The Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) Rabat Memorandum on Good Practices for Effective Counterterrorism Practice in the Criminal Justice Sector elaborates guidance on 15 good practices that promote rule of law–based criminal justice responses to terrorism. The GCTF encourages all countries to consider the memorandum as a source of guidance, and its members and partners have been working bilaterally and multilaterally to promote its implementation in national and regional contexts. This report presents the core findings of a stocktaking project. It highlights trends, challenges, and opportunities for implementing the good practices of the memorandum and for leveraging these practices to more effectively counter terrorism while promoting and protecting human rights.
Although the Global Center report highlights examples of a wide range of good practices being implemented in national jurisdictions, it calls attention to diverse legal and institutional, organizational, and operational challenges that seriously undermine rule of law–based criminal justice across all countries examined. The findings suggest that core criminal justice sector development efforts are essential for strengthening national implementation of rule of law–based criminal justice practices to counter terrorism. The report concludes with a series of cross-cutting recommendations to support the ongoing efforts of the GCTF Criminal Justice Sector and Rule of Law Working Group.
Across South Asia, civil society has made important contributions to enhancing rule of law–based efforts to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism. Its role as advocate, monitor, technical expert, trainers, service provider, and information hub complements the efforts of law enforcement and security actors, and many opportunities exist for partnerships. Civil society actors have also played an important role in promoting development, improved governance and human rights in the region and a resilient social contract between citizens and the state.
This policy brief reflects on these contributions and explores opportunities for civil society to support cooperative regional efforts to respond to terrorism and violent extremism. It draws largely from a workshop titled “Strengthening Rule of Law–Based Responses to Terrorism and Violent Extremism in South Asia: What Role for Civil Society?” which was organized by the Global Center in partnership with the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore and the Institute for Inclusive Security. Following an overview of the limitations and challenges faced by civil society actors in the region, this brief offers a set of recommendations for policymakers and practitioners with a view to informing the design and implementation of programming to prevent violent extremism and terrorism in South Asia.
Developed for the Knowledge Platform Security and Rule of Law, this paper presents a series of thematic discussions derived from the literature on policing in a number of African countries. Taking a developmental and human security perspective, the paper focuses on the diffuse networks of nonstate and state providers that serve as the primary safety and security providers for a vast majority of communities. Although hybrid policing systems vary in capacity and end-user satisfaction, traditional statutory policing structures are generally characterized by severe dysfunction, politicization, and abuse with impunity. Considering the diverse challenges faced by many national police actors on the continent, the paper questions the efficacy of prevailing state-centric security assistance programs and their overwhelming focus on strengthening “enforcement” capacities. It cautions donors to take a more considered approach to ensure their police assistance activities are supporting the protection, not the predation, of local communities.
Money laundering and terrorism financing pose significant threats to security and development efforts worldwide and increasingly undermine the integrity and stability of the global financial system. In recent years, there has been increasing political will and tangible progress on anti–money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) issues in the region. In order to capitalize on this momentum, the Global Center, supported by the Government of Denmark, has produced a detailed research study of AML/CFT developments and remaining challenges in the region, building on a 2012 also supported by the Government of Denmark, titled “ISSP-CGCC Joint Baseline Study on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism in the IGAD Subregion.”
The report includes cutting-edge information and analysis from 10 countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen. It provides a snapshot of the underlying economic and socio-political climate in each country, followed by an in-depth analysis of AML/CFT developments and achievements, as well as remaining capacity and implementation challenges. The report includes recommendations for initiatives that support jurisdictions in addressing capacity challenges and building more robust AML/CFT regimes and discusses regulatory challenges and financial inclusion opportunities posed by emerging technologies, such as mobile banking, within the region.
Remittance funds sent by the diaspora are often noted as a lifeline for Somalia, comprising a significant component of the economy and covering the costs of basic necessities such as food, education, and health care for millions of Somalis. Beyond providing vital support for short-term sustenance needs, many members of the Somali diaspora view sending remittances as a cultural tradition and a personal contribution to the rebuilding of their communities, including investment in the growth of business enterprises, financial stability, and economic development across Somalia.
