DOCSLIB.ORG

Country Reports on Terrorism 2015

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 June 2016 ________________________________ United States Department of State Publication Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism Released June 2, 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (the “Act”), which requires the Department of State to provide to Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the criteria of the Act. 1 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM 2015 Table of Contents Chapter 1. Strategic Assessment Chapter 2. Country Reports Africa Overview Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership The Partnership for East African Regional Counterterrorism Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Chad Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Mali Mauritania Niger Nigeria Senegal Somalia South Africa Tanzania Uganda East Asia and the Pacific Overview Australia China (Hong Kong and Macau) Indonesia Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand Europe Overview Albania Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Cyprus 2 Denmark France Georgia Germany Greece Ireland Italy Kosovo Macedonia The Netherlands Norway Russia Serbia Spain Sweden Turkey United Kingdom Middle East and North Africa Overview Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iraq Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and Jerusalem Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen South and Central Asia Overview Afghanistan Bangladesh India Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan 3 Western Hemisphere Overview Argentina Brazil Canada Cuba Colombia Mexico Panama Paraguay Peru Trinidad and Tobago Venezuela Chapter 3. State Sponsors of Terrorism Iran Sudan Syria Chapter 4. The Global Challenge of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorism Chapter 5. Terrorist Safe Havens (Update to 7120 Report) Terrorist Safe Havens Countering Terrorism on the Economic Front Multilateral Efforts to Counter Terrorism; International Conventions and Protocols Long-Term Programs and Initiatives Designed to Counter Terrorist Safe Havens -Countering Violent Extremism -Capacity Building -Regional Strategic Initiative Countering Foreign Terrorist Fighters Support for Pakistan Counterterrorism Coordination with Saudi Arabia Chapter 6. Terrorist Organizations Abdallah Azzam Brigades (AAB) Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB) Ansar al-Dine (AAD) Ansar al-Islam (AAI) Ansar al-Shari’a in Benghazi (AAS-B) Ansar al-Shari’a in Darnah (AAS-D) Ansar al-Shari’a in Tunisia (AAS-T) Army of Islam (AOI) Asbat al-Ansar (AAA) Aum Shinrikyo (AUM) Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) Boko Haram (BH) Communist Party of Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) Gama’a al-Islamiyya (IG) 4 Hamas Haqqani Network (HQN) Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B) Harakat ul-Mujahideen (HUM) Hizballah Indian Mujahedeen (IM) Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) ISIL Sinai Province (ISIL-SP) Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis-Sudan (Ansaru) Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) Jaysh Rijal Al-Tariq Al-Naqshabandi (JRTN) Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) Jemaah Islamiya (JI) Jundallah Kahane Chai Kata’ib Hizballah (KH) Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Lashkar e-Tayyiba Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) Al-Mulathamun Battalion (AMB) National Liberation Army (ELN) Al-Nusrah Front (ANF) Palestine Islamic Jihad – Shaqaqi Faction (PIJ) Palestine Liberation Front – Abu Abbas Faction (PLF) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) Al-Qa’ida (AQ) Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Real IRA (RIRA) Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) Revolutionary Struggle (RS) Al-Shabaab (AS) Shining Path (SL) Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Chapter 7. Legislative Requirements and Key Terms 5 Chapter 1 Strategic Assessment The global terrorist threat continued to evolve rapidly in 2015, becoming increasingly decentralized and diffuse. Terrorist groups continued to exploit an absence of credible and effective state institutions, where avenues for free and peaceful expression of opinion were blocked, justice systems lacked credibility, and where security force abuses and government corruption went unchecked. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) remained the greatest threat globally, maintaining a formidable force in Iraq and Syria, including a large number of foreign terrorist fighters. ISIL’s capacity and territorial control in Iraq and Syria reached a high point in spring 2015, but began to erode over the second half of 2015. ISIL did not have a significant battlefield victory in Iraq and Syria after May. At the end of 2015, 40 percent of the territory ISIL controlled at the beginning of the year had been liberated. In Syria, local forces expelled ISIL fighters from several key cities along the routes connecting the two ISIL strongholds of Raqqa and Mosul, and reclaimed about 11 percent of the territory ISIL once controlled. These losses demonstrated the power of coordinated government action to mobilize against and confront terrorism. ISIL’s loss of territory it governs and controls in Iraq and Syria in 2015 also diminished funds available to it. ISIL relies heavily on extortion and the levying of “taxes” on local populations under its control, as well as a range of other sources, such as oil smuggling, kidnapping for ransom, looting, antiquities theft and smuggling, foreign donations, and human trafficking. Coalition airstrikes targeted ISIL’s energy infrastructure – modular refineries, petroleum storage tanks, and crude oil collection points – as well as bulk cash storage sites. These airstrikes have significantly degraded ISIL’s ability to generate revenue. The United States led the international effort, including through the UN, to confront ISIL’s oil smuggling and its antiquities dealing, delivering additional blows to its financial infrastructure. Toward the end of 2015, ISIL fighters conducted a series of external attacks in France, Lebanon, and Turkey, demonstrating the organization’s capabilities to carry out deadly plots beyond Iraq and Syria and also exposing weakness in international border security measures and systems. These attacks may also have been staged in an effort to assert a narrative of victory in the face of steady losses of territory in Iraq and Syria. Along withISIL, al-Qa’ida (AQ), and both groups’ branches increased their focus on staging mass-casualty attacks. This included attacks on international hotel chains in Burkina Faso,Mali, and Tunisia; other popular public locations; and the bombing of a Russian passenger plane. These plots were designed to undermine economic security, damage fragile economies, diminish confidence in governments, and foment further discord along religious and sectarian fault lines. In 2015, ISIL abducted, systematically raped, and abused thousands of women and children, some as young as eight years of age. Women and children were sold and enslaved, distributed to ISIL fighters as spoils of war, forced into marriage and domestic servitude, or subjected to physical and sexual abuse. ISIL established “markets” where women and children were sold with price tags attached and has published a list of rules on how to treat female slaves once 6 captured. Boko Haram has also abducted women and girls in the northern region of Nigeria, some of whom it later subjected to domestic servitude, other forms of forced labor, and sexual servitude through forced marriages to its members. (For further information, refer to the Trafficking in Persons Report 2015,http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2015/index.htm.) Although ISIL did not claim responsibility, it was likely responsible for several attacks involving chemical-filled munitions in Iraq and Syria, including a sulfur mustard attack in Marea on August 21, 2015. The United Statesworkedwith the counter-ISIL coalition to dismantle this chemical weapons capability, as well as deny ISIL and other non-state actors access to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN)-useable materials and expertise through interdictions and strengthening the ability of regional governments to detect, disrupt, and respond effectively to suspected CBRN activity. While ISIL lost significant territory in Iraq and Syria during the second half of 2015, the group made gains in Libya amidst the instability there. According to open-source reporting, ISIL’s branch in Libya was estimated to have up to 5,000 terrorist fighters. The group expanded its territorial control in Sirte and its surrounding coastline. It also conducted attacks in Libya’s oil crescent and in Sabratha, near the border with Tunisia. However, ISIL also suffered losses in Libya in confrontations with militia groups, in particular in the eastern Libyan city of Darnah. ISIL’s branch in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula (ISIL Sinai Province or ISIL-SP) increased its attacks against Egyptian security forces and become more sophisticated, exemplified by ISIL-SP’s multi-pronged attack in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid in July. The group also claimed responsibility for an operation
Recommended publications
  • BOKO HARAM Emerging Threat to the U.S

