When the Dust Settles: Judicial Responses to Terrorism in the Sahel / Quand la poussière retombe: La justice face au terrorisme dans le Sahel

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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In recent years, the role of women in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) has gained momentum in the international counterterrorism policy discourse. Several questions emerge when discussing the particulars of why and how women partake in both violent extremism and P/CVE efforts. For example, what are the different roles that women can undertake in a terrorist organization? Are females recruited differently than their male counterparts? What roles do they play in inciting or persuading others to join violent extremist groups? Is there a particular role for women in countering terrorism and P/CVE? Are specific policies aimed at women a necessity moving forward? How can a gender analysis be effectively integrated into P/CVE policy and programming?

The collection of essays contained in this edited volume by the Global Center and Hedayah seeks to build the body of literature on women and P/CVE by drawing on examples from a number of countries and regions. The essays contain both policy-level recommendations as well as programmatic suggestions, and seek to answer some of the outstanding questions regarding the types of roles women might play in P/CVE efforts.

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.

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.

The Global Center on Cooperative Security is pleased to announce the publication of the report, “Preventing Violent Extremism in Burkina Faso: Toward National Resilience Amid Regional Insecurity.” The report is coauthored by Profs. Augustin Loada (Executive Director of the Ouagadougou-based Centre pour la Gouvernance Democratique) and Peter Romaniuk (Senior Fellow at the Global Center in New York). At a time when violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel is at the top of the regional and international agenda, the report assesses the threat to Burkina Faso and surveys sources of resilience. The report finds that Burkina Faso is vulnerable to violent extremism but the threat is not imminent, while arguing that stakeholders (the Government of Burkina Faso, its international partners and civil society groups) should take steps to prevent the emergence of violent extremism and build resilience.

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The Global Center on Cooperative Security est heureux d’annoncer la publication de la rapport, «Prévention de l’extrémisme violent au Burkina Faso: Vers une résilience nationale dans un context d’insécurité régionale». Le rapport est co-écrit par les professeurs, Augustin Loada (Directeur exécutif du centre pour la Gouvernance Démocratique basé à Ouagadougou) et Peter Romaniuk (Senior Fellow au Global Center à New York). À une époque où l’extrémisme violent en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Sahel est en tête de l’agenda régional et international, le rapport évalue la menace au Burkina Faso et passe en revue ses sources de résilience. Le rapport constate que le Burkina Faso est vulnérable à l’extrémisme violent, mais la menace n’est pas imminente, tout en démontrant que les parties prenantes (le gouvernement du Burkina Faso, ses partenaires internationaux et les groupes de la société civile) doivent prendre des mesures pour empêcher l’émergence de l’extrémisme violent et renforcer la résilience.

Il peut être téléchargé en français en cliquant ici.

Professional, accountable and responsive criminal justice systems are essential for addressing a range of complex security challenges while safeguarding human rights and upholding the rule of law. To be effective, the entire system, from lawmakers to law enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges, and prison administrators, and other actors involved in delivering and ensuring the accountability of justice and security services, require ongoing training and capacity development. Particularly in transitional, fragile and conflict-affected countries, developing the capacity of institutions that can uphold the rule of law and protect human rights are crucial for enhancing safety and security, strengthening accountability, promoting good governance.

This report, co-authored by the Global Center’s Alistair Millar and Matthew Schwartz, outlines a series of recommendations for the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) in developing a curricula and program agenda based on the diverse needs of a multi-national and cross-regional constituency of partner countries. Once established, the IIJ will serve as a training center dedicated to strengthening criminal justice institutions, promoting regional legal cooperation, and fostering criminal justice practitioner networks based on a respect for human rights and the rule of law. The core findings and recommendations of this report are derived from a larger European Union-supported study undertaken by an expert team led by Millar under the auspices of CIVI.POL Conseil. Based on extensive desk research, seven country visits, and consolations with more than 200 stakeholders, the study assessed criminal justice-related counterterrorism capacity building and training needs in 18 focus countries across East Africa and the Horn, the Middle East and North Africa, and West Africa the Sahel.

This report outlines an agenda for enhancing partnerships among the international community, governments in the region, civil society, and local communities for countering violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel. It is the product of an 18-19 April 2013 workshop on the topic, hosted in Ouagadougou by the governments of Burkina Faso and Denmark under the auspices of the Global Counterterrorism Forum and convened by the Global Center. The workshop highlighted four recurring themes that capture the range of CVE and CVE-relevant programming:

1) Empower local community, government, and traditional leaders to work on conflict prevention and resolution in a region that has been plagued by several prolonged conflicts;
2) Strengthen law enforcement, criminal justice, and security sector actors through training and technical assistance focusing on community engagement, the rule of law, and human rights;
3) Actively engage and support civil society at the regional and international level; and
4) Identify and prevent violent extremism by addressing its structural and ideological drivers.

Building on those four themes and other inputs collected from participants during the workshop, this Action Agenda outlines a range of proposed activities to enhance existing CVE-relevant efforts.

French Version 

As part of the Global Center’s expanding work on transnational threats, this policy brief examines the effects of “dirty money” on security and governance in West Africa and the Sahel. Illicit money, particularly from drug trafficking, is rapidly undermining the region’s political and economic governance, infecting legislatures, police forces, militaries, courts, and presidential offices, as well as chambers of commerce, in countries across the region. The brief considers the nature and provenance of these problems and some unorthodox ideas to tackle them.

This report makes the case for West African states and partners to develop counterterrorism capacities and cooperation in the subregion, using the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy as their point of departure and working closely with and through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The report is based on recommendations that emerged from a large stakeholder meeting cohosted with the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja and a series of smaller consultations in Brussels and New York. The goal of these meetings was to identify and prioritize the unmet counterterrorism and related capacity needs of countries in West Africa across the four pillars of the Strategy. The report concludes with a set of action-oriented recommendations that outline steps the ECOWAS Commission, ECOWAS member states, and their partners could take to develop a subregional counterterrorism framework and mechanism. It includes other recommendations for strengthening counterterrorism cooperation in West Africa and between the subregion and external partners.

Available in French.

Intended to assist practitioners in using the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition Conventions, this reference manual includes descriptions of the conventions’ provisions as well as practical legal issues and difficulties that practitioners—prosecutors, government legal advisers, law enforcement officers, or judges—may face, as well as possible solutions. In addition, the manual includes the complete text of both conventions and a reference guide to other resources on mutual legal assistance and extradition.

Available in French.