Call on Tunis to intensify efforts to fight terrorism and extremism

Several countries, including Morocco, called for intensifying efforts to fight terrorism, extremism, organized crime and hate speech, during a regional conference organized in Tunisia on “The fight against terrorism and Violent Extremism: Towards a Coordinated Approach to Human Rights in the Southern Mediterranean Region”. At the end of the conference, organized on 22 and 23 June within the framework of the joint program between the European Union and the Council of Europe to strengthen regional co-operation in the fields of human rights, the rule of law and democracy, the participants adopted “an integrated approach to the protection of human rights in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism, organized crime and hate speech”. In this regard, they stressed the importance of promoting and protecting human rights by fighting against organized crime, corruption, human trafficking, violence against women, girls and children, as well as money laundering which contributes directly or indirectly to the financing of terrorism. Participants also called for the integration of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards into the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and into programs and efforts to counter terrorism, violent extremism and transnational organized crime. They also stressed the need to review and develop the legislative and institutional frameworks in the Mediterranean countries, in the light of international standards for the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, to apply the sanctions in force and to prevent the abusive use of non-profit organizations in the countries of the South in the financing of terrorism. They therefore recommended that preventive measures be taken to protect those organizations that could be misused in such crimes, and that objective standards and controls be established to ensure that efforts to combat terrorism, violent extremism and hate speech does not become a pretext to limit the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and to pluralism of media discourse. On the other hand, the speakers called for the strengthening of co-operation and co-ordination between the Council of Europe and the southern Mediterranean countries, by strengthening the implementation of the “Programme for the consolidation of regional co-operation in the human rights, rule of law and democracy in the Southern Mediterranean (South Programme)”, and taking measures to combat terrorism without imposing restrictions on civil society, recognizing that the absence of an international definition of terrorism and extremism presents a challenge to all actors in the face of this scourge. During this meeting, it was also proceeded to the adoption of “The approach of the rights of the child aimed at protecting children in the context of the fight against terrorism and violent extremism, in particular by respecting the obligations States under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its annexed protocols, the Geneva Conventions and their protocols and consider children as victims of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law”. In the same vein, the participants insisted on respecting the dignity of the child and prioritizing their best interests over any other consideration, calling for the situation of unaccompanied children to be taken into account, to meet their needs care and protection and to avoid their detention in camps, prisons or centres. They also pointed out the importance of taking the necessary measures to facilitate the child’s access to the right to family reunification and of considering family return as the best option for the child in all circumstances, including including when one or both parents are serving a prison sentence. This conference, organized in partnership with the National Commission for the Fight against Terrorism in Tunisia (CNLCT) and the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication in Tunisia (HAICA), aims to support the regional dynamic in the fight against violent extremism and its prevention. , thus laying the foundations for a regional training program for professionals in the field of the fight against terrorism, within the framework of the training program for human rights specialists of the Council of Europe. It also tends to set up training programs for the representatives of the CNLCT, the HAICA and the organization “No peace without justice”, as well as for representatives of Morocco, Egypt, Jordan , Lebanon, Libya, and experts and representatives of the Council of Europe. The conference was attended by Pilar Morales, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tunis and Coordinator of the Neighborhood Policy with the Southern Mediterranean, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the fight against terrorism and human rights Rights, as well as ambassadors of Council of Europe member states, representatives of southern Mediterranean countries and the representative of the League of Arab States in Tunisia.