    BOKO HARAM Emerging Threat to the U.S

    112TH CONGRESS COMMITTEE " COMMITTEE PRINT ! 1st Session PRINT 112–B BOKO HARAM Emerging Threat to the U.S. Homeland SUBCOMMITTEE ON COUNTERTERRORISM AND INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 2011 FIRST SESSION U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 71–725 PDF WASHINGTON : 2011 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY PETER T. KING, New York, Chairman LAMAR SMITH, Texas BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California LORETTA SANCHEZ, California MIKE ROGERS, Alabama SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas HENRY CUELLAR, Texas GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia LAURA RICHARDSON, California CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois TIM WALBERG, Michigan BRIAN HIGGINS, New York CHIP CRAVAACK, Minnesota JACKIE SPEIER, California JOE WALSH, Illinois CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania HANSEN CLARKE, Michigan BEN QUAYLE, Arizona WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts SCOTT RIGELL, Virginia KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL, New York BILLY LONG, Missouri VACANCY JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas MO BROOKS, Alabama MICHAEL J. RUSSELL, Staff Director & Chief Counsel KERRY ANN WATKINS, Senior Policy Director MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk I. LANIER AVANT, Minority Staff Director (II) C O N T E N T S BOKO HARAM EMERGING THREAT TO THE U.S. HOMELAND I. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 II. Findings ..............................................................................................................
  • Policy Notes for the Trump Notes Administration the Washington Institute for Near East Policy ■ 2018 ■ Pn55

