Within the Project on "Strengthening the Legal Regime against Terrorism in Egypt", the UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch (UNODC/TPB) organized a national training in Cairo, from 26-28 July 2016. The training focused on good practices for the protection of witnesses in terrorist cases, to support Egyptian judges and law enforcement officers working on terrorist cases involving the protection of witnesses.
The training was held in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Interior, and included over 25 participants. The participating officers benefited from a wide range of expertise on the matter, provided by international experts from Austria, Hungary, Jordan, Lebanon, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The training covered many aspects of witness protection, beginning with the national experiences of USA, UK, Austria, Hungary and many Arab states, including Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, and ending with the experience of the Victims and Witness Protection Unit at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The workshop was also an opportunity to shed light on the new Egyptian draft law on witness protection, to be adopted shortly. In addition, the workshop tackled many related issues, such as the importance of enabling witnesses to give testimony in a judicial process, and cooperate with law enforcement agencies within the investigation phase, without fear, intimidation or any potential harm being linked to their testimonies. Discussions throughout the training highlighted many areas of common ground among countries currently enacting legislation, and adopting policies and mechanisms to ensure full protection is afforded to witnesses and their families before and after their cooperation with law enforcement authorities, or their testimonies before the courts.
Participants expressed their satisfaction with the training, and their wish that UNODC/TPB continues implementing specialized workshops and trainings aimed at strengthening the capacity of practitioners in Egypt when dealing with terrorist cases. As such, further technical assistance and capacity building activities will follow under the same project, including national and regional workshops and specialized trainings.
The training was organized under the UNODC/TPB programme for Egypt generously funded by the Government of Japan.
