Training for Experts on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Considerations on the Protection of Vulnerable Sites against Terrorist Attacks

The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) held a three-day training on “Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Considerations on the Protection of Vulnerable Sites against Terrorist Attacks” from 11 to 13 December.

Over 40 experts from Member States, international and regional organizations, civil society, the private sector and academia, as well as United Nations entities, participated in the training which took place online. The objective of the course was to strengthen the participants’ understanding of how to effectively apply human rights and international humanitarian law considerations in the context of protecting vulnerable targets, including critical infrastructure and public places—or ‘soft’ targets.

The training course was organized by the United Nations Global Programme on Countering Terrorist Threats against Vulnerable Targets, jointly with UNOCT human rights, gender, and policy experts.

Opening the event, the Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General of UNOCT, Mr. Raffi Gregorian, stressed that “given the pivotal role that critical infrastructure plays in delivering or maintaining vital societal functions, damage to, disruption or destruction of such systems can result in far-reaching, at times even catastrophic, impact on an array of human rights.” He noted that “a human rights compliant response does not equal a weak or inadequate response from a security perspective: international human rights law provides for the necessary flexibility for States to conduct effective counter-terrorism action while fully meeting their human rights obligations.” Mr. Gregorian finally underscored that “compliance with international law, including international human rights and humanitarian law is a precondition for effective and sustainable measures to protect vulnerable targets [from terrorist attacks] and, as such, in our vested interest.”

The training, which also aimed at marking the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, included presentations from international experts from various institutions and academia, including from the Universities of Geneva, Copenhagen, and Antwerp; Privacy International; the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF); the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), among others.

Speakers set out the international human rights framework governing the protection of vulnerable targets, focusing on the scope of Member State obligations as well as potential human rights implications of measures taken to protect vulnerable targets against terrorist attacks. Moreover, the training explored ways to incorporate human rights and gender in risk assessment models, emergency response and impact mitigation, as well as participatory approaches to working with relevant stakeholders, including in the context of public-private partnerships in countering terrorist attacks against critical infrastructure and “soft” targets.

The training course built upon an expert briefing organized by UNOCT in April 2023 as part of the series of activities to inform the United Nations Global Network of Experts on Vulnerable Targets Protection about new developments, trends and innovative practices in safeguarding critical infrastructure and “soft” targets.

For more information please contact: OCT-Vulnerable-Targets (oct-vulnerable-targets@un.org)

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