    Policy Notes for the Trump Notes Administration the Washington Institute for Near East Policy ■ 2018 ■ Pn55

    TRANSITION 2017 POLICYPOLICY NOTES FOR THE TRUMP NOTES ADMINISTRATION THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY ■ 2018 ■ PN55 TUNISIAN FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA AARON Y. ZELIN Tunisia should really open its embassy in Raqqa, not Damascus. That’s where its people are. —ABU KHALED, AN ISLAMIC STATE SPY1 THE PAST FEW YEARS have seen rising interest in foreign fighting as a general phenomenon and in fighters joining jihadist groups in particular. Tunisians figure disproportionately among the foreign jihadist cohort, yet their ubiquity is somewhat confounding. Why Tunisians? This study aims to bring clarity to this question by examining Tunisia’s foreign fighter networks mobilized to Syria and Iraq since 2011, when insurgencies shook those two countries amid the broader Arab Spring uprisings. ©2018 THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY ■ NO. 30 ■ JANUARY 2017 AARON Y. ZELIN Along with seeking to determine what motivated Evolution of Tunisian Participation these individuals, it endeavors to reconcile estimated in the Iraq Jihad numbers of Tunisians who actually traveled, who were killed in theater, and who returned home. The find- Although the involvement of Tunisians in foreign jihad ings are based on a wide range of sources in multiple campaigns predates the 2003 Iraq war, that conflict languages as well as data sets created by the author inspired a new generation of recruits whose effects since 2011. Another way of framing the discussion will lasted into the aftermath of the Tunisian revolution. center on Tunisians who participated in the jihad fol- These individuals fought in groups such as Abu Musab lowing the 2003 U.S.
  • Republic of the Philippines PROVINCE of ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE Municipality of President Manuel A

    Republic of the Philippines PROVINCE of ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE Municipality of President Manuel A

    Republic of the Philippines PROVINCE OF ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE Municipality of President Manuel A. Roxas OFFICE OF THE SANGGUNIANG BAYAN EXCERPT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE SANGGUNIANG BAYANOF PRESIDENT MANUEL A. ROXAS, ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE HELD ATTHE ROXAS MUNICIPAL SESSION HALL ON FEBRUARY 19, 2018 PRESENT: Hon. Leonor O. Alberto, Municipal Vice Mayor/ Presiding Officer Hon. Ismael A. Rengquijo, Jr., SB Member/ Floor Leader Hon. Clayford C. Vailoces, SB Member/ 1st Asst. Floor Leader Hon. Lucilito C. Bael, Member Hon. Glicerio E. Cabus, Jr., SB Member Hon. Mark Julius C. Ybanez, SB Member/ President Pro Tempore Hon. Librado C. Magcanta, Sr., SB Member/ 2nd Asst. Floor Leader Hon. Helen L. Bruce, SB Member Hon. Reynaldo G. Abitona, SB Member Hon. Angelita L. Rengquijo, ABC President/ SB Member ABSENT: None “RESOLUTION NO. 68 Series 2018 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MUNICIPAL MAYOR TO INTERPOSE NO OBJECTION FOR THE PRE PATENT APPLICATION OF THE BARANGAY COUNCIL OF DOHINOB RELATIVE TO THE DEAD ROAD LOCATED AT BARANGAY DOHINOB, THIS MUNICIPALITY WHEREAS, received by the Office of the Sangguniang Bayan was Resolution No. 5, series 2018 of the Barangay Council of Dohinob requesting this Body to interpose no objection of their free patent application on a dead road; WHEREAS, said resolution was referred to the Committee on Laws and based on its findings under Committee Report No. 2018-12 conducted on February 15, 2018, it was recommended to the Sangguniang Bayan to authorize the Municipal Mayor for the aforementioned purpose/s; WHEREFORE, viewed from the foregoing, and On motion of Hon. Clayford C.
  • Breaking Boko Haram and Ramping up Recovery: US-Lake Chad Region 2013-2016

