Artificial Intelligence and Data Capture Technologies in Violence and Conflict Prevention

Threats to human rights and security triggered by artificial intelligence (AI) and data capture technologies will require peacebuilding and violence prevention actors to bridge the gap between early warning and response and anticipate new challenges. Conflict prevention is rapidly becoming an element of UN peacekeeper mandates in which technological and data governance will have powerful and unprecedented implications. UN actors need to integrate emerging technologies to digitize, share, and secure the information they collect from open sources, human informants, and data capture technologies. They also need to monitor how armed nonstate actors evolve and blend into civilian environments, collude with transnational criminal networks, and adapt their attack strategies to new domains, including cyberspace. Experts must scrutinize how online hate speech and incitements to violence contaminate the lifeblood of social media and private messaging applications in countries where ethnic and socioeconomic tensions prevail.

In this policy brief, Eleonore Pauwels examines how AI and data capture technologies can be positively harnessed and potentially misused, as the new paradigm of predictive behavioral analysis and population data capture is increasingly being presented as a solution to challenges in humanitarian action, conflict prevention, and counterterrorism. The brief advances recommendations for ensuring a do-no-harm approach to deploying these technologies in the field.

Over the course of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Global Center hosted and participated in numerous events and functions aimed at advancing effective policy and practice around countering violent extremism, criminal justice and rule of law, and financial integrity and inclusion.

As part of its roundtable series, the Global Center hosted its eighth virtual meeting on “The Future of Multilateralism: Opportunities and Challenges in Counterterrorism Efforts,” to examine both opportunities and challenges in multilateral counterterrorism efforts. Welcoming remarks were provided by Eelco Kessels, Executive Director of the Global Center. Speakers included Eric Rosand, Director of the Prevention Project: Organizing Against Violent Extremism; Laila Bokhari, former Deputy-Minister with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former State Secretary at the Office of the Norwegian Prime Minister; Amina Rasul, Philippines Representative, ASEAN Women for Peace Registry, and Amr Magdi, Middle East And North Africa Researcher, Human Rights Watch. During the discussion, and following the panelists’ remarks, participants addressed central themes of multilateral cooperation, recognizing the importance of a principled counterterrorism approach and highlighting the challenges ahead in strengthening these efforts. Some of the issues raised during the discussion included the lack of government-civil society cooperation and the need to protect human rights and civic space.

Interventions were provided by Assistant Secretary-General Michele Coninsx, Executive Director, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate; Aougui Niandou, Deputy Permanent Representative of Niger to the United Nations;  Rafi Shah, Chief of Policy, Knowledge Management and Coordination Branch, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism; Rebecca Skellett, Head, Strong Cities Network; Francisco Fontan, Head of Counter-Terrorism Division, European External Action Service, and Georgia Holmer, Head of Unit, Action against Terrorism, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The Global Center also hosted a virtual event on (Counter-)Terrorism, Economic Stability, and the Private Sector, through which it sought to break down traditional silos between the private sector and the fields of terrorism and counterterrorism. Welcoming remarks were provided by Tom Firestone, a Partner at Baker McKenzie, a longstanding partner of the Global Center’s and co-host of the event. Panelists included Vanda Felbab-Brown, Senior Fellow-Foreign Policy, Brookings; John Frank, Vice President, UN Affairs, Microsoft Corporation; Niall Brennan, VP, Global Head of Strategic Security Partnerships & Engagement, SAP Global Security; Mariko Silver, President and CEO, Henry Luce Foundation; and moderator Howie Wachtel, Director of Global Sanctions Advisory and Strategy, PayPal and a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Center. The panelists spoke to the changing nature of conflict, including within the pandemic, and highlighted successful private-public partnerships and collaboration across sectors working to combat dynamic security threats.

As part of this event, the Global Center was excited to formally welcome two new members to the Global Center’s Board of Directors: Laila Bokhari, former State Deputy-Minister with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a State Secretary at the Office of the Norwegian Prime Minister; and David McGowan, Vice President of Global Protection Services at Tiffany & Co. and the former President of the Board of Directors of the International Security Management Association.

