In cooperation with the Jordanian authorities, the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC/TPB) implemented a national specialized training covering practical challenges and good practices in investigating terrorist cases involving the use of the Internet while respecting human rights and the rule of law. The training took place in Amman, Jordan, from 15 to 17 December 2015.
The training was carried out within the framework of the plan of action for 2015-2016 entitled "Strengthening the Legal Regime against Terrorism in Jordan" between UNODC/TPB and the Jordanian Government.
Twenty-four experienced Jordanian investigators from key counter-terrorism institutions, including the Preventive Security Force, the Criminal investigation Department, the Military Security and the Criminal Information Department, attended the event.
In addition to the UNODC/TPB experts, technical contributions and interventions were provided by specialized experts from the Technical Investigation Department of the Italian Arma dei Carabinieri, theCyberterrorism Group of the Spanish Guardia Civiland the Counter Terrorism Command of the London Metropolitan Police Service, United Kingdom.
The three-day training offered the participants with an opportunity to explore different ways of using the Internet by terrorists and challenges for investigation. Presentations covered a wide range of topics including new communication channels used by terrorists, e-mail analysis procedures, advanced search procedures and the preservation and protection of digital evidences. In-depth discussions focused on, among others, the use of deep web by terrorists, anonymous browsing, and criminal investigations through wireless VoIP, Skype and social media, in particular Facebook and Twitter. Experts also highlighted the risk of infringing human rights and fundamental freedoms when investigating terrorist acts involving the use of the Internet, and emphasized in this regard the necessity of developing sufficiently detailed domestic laws to ensure that individual rights are protected as much as possible.
Participants were introduced by the experts to a number of software programmes of crucial importance in the conduct of successful investigations over the Internet. Furthermore, thanks to an interactive approach, participants had the opportunity to test such programmes and tips under the specialized experts' supervision. UNODC/TPB made available laptops and high-speed Internet connection throughout the training.
As a follow-up to this workshop and upon the participants' request, UNODC/TPB will carry out the second advanced training related to the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes in the coming months.