Increasing numbers of violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) are posing a new set of challenges for numerous prison administrations worldwide. These challenges require the development and/or refinement of tailored prison management practices, which at the same time continue to comply with the rule of law and international standards. Iraq and Yemen, for example, are witnessing a rapid increase in the number of VEPs - a situation not only representing a management challenge, but one which may also lead to other prisoners being exposed to violent extremist ideologies. Being conflict zone areas, the challenge of VEPs has created an additional burden on prison systems which were already stretched.
Under the Project on strengthening rule-of-law-compliant criminal justice responses to violent extremism leading to terrorism in the Middle East (2016-2017), the UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch and Justice Section held a national workshop on the management of VEPs and the prevention of radicalization to violence for Iraq, Jordan and Yemen. This workshop took place in Dead Sea, Jordan, from 8-10 November 2016.
The workshop included approximately 55 participants from the national law enforcement and judiciary sectors of Iraq, Jordan and Yemen. The workshop aimed to identify the main challenges in the daily management of violent extremist prisoners, including the risk of radicalization to violence of the broader prison population. It also tackled the sharing of, and learning from each other's experiences, with a view to identifying management approaches that could be replicated at the national level. In addition to UNODC experts, the contributions of relevant experts from Member States (Morocco, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States) contributed to the event's success.
In addition, this workshop constituted an excellent opportunity for participants to highlight real gaps and difficulties faced when dealing with VEPs. The representatives of the beneficiary countries stressed the need for the continued support of UNODC, and the need to enhance efforts being made in the field of pre- and post-release support and supervision for VEPs.
This workshop was generously funded by the Government of Japan.