For six weeks, the Global Center dedicated its social media engagement to the impacts of civil society in advancing positive change in counterterrorism and preventing and countering violent extremism efforts. Using the hashtag #CivilSocietyInclusion, the Global Center highlighted civil society impact within the context of multilateralism and the UN counterterrorism framework, including their role in rehabilitation and reintegration and the importance of empowering youth-focused civil society organizations in Kenya and Nigeria to counter violent extremism in their communities. As part of the engagements with youth-focused civil society organizations, the Global Center assembled a short video series on the different impacts and achievements of the overall project.

To watch the events and the short videos series, please visit the Global Center’s YouTube page.

Without meaningful civil society engagement, the UN system’s counterterrorism policy, coordination, technical assistance, and advocacy risk causing more harm than good. This article argues that the United Nations needs to take its commitments to civil society seriously and uphold its do-no-harm principles of engagement in the field, which would require transforming the way it works with civil society organizations and consults them as part of counterterrorism and preventing and countering violent extremism policy discussions and programmatic efforts.

Research for this article was conducted as part of the Global Center’s project assessing UN counterterrorism efforts ahead of member states’ biennial review of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, funded by the governments of the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland.

UN Security Council Resolution 2396 recognizes the contributions of civil society to the rehabilitation and reintegration of returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters and their families, encouraging member states to engage civil society when developing their rehabilitation and reintegration strategies. This policy brief explores how government and civil society can advance their cooperation in the rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals convicted and imprisoned for violent extremism or terrorism-related offenses. It presents the current state of cooperation between government and civil society in the rehabilitation and reintegration process, then outlines the potential objectives of further cooperation. For each objective, the brief explores the opportunities and challenges of cooperation for both governments and civil society.

From 6-10 July, the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) organized its first Virtual Counter-Terrorism week in lieu of the 2020 Counter-Terrorism Week, which was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic following the postponement of the Seventh Review of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy to the General Assembly’s 75th session.

UNOCT hosted ten webinars and interactive discussions over the course of the week under the overarching theme of “Strategic and Practical Challenges of Countering Terrorism in a Global Pandemic Environment” to discuss emerging trends and priorities such as bio and cyber terrorism, addressing the plight of victims of terrorism, and civil society and media perspectives to prevent violent extremism (PVE).

The Global Center’s Executive Director, Mr. Eelco Kessels, joined representatives from international nongovernmental organizations and media for Webinar V “Civil Society and Media Perspectives on Preventing and Countering Terrorism in a Pandemic.” Mr. Kessels’ conveyed the critical importance of meaningfully partnering with civil society in counterterrorism and PVE efforts, the obstacles to their engagement, and ways to overcome these challenges at the local, national, and international levels. In addition to conveying the perspectives from the Global Center’s partners around the world, the remarks were informed by two civil society-led workshops that the Global Center helped co-organize in advance of the UN Regional High-Level Counter-Terrorism Conferences in Abu Dhabi and Vienna, in which more than 75 civil society actors from 30 different countries participated.

In his remarks, Mr. Kessels highlighted the importance of meaningful and sustained engagement with a diverse civil society in efforts to counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism. He presented several key considerations to help realize more productive and sustained relationships with civil society, including:

• Ensuring a conducive environment and legal basis are essential in realizing the contributions of civil society;
• Providing adequate and predictable funding as well as support in strengthening organizational capacities and building thematic and practical expertise; and
• Proactively involving civil society in policy formulation and program design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluations processes at all levels.

He stressed that the United Nations has a specific role to play in supporting the meaningful participation of civil society actors in counterterrorism and PVE policies, programs, and practices.

On 2 July, leading up to the 2020 Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week, the Global Center launched the key recommendations and summary findings of its forthcoming Blue Sky V report. The report’s findings and recommendations suggest ways the United Nations can better leverage its comparative advantages to improve policy development, inter-agency coordination, delivery, and impact of its counterterrorism and PVE efforts in a manner that systemically accounts for human rights and civil society engagement.

