In This Update:
Center Fellow’s film, Killing in the Name, Nominated for Oscar - Best Documentary (Short Subject)
New Projects
 Improving Counterterrorism Cooperation and Capacity in East Africa
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, sponsored by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and working closely with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and its Capacity Building Programme Against Terrorism (ICPAT), is launching two new projects aimed at preventing terrorism and building related capacities in East Africa.
The first will seek to improve legal cooperation against terrorism in the region through the development of a network of law enforcement officials in IGAD states. This network will undergo intensive training on counterterrorism issues such as witness protection, community engagement, terrorist financing, and open source analysis. The project will engage closely with relevant authorities in the various IGAD states (and IGAD itself) to foster the development of sustainable habits and arrangements for continuing this cooperation.
The second project aims to strengthen the capacity of countries in the region to counter terrorist financing through targeted processes of cooperation and technical assistance. The project will bring together key national, regional, and international stakeholders to support efforts to strengthen national anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) arrangements. In parallel, the Center will undertake extensive research into specific terrorist financing risks in the region, e.g., within the Somali remittance sector, and options for managing those risks.
Read more.
Preventing abuse of the non-profit sector to finance terrorism
With support from the Government of Canada and in collaboration with the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force working group on tackling the financing of terrorism, the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation is working on a multiyear project aimed at developing a common understanding of sound regulatory approaches to counter the risk of terrorist financing through the non-profit sector. The process is designed to give states and international regulators the opportunity to hear from each other about how they have tackled – or are tackling – the challenge of effective and credible regulation of the non-profit sector, particularly with respect to countering the financing of terrorism, as well as the challenges non-profit organizations (NPOs) face in this regard.
This dialogue will include both: 1) a global component – seeking to frame the discussion in terms of a shared understanding of how best to implement existing global standards, such as FATF Special Recommendation VIII; and 2) regional discussions, focused on the experiences in particular regions that will also include stand-alone consultations with NPOs. The first expert working group in the process was held at Lancaster House in London on 18-20 January 2011. This will be followed by a series of regional workshops around the world, accompanied by stand-alone consultations with NPOs from each region.
Read more. |
Publications
 Use of the Internet for Counter Terrorist Purposes
February 2011 – By Liat Shetret
In the latest in a series of policy briefs, Center Programs Officer, Liat Shetret, looks at the role of the internet in violent radicalization. Terrorists increasingly draw inspiration, reinforcement, support, and guidance from a variety of on-line sources. Shetret provides an overview of challenges this poses to effective counterterrorism, while arguing that the internet also offers a potent tool for countering violent radicalization. The brief offers key stakeholders including multilateral institutions, states, civil society organizations, the media and the private sector examples of how they can use the internet more effectively to prevent and counter violent radicalization.
Download the PDF
 Engaging For Peace: What are the Legal Limits to Working with Terrorists?
February 2011 – By Noah Bialostozky
Noah Bialostozky, a New York-based attorney working on international law and counterterrorism issues, examines the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Humanitarian Law Project v. Holder and its potential impact on public and private actors that engage with terrorist organizations to promote peace and development. Bialostozky notes that decision has left many international actors uncertain as to whether their routine activities, particularly in conflict situations, could result in criminal prosecution or a civil suit under U.S. law. This uncertainty, he suggests, is exacerbated by international counterterrorism measures that require states to prohibit a broad range of support activities for terrorist organizations, without requiring exemptions for humanitarian, development, or peacekeeping actors. Bialostozky argues that there is a need for greater clarity in both U.S. and international law to isolate those that should be prosecuted for material support and to guide the conduct of those who in their efforts to promote peace and development have to engage terrorist organizations.
Download the PDF
 Terrorism, Crime, and Conflict: Exploiting the Difference Among Transnational Threats?
February 2011 – By Britt Sloan and James Cockayne
Britt Sloan, a Visiting Research Fellow, and Center Co-Director, James Cockayne, offer eight targeted policy recommendations for combating the convergence of terrorism, crime, and politics. Rather than simply warning about the potential interaction and synergy of these transnational threats, the brief explores possibilities for exploiting their divergences. Drawing on insights from the criminological, conflict transformation, peacebuilding, development, and sociological arenas, the authors offer a wide array of policy ideas relating for example to security sector reform, post-conflict economic policy, strategic communications, and law enforcement strategies.
Download the PDF
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Events
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation presents: The Terrorist Who Came Home
(A film from the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force)
17 February 2011, 12:30-2:00 PM | Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, Washington, DC
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation will host a screening of The Terrorist Who Came Home, the first in a series of films from the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task (CTITF) designed to highlight voices of repentant terrorists. The CTITF documentary project features former terrorists and their victims and is intended to provide states with practical experiences to address issues related to violent radicalization. The brief film examines the life of an Algerian fighter who has since chosen to put down his weapons and focus instead on his family and future. Richard Barrett, Coordinator of the Monitoring Team of the 1267 Committee at the United Nations, will introduce the documentary and lead a question and answer session following the screening.
To RSVP or for more information, please contact Patrick Tobin at ptobin@globalct.org.