This policy brief examines the Danish-Somali remittance corridor against the backdrop of recent MSB bank account closures, including those in the United Kingdom and the United States. It provides insight into MSB operations and remittance sending practices in Denmark, as well as background on the Somali diaspora there. The brief was informed by a combination of desk research and field consultations with Somali community members in the Danish cities of Aalborg, Aarhus, and Copenhagen. The brief offers recommendations to key actors including Danish AML/CFT regulatory authorities, Somali MSBs, and Danish financial institutions holding Somali MSB bank accounts, with the objective of preventing similar account closures in Denmark.
Efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism have increasingly sought to engage youth, communities, and marginalized groups, including women, with the intent to address some of the underlying grievances and conditions that can create an enabling environment for extremist groups to generate support and recruits. Sports, arts, and culture offer much-underutilized platforms to address some of these conditions and help develop resonant and effective counternarratives to reflect local and regional dynamics. As the 2015 U.S. National Security Strategy notes, in the long term, such efforts “will be more important than our capacity to remove terrorists from the battlefield.”
This brief explores the history of cultural diplomacy and use of sports in conflict situations; examines relevant lessons learned and good practices that can inform the integration of sports, arts, and culture into countering violent extremism (CVE) efforts; and offers practical recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in the CVE field. The brief draws on desk research, discussions with practitioners and policymakers, and discussions at a workshop on the topic co-hosted by the Global Center and Hedayah in May 2014.
On 24 September, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2178 with the support of over 120 states representing a broad cross-section of the UN membership. Resolution 2178 called on all UN member states to ensure increased border security and to screen for or arrest foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) travelling to or returning from conflict areas. Rightly so, it also urges states to counter violent extremism by taking preventive measures, such as engaging with communities at the local level to stop the spread of extremist ideologies.
On 23 October 2014, the Global Center, the Human Security Collective, and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague convened an expert meeting at the European Union (EU) in Brussels to discuss the implications of the resolution and to explore appropriate and effective responses to the threat of FTFs, both within the EU and as part of the Union’s foreign security and development programming.
Building upon the discussion in Brussels, this policy brief is a compilation of essays from all three organizations on the challenges and opportunities for addressing the FTF threat from a European Union perspective. It also examines the implementation of Resolution 2178 as an integral part of national and multilateral foreign security and development policies and initiatives.
This workshop discussion paper was presented in November 2014 in Doha at the International Conference on Security and Human Rights in the Arab region hosted by the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar with the support of the Arab Council of Interior Ministers, the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions, and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The paper was prepared to help foster constructive dialogue between national security agencies and human rights organizations and offers perspectives on linkages across national, community, and individual security, and their common interdependence with the promotion and protection of human rights. It also provides examples of practical measures that can strengthen the governance, accountability, and public service-orientation of the justice and security sector to more effectively promote and protect human rights across the criminal justice chain in collaboration with civil society and local communities.
The development of a vibrant and active private banking system that complements existing public sector work is considered important to Ethiopia’s economic progress and key to the success of the government’s “Growth and Transformation Plan,” an ambitious five-year development plan to assist the country in reaching “middle income” status. This brief considers the manner in which Ethiopia’s public and private banking systems affect the development of the national economy, with particular reference to anti–money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism vulnerabilities. Ethiopia is not alone in facing this challenge, as banking industry liberalization is a key consideration in a range of countries, from large economies such as India to regional neighbors such as Uganda, particularly as the 2008 global financial crisis has raised some important questions about the merits of uncontrolled banking industry development.
Ethiopia has experienced notable economic growth over the last ten years, but its foreign exchange controls appear restrictive in comparison to peer group countries. This brief considers the manner in which foreign exchange control regimes and remittances affect Ethiopia’s economic development and the challenge of imposing appropriate anti–money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism policies without hindering or limiting the important developmental role played by remittance flows. Although this brief focuses on the extent to which these overlapping issues impact Ethiopia, it is important to note that other countries in and beyond the region are also facing these issues as they seek to use such controls to support and protect their economies and currencies.