In the lead up to the 2020 Virtual UN Counter-Terrorism Week, the Global Center launched the summary findings and key recommendations of the fifth iteration of its Blue Sky report series. With the generous support of the governments of the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland, the report builds on the Global Center’s previous analyses of the UN’s counter terrorism efforts. The key recommendations of the report suggest concrete ways the United Nations can better leverage its comparative advantages to improve policy development, inter-agency coordination, delivery, and impact of counterterrorism and preventing violent extremism efforts in a manner that systemically accounts for human rights and civil society engagement.

The Global Center’s Executive Director Eelco Kessels and Chief of Strategy Melissa Lefas were joined by Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director, UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate; Mr. Raffi Gregorian, Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General and Director, UN Office of Counter-Terrorism; Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Professor Willibroad Dze-Ngwa, University of Yaoundé I, Africa Network against Illiteracy, Conflict and Human Rights Abuse, Cameroon; and Ms. Mai E’Leimat, Founder and CEO of Edmaaj, Development and Social Responsibility Consulting, Jordan. Ambassador Stephan Husy, Ambassador-at-Large for International Counterterrorism, Switzerland opened the event and Mr. Huib Mijnarends, Special Envoy on Counter-Terrorism, the Netherlands, delivered closing remarks.

Recognizing the importance of reinforcing the promotion and protection of human rights and the rule of law underpinning the Strategy and that the United Nations places a renewed focus on policy leadership and coordination to support the Strategy’s implementation, embedded in the wider peace and security pillar, Blue Sky V hones in on four focus areas:

• Calibrating the UN Counterterrorism Architecture
• Situating UN Counterterrorism Efforts Within the Prevention Framework
• Engaging and Supporting Civil Society and Mainstream Human Rights
• Assessing the Implementation of the Strategy

The panelists reflected on the report’s summary findings and recommendations, joined by over 175 participants via Zoom and YouTube livestream.

For more information about the Blue Sky process and report, please contact Ms. Franziska Praxl at fpraxl@globalcenter.org.

Over the course of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Global Center hosted, presented, and participated in numerous events and functions aimed at advancing effective policy and practice around countering violent extremism, criminal justice and rule of law, and financial integrity and inclusion.

From organizing a panel on safeguarding civil society and humanitarian operations while countering terrorism at the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) to co-hosting a discussion on youth engagement and resilience against violent extremism in the Sahel, the Global Center was able to demonstrate the impact of its work on justice, security, and development, and highlight its cooperation with partners such as Senior Fellows Maji Peterx (Alternatives to Violence Project Lead Facilitator and Carefronting Nigeria Coordinator) and Phyllis Muema (Executive Director, Kenya Community Support Centre).

Global Center Reception: Celebrating Fifteen Years of Impact

At our annual reception, the Global Center celebrated its fifteen-year anniversary and welcomed existing and new partners to look ahead to an exciting new phase of growth and development. Thank you to all those who joined us in celebrating on 25 September, and a special thank you to our wonderful partners and incredible host Baker McKenzie for making the reception a success.

GCTF Panel Discussion: Safeguarding Civil Society and Humanitarian Operations

Global Center Executive Director Eelco Kessels moderated a session on “Safeguarding Civil Society and Humanitarian Operations while Countering the Financing of Terrorism,” convened during the Sixteenth GCTF Coordinating Committee Meeting. The panel was organized by the Global Center in partnership with the Governments of the Netherlands and Morocco, GCTF Co-Chairs. It featured a diverse range of experts to discuss the impact of countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) on civil society and humanitarian spaces and consider ways in which CFT aim could be furthered without harming civil society and humanitarian operations. Remarks of one of the panelists—the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, are available here.

Two Sides of the Same Coin? Operationalizing Linkages between the SDG 16 and PVE Agendas

The Global Center, the Prevention Project, and the International Civil Society Action Network co-hosted an event to explore the linkages between Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)16 and preventing violent extremism (PVE) Agendas. In welcoming remarks, Rafia Bhulai, Global Center Senior Programs Officer, cautioned that the PVE lens may not be the most appropriate or useful way through which to address many of the SDG16 targets, but that carefully considered and relevant efforts could help advance mutually reinforcing elements of the peace, security, and development agendas. Specifically, she proposed two areas of complementarity between the two agendas – by curbing illicit and terrorism finance and by promoting access to justice for all. The Global Center will further explore these issues in a forthcoming article.