 Conference on Use of the Internet to Counter the Appeal of Extremist Violence
24-26 January 2011 | Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation co-organized a conference on the “Use of the Internet to Counter the Appeal of Extremist Violence” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 24-26 January 2011. The conference, supported by Germany, was hosted by Naif Arab University for Security Science (NAUSS) and co-organized by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force's Working Group on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes. The conference convened over 120 policy-makers, experts and practitioners drawn from national governments, international organizations, civil society the private sector, and academia who have experience or policy interest in designing and disseminating counter-narratives on the Internet. Just as the Internet may influence people towards violent behavior, so too can it promote a counter to the extremist narrative. To this end, experts shared their analyses of the problems and opportunities presented by the Internet and other media in building and delivering effective counter-narratives, with a view to developing national and international initiatives that can challenge the claims of legitimacy, relevance, and credibility by extremist groups.
Click here to view the conference agenda.
Press coverage:
"Agencies Aim to Counter Threat Of Online Extremism," Deborah Amos, National Public Radio, 2 February 2011.
"Terrorism fight 'must shift to cyberspace' Saudi conference agrees," Caryle Murphy, The National, 27 January 2011.
"UN workshop in Riyadh focuses on use of Internet to counter appeal of extremist violence," UN News Centre, 24 January 2011.
Expert Working Group Meeting on Preventing Abuse of the Non-Profit Sector for the Purposes of Terrorist Financing
18-20 January 2011 | Lancaster House, London
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation facilitated the organization of an “Expert working group meeting on preventing abuse of the non-profit sector for the purposes of terrorist financing” in London from 18-20 January 2011. The meeting was the first in a process that will include a series of regional workshops to discuss the risk of terrorist financing in the non-profit sector, and to share good practices and foster cooperation in responding to that risk. The meeting was convened under the auspices of the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate with the support of the government of Canada, and was hosted by the British government. The Center and the Charities Commission of England and Wales collaborated in organizing the meeting. Participants included representatives from international and regional organizations active in this field, in addition to national-level officials with a role in counter-terrorist financing or charities regulation, as well as representatives from the non-profit sector.
Improving the Criminal Justice Response to Terrorism: A Practical View from Counterterrorism Prosecutors and US and UN Counterterrorism Experts
30 November 2010 | Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, Washington, DC
On 30 November 2010, the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation convened a panel discussion with senior counterterrorism prosecutors and counterterrorism experts on “Improving the Criminal Justice Response to Terrorism.” Strengthening the criminal justice response to terrorism has become an increasing imperative as concern over homegrown terrorism has grown and authorities have increasingly focused on preventative elements of counterterrorism. The panel, which was moderated by Center Director, Alistair Millar, included Javier Zaragoza Aguado, Chief Counter‐Terrorism Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Spain [chief prosecutor for the 2004 Madrid train bombing]; Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin, Chief, Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); Mike Smith, Executive Director, Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), United Nations; and Todd Hinnen, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division, U.S. Department of Justice. The panelists shared experiences from high profile terrorism prosecutions and investigations and discussed UNODC/TPB’s recently released Digest of Terrorist Cases.
Click here to read the event summary.
 Regional Workshop for Police and Prosecutors in South Asia on Effectively Countering Terrorism
9-11 November 2010 | Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, Semarang, Indonesia
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation collaborated with the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate to organize a regional workshop for police officers, prosecutors, and counterterrorism focal points from South Asia at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) in November 2010. That workshop was the third in a series of workshops on South Asia and was held outside the region to acquaint the participants with JCLEC as a model for improving regional counterterrorism cooperation and capacity.
Click here to read the organizers' key observations.
National Training Seminar: IGAD Mutual Legal Assistance & Extradition Conventions
7-8 November 2010 | Djibouti Palace Kempinski, Djibouti
On 7-8 November 2010, the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation and Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD’s) Capacity Building Program Against Terrorism (ICPAT) organized a training seminar in Djibouti on extradition and mutual legal assistance in the IGAD region. Participants in the workshop included law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and judges from Djibouti. The meeting, supported by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was facilitated by resource persons from the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, ICPAT, the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate and LALIVE law firm. It was the last in a series of training workshops designed to raise awareness of the IGAD Conventions on Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition and to foster the cross border contacts and technical knowledge of the conventions necessary for their effective use.
Click here to read the IGAD Practitioner Reference Manual for Mutual Legal Assistance & Extradition.
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Center Announces New Senior Non-Resident Fellow
 Peter Romaniuk joined the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation as a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the beginning of the year. He is Associate Professor of Political Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the City University of New York, where he is also Assistant Director of the Center on Terrorism. He is the author of Multilateral Counter-terrorism: The Global Politics of Cooperation and Contestation (Routledge, 2010). His articles have appeared in the Review of International Studies, the International Studies Encyclopedia and the CPA Journal, as well as in leading volumes on terrorism and counterterrorism, terrorist financing, and multilateral sanctions. He holds a BA (Hons) and LLB (Hons) from the University of Adelaide, South Australia, and an AM and PhD in Political Science from Brown University.
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