ASG Brands launches toolkit "Strengthening Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Policy"

Remarks of ASG Brands Kehris’ for the OHCHR Toolkit on Strengthening Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Policy

Excellencies, colleagues, and friends, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the launch of the OHCHR’s ‘Strengthening Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Policy’ Toolkit.

Many thanks to everyone who has joined us here today. We also have online participation and in-person. I would like to thank our panelists for being with us here today: Ambassador Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in New York; Ambassador Alicia Buenrostro, Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations in New York; Professor Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights; Sarah Hendriks, Director of the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Support Division, UN Women; and Ambika Satkunanathan, CSO Coalition on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism. Very welcome.

Also, very welcome to Katja Lasseur, ECOSOC Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This project—I would like to stress—would not have been possible without the support of the Government of the Netherlands. We are very grateful for that.

I would like to express my appreciation to Member States, UN colleagues, and civil society who supported the development of this toolkit through the participation in multiple consultations that have been taking and for sharing your valuable expertise. Your inputs and feedback informed the toolkit, and the richness and thickness of the toolkit reflects our combined expertise and also dedication to this topic and project.

I hope today’s event will serve as a useful introduction to the toolkit, and I encourage you to take a look online, through the QR code.

A few words for the opening.

The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS), reviewed for the eighth time last year, underscores the core role that human rights play in both preventing and responding to terrorism. The GCTS builds on Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, as well as reports by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, recalling that human rights—in overlapping spheres like domestic security policy, the rule of law, development and equality, and beyond—are key to combatting terrorism.

Delivering on our commitment to uphold human rights is becoming ever more important as we continue to see in many contexts that violations of human rights can create fresh grievances, thus creating or contributing to an environment conducive to the spread of terrorism.

In parallel, counter-terrorism measures that do not uphold human rights can similarly lead to grievances and foster an environment susceptible to violence and insecurity.

Protection and promotion of human rights, including advancing gender equality, should therefore be seen as prerequisites for successful counter-terrorism measures, offering solutions and ways to address and prevent these kinds of challenges.

The aim of this toolkit is to support Member States and stakeholders in integrating human rights in counter-terrorism responses, both in the content of it and in decision-making processes.

We chose to focus on counter-terrorism strategy or policy because if human rights are included at the outset of creating a strategy or policy, this can really have a determinant influence on subsequent measures taken in countering terrorism.

The toolkit centers on three separate but interrelated areas: the first, Tool 1: Integrating human rights into the content of a counter-terrorism strategy and policy; Tool 2 is ‘Building institutional human rights specialist capacity in counter-terrorism’. Tool 3 is ‘Strengthening government engagement with civil society in counter-terrorism’.

The three areas were selected based on: 1) the general findings from research done in 10 countries (which was undertaken as part of the project), and 2) feedback we received from stakeholders who have experience working on human rights in counter-terrorism and security.

We wanted these tools to be practical, to be hands-on, to be used. The toolkit prompts users with questions about how to consider and integrate human rights in strategy or policy discussions. It provides also checklists and practical steps to assist in aligning a strategy or policy with international standards and State’s human rights obligations.

Tool 1—the first area of the toolkit provides policy officials with guidance on how to uphold human rights in counter-terrorism strategy and policy design.

It outlines key issues to be examined and helps users to understand the implications and potential adverse impacts of counter-terrorism on human rights, particularly of those groups at risk of discrimination, so that they can be identified early on and addressed.

This part of the Toolkit also sets out key questions related to transparency, oversight, and accountability in counter-terrorism strategy and policy and those are very important for good governance and bolstering public confidence in State’s efforts and actions. Badly needed today across the globe.

Tool 2 is to adequately integrate human rights in counter-terrorism as envisaged in the first part of the Toolkit—as it is important to have the requisite expertise on the subject matter.

The second part aims to assist policy officials, decision-makers, and ministers to build institutional human rights specialist capacity through a three-pronged approach: 1) establishing in-house capacity in the lead counter-terrorism agency; 2) utilizing resources from elsewhere in the government; and 3) turning to external resources from outside government such as a national human rights institution, civil society, and academics.

For this to be effective, the capacity needs to be available from the outset of a process to develop or review counter-terrorism strategy or policy, and also continue across the implementation, evaluation, and also in training phases of the policy.

Tool 3 is strengthening engagement with civil society.

The ability for communities, including civil society, to participate and to express views is crucial for realizing human rights at the national level and for peace and development. Engagement with civil society can help to improve the effectiveness, legitimacy, and the transparency of counter-terrorism strategies and policies.

Tool 3 sets out practical ways to engage civil society in the design and implementation of a policy or strategy, firmly anchored in the right to participate in public affairs and other relevant human rights such as freedom of expression and opinion, peaceful assembly and association, as well as the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

The tool outlines: the steps to create a safe and enabling environment for civil society; the different points and methods of engagement that could be utilized including safe channels for engagement; how to address feedback received from civil society in an open and transparent manner; and the role of other actors in facilitating the engagement.

To put these actions into practice, OHCHR consulted with civil society actors, civil society coalitions, with national human rights institutions, with Member States, and academics to formulate the focus areas, outline, and draft content of the toolkit. We also provided feedback received from those we consulted within the toolkit.

The toolkit is one of the many methods and processes to strengthen compliance of counter-terrorism measures with international human rights law and ensure that such measures avoid harmful impacts on human rights. The toolkit should be part of a larger effort to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights in counter-terrorism. Laws, polices, processes, practices and training should equally be aligned with international human rights norms and standards.

In conclusion, OHCHR would like to express our sincere thanks for the valuable and insightful feedback received during consultations for the engagement itself, of Member States, of civil society, and of course national human rights institutions.