    Breaking Boko Haram and Ramping up Recovery: US-Lake Chad Region 2013-2016

    From Pariah to Partner: The US Integrated Reform Mission in Burma, 2009 to 2015 Breaking Boko Haram and Ramping Up Recovery Making Peace Possible US Engagement in the Lake Chad Region 2301 Constitution Avenue NW 2013 to 2016 Washington, DC 20037 202.457.1700 Beth Ellen Cole, Alexa Courtney, www.USIP.org Making Peace Possible Erica Kaster, and Noah Sheinbaum @usip 2 Looking for Justice ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This case study is the product of an extensive nine- month study that included a detailed literature review, stakeholder consultations in and outside of government, workshops, and a senior validation session. The project team is humbled by the commitment and sacrifices made by the men and women who serve the United States and its interests at home and abroad in some of the most challenging environments imaginable, furthering the national security objectives discussed herein. This project owes a significant debt of gratitude to all those who contributed to the case study process by recommending literature, participating in workshops, sharing reflections in interviews, and offering feedback on drafts of this docu- ment. The stories and lessons described in this document are dedicated to them. Thank you to the leadership of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and its Center for Applied Conflict Transformation for supporting this study. Special thanks also to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) for assisting with the production of various maps and graphics within this report. Any errors or omis- sions are the responsibility of the authors alone. ABOUT THE AUTHORS This case study was produced by a team led by Beth ABOUT THE INSTITUTE Ellen Cole, special adviser for violent extremism, conflict, and fragility at USIP, with Alexa Courtney, Erica Kaster, The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan and Noah Sheinbaum of Frontier Design Group.
  • PERSPECTIVES on TERRORISM Volume 11, Issue 5

    PERSPECTIVES on TERRORISM Volume 11, Issue 5

    ISSN 2334-3745 Volume V, Issue 5 October 2017 PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 11, Issue 5 Table of Contents Welcome from the Editors......................................................................................................1 Articles Countering Violent Extremism in Prisons: A Review of Key Recent Research and Critical Research Gaps.........................................................................................................................2 by Andrew Silke and Tinka Veldhuis The New Crusaders: Contemporary Extreme Right Symbolism and Rhetoric..................12 by Ariel Koch Exploring the Continuum of Lethality: Militant Islamists’ Targeting Preferences in Europe....................................................................................................................................24 by Cato Hemmingby Research Notes On and Off the Radar: Tactical and Strategic Responses to Screening Known Potential Terrorist Attackers................................................................................................................41 by Thomas Quiggin Resources Terrorism Bookshelf.............................................................................................................50 Capsule Reviews by Joshua Sinai Bibliography: Terrorist Organizations: Cells, Networks, Affiliations, Splits......................67 Compiled and selected by Judith Tinnes Bibliography: Life Cycles of Terrorism..............................................................................107 Compiled and selected by Judith
  • Mass-Fatality, Coordinated Attacks Worldwide, and Terrorism in France

    Mass-Fatality, Coordinated Attacks Worldwide, and Terrorism in France

    BACKGROUND REPORT Mass-Fatality, Coordinated Attacks Worldwide, and Terrorism in France On November 13, 2015 assailants carried out a series of coordinated attacks at locations in Paris, France, including a theater where a concert was being held, several restaurants, and a sporting event. These attacks reportedly killed more than 120 people and wounded more than 350 others. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack.1 To provide contextual information on coordinated, mass-fatality attacks, as well as terrorism in France and the attack patterns of ISIL, START has compiled the following information from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD).2 MASS-FATALITY TERRORIST ATTACKS Between 1970 and 2014, there have been 176 occasions on which terrorist Number of Times More than 100 People Were Killed attacks killed more than 100 people by Terrorist Attacks on a Single Day in a Single Country (excluding perpetrators), in a particular 30 country on a particular day. This includes both isolated attacks, multiple attacks, 25 and multi-part, coordinated attacks. The first such event took place in 1978, when 20 an arson attack targeting the Cinema Rex Theater in Abadan, Iran killed more than 15 400 people. Frequency Since the Cinema Rex attack, and until 10 2013, 4.2 such mass-fatality terrorist events happened per year, on average. In 5 2014, the number increased dramatically when 26 mass-fatality terrorist events 0 took place in eight different countries: Afghanistan (1), Central African Republic (1), Iraq (9), Nigeria (9), Pakistan (1), Source: Global Terrorism Database Year South Sudan (1), Syria (3), and Ukraine (1).
  • How Sophisticated Are Terrorist Attacks on Passenger Rail Transportation

