10 December 2023 marked the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This landmark document enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Upholding human rights and the rule of law is key to effectively preventing and countering terrorism. Support must be provided to Member States to ensure that domestic counter-terrorism measures, including legal frameworks and criminal justice processes, are fully compliant with human rights standards and founded on the rule of law.
While UNODC commemorated the anniversary of the historical document through a series of events, its Terrorism Prevention Branch (UNODC/TPB) organized an event to showcase the ways in which human rights are addressed and mainstreamed in criminal justice responses to terrorism on 11 December.
The event, which was attended by 88 participants, highlighted concrete examples of achievements and good practices in mainstreaming human rights by policy makers and practitioners across the globe.
The event included a high-level segment which featured interventions by Mr. Masood Karimipour,
Chief, UNODC/TPB, Mr. Ben Saul, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, and H.E. Ms. Josefin Simonsson Brodén, Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism, Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Sweden).
Counter-terrorism policy makers and practitioners shared their own national experiences in mainstreaming human rights, including the rights of women, children, and victims, in their efforts to address terrorism. Remarks were delivered by Mr. Andhika Chrisnayudhanto, Deputy Head for International Cooperation, National Counter-Terrorism Agency (Indonesia); Ms. Shurook Fakher, Assistant Director General, Human Rights Section, National Counter-Terrorism Committee, National Security Advisory (Iraq); and Ms. Comfort Olubo Umaru, Senior Research Fellow, National Judicial Institute (Nigeria).
Mr. Karimipour, Mr. Saul and Ambassador Simonsson Brodén all underscored that counter-terrorism measures violating human rights are counterproductive. Mr. Karimipour further added that these measures could “provoke additional acts of terrorism, undermine the effectiveness of law enforcement, affect criminal law proceedings, and restrict effective international legal cooperation.”
The perspectives and good practices shared during the event can help guide wider efforts to better implement the principles of the universal declaration of human rights in collective efforts to prevent and counter terrorism.
For more than 20 years, UNODC has been delivering technical assistance to requesting Member States to build their normative frameworks, policies, and institutional capacity to strengthen their criminal justice response to terrorism, in line with international norms and human rights.
Just last year, UNODC launched a new Global Programme on Preventing and Countering Terrorism to drive people-centered responses to preventing and countering terrorism. In fact, the new Programme was re-designed to feature human rights more prominently and promote the inclusion of women, youth, victims of terrorism and civil society to inform and develop counter-terrorism responses.
This event is just one example of UNODC’s wider efforts to advance the implementation of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and particularly its pillar on measures to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law as the fundamental basis of the fight against terrorism.
To learn more about how UNODC promotes respect for human rights in its counter-terrorism work, click here.
