On Monday, 11 December 2023, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) held an event to launch its “Trends Tracker on Human Rights: Recommendations by the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Following Assessment Visits to Member States (2017-2023)”. Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the gathering brought together representatives of Member States, United Nations partners, and civil society organizations providing them an opportunity to exchange views on the way CTED mainstreams human rights across its mandated activities, in particular assessment visits of Member States.
In her opening remarks, Assistant Secretary-General, Ms. Natalia Gherman, CTED Executive Director, underlined the correlation between effective counter terrorism efforts and respecting human rights, and CTED’s commitment to engage with all Member States to identify good practices, and make concrete recommendations on protecting human rights when countering terrorism.
Presenting the report’s methodology and key findings, CTED Political Affairs Officer Ms. Agathe Sarfati highlighted the evolving human rights focus of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate. She noted that between 2017 and 2023, about 15 per cent of all recommendations stemming from assessment visits focused on human rights. Based on the data collected, the most frequent human rights recommendations pertained to persons deprived of liberty, fair trial, freedom of opinion and expression, and the definitions of terrorism and terrorist acts in national legislation, as well as their conformity with the principle of legality. There had also been an increase in recommendations promoting the rights of victims of terrorism.
CTED Gender Coordinator Ms. Aleksandra Dier spotlighted the worrying trend of shrinking civic space, while underlining the importance of CTED continuing to engage with civil society in a safe manner. Reflecting on the risks posed by new and emerging technologies used in counter-terrorism, she also highlighted CTED’s role in supporting States to uphold human rights obligations in this context. She further discussed trends and challenges in ensuring meaningful accountability for victims of terrorism, including victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
Mr. Ahmed Seif El-Dawla, CTED Chief of Section, outlined the way CTED systematically integrates human rights in the preparation for, during, and following assessment visits, including ways of enhancing engagement with civil society in this process. He also described concrete steps taken by the Executive Directorate to enhance the Committee’s assessment dialogue with all relevant stakeholders.
In his closing remarks, Mr. David Scharia, CTED Chief of Branch thanked the Counter-Terrorism Committee for supporting the Executive Directorate in mainstreaming human rights across its activities and dialogues with Member States.
The Human Rights Trends Tracker can be accessed here.