Countering the Use of Internet for Terrorist Purposes 3-5 August 2022

5 Aug 2022, Karachi - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Office Pakistan under the Country Programme-III (2022-2025) and Sub-Programme-IV “Preventing and Countering Terrorism” organized “Countering the use of internet for terrorist purposes 3-5 August 2022” at Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Sindh in collaboration with National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and  with the financial support of Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

The training brought together technical teams from federal and provincial Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) including NACTA, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Counter Terrorism Wing (CTW) and Cyber Crime Wing, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Sindh and Baluchistan. The objective of the workshop was to impart specific technical knowledge for a proactive and effective investigation of offences which involve use of internet. The training also aimed to facilitate exchange of knowledge by presenting recent case studies that involved increasing use of the Internet by terrorist organizations and their supporters for a wide range of purposes, including recruitment, financing, propaganda, training, incitement to commit acts of terrorism and the gathering and dissemination of information for terrorist purposes. It also provided the participants with first-hand practical use of tools and methods related to open-source intelligence (OSINT).The three days training comprised of presentations by UNODC experts who shed light on how to effectively respond to these challenges in a human rights compliant manner and present practical guidance through the lens of concrete examples. The experts also presented on the tools and techniques terrorist use to achieve their goals through social media, terrorists operating websites, cloud storage, end to end encrypted VOIP applications and small-scale social media platforms which protect user privacy and video sharing platforms. To counter and to take down the content developed and uploaded by the terrorist organizations, the UNODC experts discussed the platforms that are available which uses various technologies and tools which assess and address potential content circulating online resulting from a terrorist or violent extremist event.

In the end, the training touched upon the “Customized Practical Guide for Pakistan on Requesting Electronic Evidence Across Borders” which is developed by UNODC in collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) based on Pakistan’s legal framework and procedures with the aim of providing national and provincial practitioners with necessary methods and skills to access the critical electronic evidence needed to prevent, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate terrorism offences. The Customized Guide assist law enforcement and criminal justice officials in drafting country and service provider specific requests for preservation, voluntary disclosure, emergency disclosure and Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) in terrorist cases involving electronic evidence

The participants appreciated the content delivered during the three-day training by UNODC experts and urged to organize more training on this subject. During the closing ceremony, Syed Fida Hussain, SSP Investigation CTD Sindh appreciated the efforts of NACTA, UNODC and Government of Canada for arranging this training which brought together experts to share knowledge and their experiences under one roof. He stressed that such workshops are the need of time, modern investigative techniques are inevitable for the LEA’s in Pakistan to counter the menace of terrorism.  Mr. Iftikhar Ahmed Khan, Deputy Director, NACTA also attended the closing ceremony and appreciated the UNODC experts for delivering quality and meaningful content and stressed that the participants shall make full use of the knowledge they gained during the three days training. Mr. Iftikhar acknowledges the UNODC’s pivotal role in criminal justice system of Pakistan, he thanked UNODC and Government of Canada for organizing fruitful training for national LEAs. In the end certificates were distributed to the participants.

 

This activity was made possible with the financial support of Global Affairs Canada (GAC)