The national seminar on strengthening legal and institutional measures to support victims of terrorism was the second one to be delivered within the framework of the joint UNODC-CTED and European Union funded Action entitled "Supporting the Rule-of-Law-Compliant Investigations and Prosecutions in the Maghreb Region".
The seminar took place on 12-14 May 2015 in Tunis. The UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch seized a particularly apt moment to deliver this capacity building training. Once adopted, a new draft counter-terrorism law that is currently being debated in the Tunisian Parliament, will serve as a basis for addressing the issue of victims of terrorist acts in Tunisia for the first time. The proposed new bill will establish a national counter-terrorism commission, which among other matters will be charged with assistance measures and protection arrangements for witnesses and victims of terrorist offenses in Tunisia.
This specialized training was addressed to some 30 Tunisian criminal justice and law enforcement officers responsible for defining and implementing policies and measures to support victims of terrorism. The event capitalized on both the presence of judicial and law enforcement personnel, as well as, for the first time and upon UNODC invitation, representatives of SOS Terrorisme - a Tunisian civil society organization dealing with victims of terrorism established in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Tunis in March 2015. Interagency coordination was thus ensured between representatives of judicial, law enforcement institutions and civil society.
The participants discussed existing international practices in assisting the victims of terrorist acts, and how these could be applied to the local context. Case studies and examples of national best practices and challenges were debated at length by Tunisian participants and international experts from France, Morocco, Spain, United States of America, as well as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The activity particularly focused on human rights aspects, including support and assistance to victims and their families, and possible implications with regard to the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.
Emphasis was also placed on role of the media and other third party services, which could be instrumental in achieving necessary recognition of victims of terrorist acts, both in terms of compensation and as a symbolic measure. UNODC's publication Criminal Justice Response to Support Victims of Acts of Terrorism was presented and distributed to all participants of the workshop.
On the final day of the event a non-binding roadmap consisting of main priorities for Tunisia in order to develop a national policy to support victims of terrorist acts was elaborated. Tunisian participants expressed their full appreciation of this specialized training activity and stressed its usefulness in having equipped them with necessary know-how for developing national policies and programmes to support victims of terrorist acts while ensuring full respect for human rights and the rule-of-law.