Youth Engagement and Resilience against Violent Extremism in the Sahel

The Global Center, the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute – in collaboration with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission of Senegal to the United Nations – organized a panel on the critical role that youth play across the Sahel in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE). The event was organized to provide a platform for young leaders and their advocates to directly address policy makers, implementing partners, and donors on how to better support them in their P/CVE effort and to address persistent challenges and promising interventions. Maji Peterx, Global Center Senior Fellow and Alternatives to Violence Project Lead Facilitator and Carefronting Nigeria Coordinator, provided his experiences working with youth on P/CVE efforts. A meeting summary details key takeaways from the discussion.

New Perspectives on Violent Extremism in Africa

Tracey Durner, Global Center Senior Analyst, reflected on the findings of a survey by the Institute of Security Studies of 281 P/CVE projects in East, Central, and West Africa during a panel discussion hosted at the European Union Delegation to the United Nations. She noted an increasing disconnect between the structural drivers of violent extremism often cited on the continent, and programming responses that emphasize community dialogue and awareness raising. She also highlighted the negative impact that ad-hoc, project-based funding has on the strength and core capacity of local actors. These findings draw on the Global Center’s experiences supporting the East Africa Civil Society Organizations Hub and providing small and medium grants to grassroots civil society organizations to design and implement P/CVE programming in their communities.

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For insights on all the events the Global Center participated in, please visit our twitter page, https://twitter.com/GlobalCtr.

In August 2018, a regional strategy for the stabilization, recovery, and resilience of the Boko Haram-affected areas of the Lake Chad Basin was adopted, which recognizes the interrelated experiences of communities surrounding the Lake Chad Basin and the benefits of a common approach. The strategy sets out nine priority pillars for action to generate applicable policies and programs geared toward the short- and long-term stabilization and development of the region, including on the handling of individuals associated with Boko Haram.

This policy brief assesses Cameroon’s strategies and policies for reintegrating associates of Boko Haram against the recently adopted Lake Chad Basin regional stabilization strategy, the realities experienced by Boko Haram-affected communities, and the experiences of individuals detained on account of their associations. For comparative purposes, references to the experience of Niger are included. Co-authored by academic experts, the brief offers a set of recommendations promoting a cohesive approach, calling for government action, and recognizing the role of communities at the forefront of reintegration efforts.

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En août 2018, une stratégie régionale a été adoptée pour la stabilisation, le rétablissement et la résilience des zones du bassin du lac Tchad touchées par Boko Haram. Elle reconnaît les expériences interdépendantes des communautés riveraines du bassin du lac Tchad et les avantages d’une approche commune. La stratégie repose sur neuf piliers prioritaires et vise à élaborer des politiques et des programmes pertinents pour garantir, à court et à moyen terme, la stabilisation et le dével­oppement de la région du bassin du lac Tchad, y compris la gestion et la prise en charge des ex-associées de Boko Haram.

La présente note politique évalue les stratégies et les politiques du Cameroun visant à réintégrer les
ex-associés de Boko Haram par rapport à la stratégie régionale de stabilisation du bassin du lac Tchad récemment adoptée, les réalités vécues par les communautés touchées par Boko Haram, et celles des personnes détenues en raison de leurs associations. Des références à l’expérience du Niger sont présentées aux fins de comparaison. Rédigé en collaboration avec des universitaires, le document propose une série de recommandations favorisant une approche cohérente, engageant le gouvernement à agir et reconnaissant le rôle des communautés au premier plan des efforts de réinsertion.

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Within the realm of policy discussions, anti–money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) efforts are generally treated as a package deal. From a policymaking standpoint, the combination makes sense. There is a convergence between the types of information and stakeholders relevant to money laundering and terrorism financing, and after the September 11, 2001 attacks it was expedient to add CFT to existing AML frameworks. Yet in practice, critics have argued this “marriage” places undue burden on the private sector and resulted in ineffective and even harmful outcomes.