    How Sophisticated Are Terrorist Attacks on Passenger Rail Transportation

    How Sophisticated are Terrorist Attacks on Passenger Rail Project SP 0520 Transportation June 2020 Brian Michael Jenkins and Bruce R. Butterworth Executive Summary Summary of Key Findings Terrorist attacks on passenger rail transportation are statistically rare events in the developed world— only about seven attacks per year are carried out against all of the economically advanced countries combined. However, uncovered plots and attempts indicate continuing terrorist interest in attacking transportation targets. The vast majority of terrorist attacks on passenger rail transportation are aimed at disrupting travel or causing casualties. Most of the attacks (87%) and 100% of the casualties result from attacks on passengers aboard trains and in stations, i.e., where the people are. We have defined sophistication by identifying four criteria, of which at least one must be met: The attack must (1) involve the recruitment of inside assistance, the use of insider knowledge, or the acquisition of specialized skills through training; (2) require the penetration of manned or closely monitored security systems; (3) involve the use of sophisticated weapons, devices, or means (for an IED to be considered sophisticated, it must do more than simply explode—it must have a timing or remote detonating system that guarantees detonation at a remote time or in a specific location, or it must be miniaturized or disguised so as to evade detection); and (4) must be complex—it must involve multiple actors with individual roles or coordinated simultaneous or near-simultaneous attacks at different locations. Using those criteria, we find few of the terrorist attacks on public surface transport are sophisticated.
  • Foreign Terrorist Organizations

    Foreign Terrorist Organizations

    Order Code RL32223 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Foreign Terrorist Organizations February 6, 2004 Audrey Kurth Cronin Specialist in Terrorism Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Huda Aden, Adam Frost, and Benjamin Jones Research Associates Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress Foreign Terrorist Organizations Summary This report analyzes the status of many of the major foreign terrorist organizations that are a threat to the United States, placing special emphasis on issues of potential concern to Congress. The terrorist organizations included are those designated and listed by the Secretary of State as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations.” (For analysis of the operation and effectiveness of this list overall, see also The ‘FTO List’ and Congress: Sanctioning Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, CRS Report RL32120.) The designated terrorist groups described in this report are: Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Armed Islamic Group (GIA) ‘Asbat al-Ansar Aum Supreme Truth (Aum) Aum Shinrikyo, Aleph Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) Communist Party of Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group, IG) HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM) Hizballah (Party of God) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) Jemaah Islamiya (JI) Al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) Kahane Chai (Kach) Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK, KADEK) Lashkar-e-Tayyiba
  • Stakeholder Report United Nations Human Rights Council Universal

    Stakeholder Report United Nations Human Rights Council Universal

    Stakeholder report United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review 2019 Libya Freedom of Press- Submitted by the Libyan Center for Freedom of Press Key concerns • Libya’s domestic laws fail to safeguard or guarantee freedom of press in compliance with international human rights laws and standards. • The Libyan state has adopted new laws and regulations that undermine freedom of press and democratic accountability by unjustifiably restricting and criminalising forms of legitimate expression. • State regulation of the press is currently not transparent and lacks any mechanism to ensure its independence or accountability. • Media professionals are actively targeted by militias and armed non-state actors for the nature of their work. The Libyan state has not taken sufficient steps to investigate or prosecute the perpetrators of such offences or better protect the fundamental human rights of media professionals. Introduction 1. The Libyan Center For Freedom Of Press (LCFP) is a Libyan independent organisation established by a group of journalists dedicated to the protection of the freedom of the press and media, the promotion of a free press and the development and capacity building of new young journalists. 2. This report focuses on the most serious concerns and violations related to the right of freedom of expression, as it relates to the press, to be used by the Human Rights Council in its Universal Periodic Review of Libya in 2020. 3. During the last UPR cycle Libya accepted ten recommendations related to freedom of expression and the right of journalists to carry out their work without hindrance.1 However, the Libyan state failed to implement the recommendations and freedom of expression is still hindered and undermined in law and practice.
  • The Cambridge Handbook of Immunities and International Law Edited by Tom Ruys , Nicolas Angelet , Luca Ferro Frontmatter More Information I

    The Cambridge Handbook of Immunities and International Law Edited by Tom Ruys , Nicolas Angelet , Luca Ferro Frontmatter More Information I

    Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-41788-4 — The Cambridge Handbook of Immunities and International Law Edited by Tom Ruys , Nicolas Angelet , Luca Ferro Frontmatter More Information i The Cambridge Handbook of Immunities and International Law Few topics of international law speak to the imagination as much as international immunities. Questions pertaining to immunity from jurisdiction or execution under international law surface on a frequent basis before national courts, including at the highest levels of the judicial branch and before international courts or tribunals. Nevertheless, international immunity law is and remains a challenging i eld for practitioners and scholars alike. Challenges stem in part from the uncertainty pertaining to the customary content of some immunity regimes said to be in a ‘state of l ux’, the divergent – and at times directly conl icting – approaches to immunity in different national and international jurisdictions, or the increasing intolerance towards impunity that has accompanied the advance of international criminal law and human rights law. Composed of 34 expertly written contributions, the present volume uniquely provides a comprehensive tour d’horizon of international immunity law, traversing a wealth of national and international practice. tom ruys is a professor of international law at Ghent University where he heads the Ghent Rolin- Jaequemyns International Law Institute. He holds a doctoral degree from the University of Leuven and is a member of the Brussels Bar. Tom is co- editor- in- chief of the Journal on the Use of Force and International Law and the Military Law and Law of War Review . He has been awarded the Francis Lieber Prize (2015 article prize and 2011 book prize) as well as the Francis Deák Prize (2015).
  • Maldives: Extremism and Terrorism

    Maldives: Extremism and Terrorism

    Maldives: Extremism and Terrorism On May 6, 2021, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated outside of the Malé home of former President Mohamed Nasheed. Nasheed and four others, including a British national, were injured in the attack. On May 7, Maldivian police reported that Islamic extremists were responsible for the attack. The police suspect four individuals were behind the attack, having arrested three of the four suspects by May 9. Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the Maldives and who is current the speaker of Parliament, has been an outspoken critic of religious extremism. Investigators have not yet determined which group was responsible for the attack. (Sources: Associated Press, Associated Press, Al Jazeera) On April 20, 2020, ISIS published a letter in their third issue of Voice of Hind magazine calling on Maldivians to join the jihad and to carry out extremist acts in the Maldives and India. The letter was in response to an ISIS-claimed attack on the Mahibadhoo harbor a few days prior. (Sources: Small Wars Journal, Middle East Media Research Institute) On April 17, 2020, five bombs detonated at Mahibadhoo harbor, destroying a sea ambulance, four speedboats, and two dinghies. ISIS quickly claimed responsibility for the attack via its weekly Arabic-language newsletter, al-Naba, claiming the boats belonged to the “apostate Maldivian Government and its loyalists.” The attack was the first to be carried out by ISIS in the Maldives. Earlier this year on February 4, a group of ISIS- inspired assailants stabbed and injured three foreign nationals near the Hulhumale Redbull Park Fustal Ground in North Male Atoll.
  • Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances

    Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances

    SWP Research Paper Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber (Eds.) Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances RP 5 June 2015 Berlin All rights reserved. © Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2015 SWP Research Papers are peer reviewed by senior researchers and the execu- tive board of the Institute. They express exclusively the personal views of the authors. SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Ludwigkirchplatz 3­4 10719 Berlin Germany Phone +49 30 880 07-0 Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org [email protected] ISSN 1863-1053 Translation by Meredith Dale (Updated English version of SWP-Studie 7/2015) Table of Contents 5 Problems and Recommendations 7 Jihadism in Africa: An Introduction Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 13 Al-Shabaab: Youth without God Annette Weber 31 Libya: A Jihadist Growth Market Wolfram Lacher 51 Going “Glocal”: Jihadism in Algeria and Tunisia Isabelle Werenfels 69 Spreading Local Roots: AQIM and Its Offshoots in the Sahara Wolfram Lacher and Guido Steinberg 85 Boko Haram: Threat to Nigeria and Its Northern Neighbours Moritz Hütte, Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 99 Conclusions and Recommendations Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 103 Appendix 103 Abbreviations 104 The Authors Problems and Recommendations Jihadism in Africa: Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances The transnational terrorism of the twenty-first century feeds on local and regional conflicts, without which most terrorist groups would never have appeared in the first place. That is the case in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Syria and Iraq, as well as in North and West Africa and the Horn of Africa.