant resolutions. They are updated every few years.

The nature of the global terrorist threat has continued to evolve since the publication of the previous edition of the survey, in 2016, compelling Member States to adapt their policies and approaches to address new challenges and existing gaps in their counter-terrorism measures. Those challenges include the evolution of the foreign terrorist fighter (FTF) threat; the rising threat of terrorism in conflict areas; the emergence of new terrorist methodologies; the growing threat of terrorist attacks on the basis of xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, along with the growing emergence of some transnational linkages between such terrorist groups and, most recently, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 1373 GIS is a global analysis of the implementation of counter-terrorism measures by all Member States, examined on a regional basis using consistent criteria as an analytical tool. This edition introduces for the first time selected regional spotlights on issues in particular regions that deserve special attention based on a risk-based approach to analysis and the findings of CTED’s recent assessment visits. At the conclusion of each regional subsection, the survey provides a summary of some of the priority recommendations that the Committee has made to Member States since the previous survey to strengthen their implementation of resolution 1373 (2001). CTED hopes that these recommendations will also be useful for other international organizations and bilateral donors working in the field of counter-terrorism.

The Committee also adopted the updated edition of its Global survey of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1624 (2005) by Member States. The 1624 GIS was prepared by CTED pursuant to the request of the Security Council, contained in its resolution 2395 (2017), that CTED update the previous survey (S/2016/50), issued in January 2016. It contains a detailed regional overview of the steps taken by States to implement Security Council resolutions aimed at countering incitement to commit terrorist acts, violent extremism, and terrorist narratives, focusing primarily on the implementation of resolution 1624 (2005), which calls on all States to prohibit by law incitement to commit a terrorist act or acts. According to CTED’s analysis, as of 1 March 2021, 112 States had expressly criminalized incitement to commit a terrorist act or acts in their national legislation (compared with a figure of “at least 76 States”, as of 1 November 2015).

The survey notes that two other Security Council resolutions are directly relevant to the implementation of resolution 1624 (2005). Council resolution 2178 (2014), on the threat to international peace and security posed by foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), contains a provision encouraging States to engage relevant local communities and non-governmental actors in developing strategies “to counter the violent extremist narrative that can incite terrorist acts”. It proposes that this can be achieved by addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, including by “empowering youth, families, women, religious, cultural and education leaders, and all other concerned groups of civil society”. This approach has come to be known as countering violent extremism (CVE).

The survey also takes into account Security Council resolution 2354 (2017), on the threat to international peace and security posed by terrorist narratives spread by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as Daesh; Al-Qaida; and other terrorist groups. That resolution encourages States to develop programmes to counter terrorist narratives, stressing that States have the primary responsibility in countering terrorist acts and violent extremism conducive to terrorism and noting that counter-narrative efforts “can benefit through engagement with a wide range of actors, including youth, families, women, religious, cultural, and education leaders, and other concerned groups of civil society”.

An overview of the two surveys is available here.

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