The UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch (UNDOC/TPB) commenced the implementation of its five-year Initiative on Criminal Justice Responses to Foreign Terrorist Fighters in Egypt with a national workshop on the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of the financing of foreign terrorist fighters. The workshop was held in Cairo from 10-12 November 2015, with generous financial support of the Government of Canada.
A total of 38 Egyptian criminal justice and law enforcement officers from the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the General Prosecutor, the State Security Agency, the Financial Investigation Unit, and the Ministry of Antiquities attended the workshop. International experts included officials from the Lebanese Ministry of Justice and Financial Investigation Unit, the Spanish Intelligence Centre against Terrorism and Organized Crime, Nucleo Speciale di Polizia Valutaria in Italy, the State Security Court of Jordan and the United States Department of Treasury. In addition to UNODC, international organizations were represented by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, the 1267 Monitoring Team, INTERPOL and UNESCO.
The main objective of the workshop was to provide training and capacity building to Egyptian prosecutors, judges and law enforcement by introducing them to national, regional and international approaches, mechanisms and best practices in investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating the financing of foreign terrorist fighters.
The opening ceremony had a remarkable launching with the participation of Judge Adel Fahmi, the Assistant Minister of Justice of Egypt for International Cooperation, Ambassador Khaled Azmi, Head of the Counter-Terrorism Department at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador of Canada in Cairo H.E. Mr. Troy Lulashnyk. During the opening ceremony, Judge Fahmi welcomed participants on behalf of the Minister of Justice, highlighting the importance of cooperation between Egypt and UNODC/TPB in providing the Egyptian criminal justice officials with good practices in investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating terrorism-related offences. In addition, Ambassador Lulashnyk expressed the strong support of the Canadian Government for UNODC/TPB's current and future technical assistance programmes in Egypt.
During the three-day workshop, the participants learned about the national, regional and international approaches used to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate crimes relating to the financing of foreign terrorist fighters, and their main challenges. Related efforts by international entities such as the 1267 Committee, INTERPOL and UNESCO were also outlined in detail. Thorough and in-depth discussions with respect to all topics of the agenda, along with strong participant interaction defined the sessions. Egyptian participants also shared their experiences and recited several actual cases, including cases relating to the financing of foreign terrorist fighters.
At the workshops conclusion, experts and participants expressed their full appreciation of the activity, noting the commitment of all participants to the workshop and the quality of discussions. Furthermore, very positive feedback was received from participants from Egypt's General Prosecution Office. In their feedback, they expressed their appreciation for the knowledge gained through the workshop which would contribute to the changing of the methods used to investigate and prosecute relevant cases in Egypt.