REU, Alm.del - 2016-17 - Bilag 136: Invitation til regional konference ved FN’s organisation for narkotika og kriminalitet (UNODC) i Aswan, Egypten den 31. januar

Retsudvalget 2016-17
REU Alm.del Bilag 136
Offentligt

Inter-Parliamentary Union

For democracy, For everyone

Regional workshop for parliamentarians on the challenges posed by a criminal

justice preventative response to violent extremism leading to terrorism

31 January to 2 February 2017

Aswan, Egypt

Evolving terrorist threats to international security, as well as the development of new

terrorist

modus operandi

and features, require constant adaptability and efforts from

Member States to strengthen their capacities to face these emerging threats through a

criminal justice and rule of law approach. Among such threats, the increasing

phenomenon of violent extremism, in activities of terrorists groups have raised major

concerns among Member States.

Countering extremism violence requires vigilant steps to be taken in order to contain the

rise of online recruitment by countering the use of Internet for terrorist purposes. An

attempt to cooperate with local religious clerics as a tool in countering Daesh/ISIL

propaganda is also key to hamper its influence among the young population whom are the

most vulnerable.

At UN level, the Secretary-General urged Member States to “consider developing a

national plan of action to prevent violent extremism which sets national priorities for

addressing the local drivers of violent extremism and complements national counter-

terrorism strategies”. He particularly “encouraged parliamentarians to provide the

legislative foundation for national plans of action for preventing violent extremism

consistent with their national and international obligations, where necessary.”

The UN

Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014) also urges Member States to cooperate and

consistently support each other’s efforts to counter violent extremism, which can be

conductive to terrorism, including through capacity building, coordination of plans and

efforts, and sharing lessons learned.

Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism, Report of the Secretary-General, A/70/674, 24 December

2015.

REU, Alm.del - 2016-17 - Bilag 136: Invitation til regional konference ved FN’s organisation for narkotika og kriminalitet (UNODC) i Aswan, Egypten den 31. januar – 2. februar 2017

In this context, the Terrorism Prevention Branch of UNODC is planning to organise,

jointly with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and in cooperation with the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), a regional workshop on the

challenges posed by a criminal justice preventative response to violent extremism leading

to terrorism for parliamentarians and policymakers from the beneficiary countries of the

UNODC regional project on “Strengthening rule-of-law-compliant criminal justice

responses to violent extremism leading to terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa

(2016-2017),” as well as from other countries, especially from the MENA and Gulf

regions, from 31 January to 2 February 2017 in Aswan, Egypt.

This three-day regional workshop will bring together around 35 policymakers from the

beneficiary countries and other countries in MENA and Gulf regions, to discuss and

identify an effective national criminal justice strategy that addresses all the preventive

aspects of counter-terrorism by specifically focusing on the measures to counter violent

extremism including the legal approaches for effective criminal justice responses to the

propaganda, the incitement and the recruitment as made by Daesh/ISIL.

The workshop will also address the parliamentarian oversight and other applicable

mechanisms and the good governance of the security sector in the fight against terrorism,

as well as the respect for rule of law based and human rights compliant in investigation

techniques in the fight against terrorism.

Finally, the workshop will provide a forum for exchanging information and good

practices among parliamentarians on their role in developing and enacting legislation,

translating the universal legal instruments against terrorism into national law, that should

shape a comprehensive national plan addressing,

inter alia,

factors conducive to

terrorism. In addition to UNODC and IPU experts, relevant experts from other

regional/international organisations and Member States will be invited to contribute to

this event.

The project is generously funded by the government of Japan and developed by

UNODC/TPB, in order to broaden the scope of the technical assistance provided to the

Governments of the Middle East region and to urgently support their efforts to face

emerging threats and evolving aspects of terrorist activities in each country and in the

region.