This brief examines where and how AML frameworks are fit for purpose relative to CFT and considers where additional CFT-specific efforts are necessary. It begins with a brief summary of the evolution of money laundering and terrorism financing policies, discussing the unification of the two fields and the key differences between the motivations and typologies of money laundering and terrorism financing crimes. Against that backdrop, it explores the four objectives of CFT efforts (prevent, detect, freeze, and trace) to identify areas where existing unified AML/CFT frameworks are working and areas where more nuance is required to effectively combat threats specific to terrorism financing. The brief concludes with recommendations on how current CFT policy discourse and evolution can meaningfully support broader counterterrorism objectives.

In the Sahel, weak law enforcement capacities, vast ungoverned territories, and underdeveloped criminal justice systems have contributed to the proliferation of nonstate armed groups, with the military placed at the forefront of suppression efforts. A number of issues arise in the adjudication of terrorism cases. Ambiguities in the law persist where the protective framework of minors conflict with repressive antiterrorism framework; understaffed courts are burdened by a large caseload, while individuals detained en masse face criminal sanctions that may not always be proportional to the gravity of the offense. Judicial investigations are further hampered by a lack of cooperation with military actors and coordinated efforts to preserve evidence on the battlefield.

To affirm the primacy of the criminal justice framework, the chief justices of the Sahel supreme courts unanimously adopted a set of recommendations on 2 March 2018 in Dakar, Senegal. This report presents the legal responses to terrorism in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal and discusses international standards articulated in the field, providing comparative analysis and commentary. It features contributions from supreme court justices from France, Niger, Mali and Senegal. The report forms part of a program on Counter-Terrorism Criminal Justice Support to Senior Judicial Officials shaped by a steering committee comprised of supreme court justices and implemented in partnership with UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Association of Francophone Supreme Courts, and funded by the International Organisation of la Francophonie and the governments of Canada and Japan.

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Quand la poussière retombe: La justice face au terrorisme dans le Sahel
Dans le Sahel, les faibles capacités de la police et la présence limitée des autorités dans les territoires reculés contribuent à l’inefficacité de la justice, et les militaires ont joué le rôle de premiers intervenants. Un certain nombre d’enjeux se posent dans la gestion des affaires de terrorisme. Les ambiguïtés de la loi persistent là où la protection spéciale accordée aux mineurs entre en conflit avec le cadre antiterroriste ; les cours, déjà surchargées, sont confrontés à un nombre croissant de dossiers de terrorisme et les accusés font l’objet de sanctions pénales qui ne sont pas toujours proportionnelles à la gravité du délit ou crime. Au niveau de l’enquête, les magistrats ont déploré la piètre qualité de la gestion des éléments de preuve par les premiers intervenants sur le champ de bataille.

Affirmant la primauté du cadre de justice pénale, les premiers présidents des cours suprêmes des pays du Sahel ont adopté à l’unanimité des recommandations dans la matière le 2 mars 2018 à Dakar, au Sénégal. Ce rapport présente les réponses judiciaires au terrorisme au Burkina Faso, au Mali, en Mauritanie, au Niger, au Sénégal, et au Tchad, et évoque des normes internationales développées dans la matière tout en fournissant une analyse et des commentaires comparatifs. Le rapport présente des contributions de magistrats des cours suprême de la France, du Niger, du Mali et du Sénégal, comprenant des membres d’un comité de pilotage dans le programme sur « Les cours suprêmes dans la prévention et la lutte contre le terrorisme ». Ce projet a été réalisé avec l’appui et l’expertise de la Direction exécutive du Comité contre le terrorisme, de l’Office des Nations Unies contre la drogue et le crime (ONUDC), de l’Association des Hautes Juridictions de Cassation des pays ayant en partage l’usage du français (AHJUCAF), et a bénéficié du soutien financier de l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) et des gouvernements canadien et japonais.

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