The Role of Civil Society in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization That Lead to Terrorism
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The Role of Civil Society in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism A Guidebook for South-Eastern Europe Published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Vienna, August 2018 ©OSCE 2018 Designed and Printed by red hot 'n' cool Illustrations: © whitehoune/123rf; macrovector/123rf All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers. This restriction does not apply to making digital or hard copies of this publication for internal use within the OSCE, and for personal or educational use when for non-profit and non-commercial purposes, providing that copies be accompanied by an acknowledgment of the OSCE as the source. ISBN 978-3-903128-28-6 Transnational Threats Department OSCE Secretariat Wallnerstrasse 6, A-1010 Vienna, Austria www.osce.org/atu The publication of this guidebook was made possible thanks to a generous contribution from the Austrian Government, Federal Ministry of Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs. The content of this publication, including the views, opinions, findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein, do not necessarily reflect those of the donor. It is not a consensus-based document. The OSCE Secretariat does not accept any liability for the accuracy or completeness of any information, for instructions or advice provided, or for misprints. The OSCE Secretariat may not be held responsible for any loss or harm arising from the use of information contained in this publication and is not responsible for the content of the external sources, including external websites referenced in this publication. The Role of Civil Society in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism A Guidebook for South-Eastern Europe THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN PREVENTING AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND RADICALIZATION THAT LEAD TO TERRORISM: A FOCUS ON SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 ACRONYMS AND ABBReviations 5 GLOSSARY 6 FOREWORD 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 10 1. INTRODUCTION 13 2. KEY CONCEPTS 17 2.1 What is civil society? 17 2.2 Understanding violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (VERLT) 18 2.3 Programmes and strategies to prevent and counter VERLT 20 3. THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN PREVENTING AND cOUNTERING VERLT 25 3.1 Civil society’s added value 25 3.2 Key civil society actors in preventing and countering VERLT (P/CVERLT) 27 3.3 Other important stakeholders in P/CVERLT 32 4. THE SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPEAN CONTEXT 39 5. ENSURING AN IMPACTFUL AND EFFECTIVE ROLE FOR ciVIL SOCIETY IN P/CVERLT: GUIDELINES AND EMERGING GOOD PRACTICES 45 5.1 Key challenges 46 5.2 Guidelines and emerging good practices 50 6. CONCLUSION 63 LIST OF SELECT OSCE RESOURCES 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY 66 3 Acknowledgements This guidebook was prepared by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) Action against Terrorism Unit (ATU) under the direction of Georgia Holmer, Senior Adviser on Anti-Terrorism Issues. The ATU would like to thank Adrian Shtuni (Shtuni Consulting, LLC, United States of America) for his contributions to developing and writing the guidebook. Valuable support was also provided by the Head of the ATU, Argo Avakov, and by ATU staff Camilla Bognoe, Yuri Fenopetov, Agnieszka Hejduk, Orlaith King and Katerina Koci. The ATU is also grateful for the collaboration and feedback provided by staff in the OSCE Presence in Albania, Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mission in Kosovo, Mission to Montenegro, Mission to Serbia and Mission to Skopje, as well as other OSCE entities and institutions that provided critical input. The ATU expresses its gratitude for the expert review and suggestions provided by the following individuals both through the peer review process and in the Expert Working Group Session that supported this project: Veaceslav Balan Eric Rosand OSCE Mission to Serbia Prevention Project: Organizing Against Violent Extremism Elvira Hadzibegovic Bubanja Forum MNE Edit Schlaffer Women without Borders Sejjaf Hadzic OSCE Youth Advisory Group Serkan Serin OSCE Mission to Skopje Enri Hide European University of Tirana Selma Zekovic OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Naim Hoxha OSCE Mission in Kosovo Herzegovina Humera Khan Susanna Naltakyan Muflehun OSCE Presence in Albania Eric Manton Lulzim Peci formerly with OSCE Mission to Skopje Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development Afrodita Musliu NEXUS – Civil Concept Valery Perry OSCE Mission to Serbia 4 THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN PREVENTING AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND RADICALIZATION THAT LEAD TO TERRORISM: A FOCUS ON SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE Acronyms and Abbreviations ATU Action against Terrorism Unit BIH Bosnia and Herzegovina CSO civil society organization CVE Countering Violent Extremism EU European Union IT Information Technology ICCT International Centre for Counter-Terrorism ICAN International Civil Society Action Network NGO non-governmental organization ODIHR Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe P/CVERLT Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism PVE Preventing Violent Extremism RUSI Royal United Services Institute TNTD Transnational Threats Department UNDP United Nations Development Programme UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization VERLT Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism 5 Glossary This glossary serves to clarify key terms used in this guidebook. The definitions are for this guidebook only and are not official OSCE definitions. Community – women, men, social groups and institutions that are based in the same area and/or have shared interests. Civil society – a diverse body of civil actors, communities, and formal or informal associations with a wide range of roles who engage in public life, seeking to advance shared values and objectives. Civil society actors – key representatives of the community including women, youth, community and religious leaders who are well positioned to provide impactful and long-lasting contributions to the well-being of society. Community policing – a philosophy and organizational strategy that promote partnerships between the police force and the public to increase the effective and efficient identification, prevention and resolution of problems of crime, and address concerns about physical safety and security, social disorder and neighbourhood decay in order to improve the quality of life for everyone. Countering violent extremism – proactive actions to counter efforts by violent extremists to radicalize, recruit and mobilize followers to engage in violent acts and to address specific factors that facilitate and enable violent extremist recruitment and radicalization to violence. Counter-terrorism – policies, laws and strategies developed by state actors and implemented primarily by law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and sometimes the military, aimed at thwarting terrorist plots and dismantling terrorist organizations. Former violent extremists or “formers” – individuals who have disengaged from a path to violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism and who can have a useful role in raising awareness and communicating credible counter-narratives. Gender perspective – awareness and consideration of differential needs, experiences, and status of women and men based on socio-cultural context. 6 THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN PREVENTING AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND RADICALIZATION THAT LEAD TO TERRORISM: A FOCUS ON SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE Intervention programming – programmes that target “at-risk” audiences and seek to intervene in a person’s pathway to terrorist radicalization before the line of criminal activity is crossed. The type of programmes that fall under this category are sometimes referred to as “off ramps” or “exit programmes”. The programmes are voluntary and include referral mechanisms, psychosocial support, mentoring, theological/doctrinal debate, education and employment training and support, etc. Prevention programming – programmes that seek to reduce the appeal of violent extremism and build resilience to its influence and spread. The types of programmes that may fall under this category are: awareness raising on the threat of violent extremism in schools, public information campaigns and community debates, inter-faith and intra-faith dialogues, capacity building for teachers and community leaders in identifying and supporting those vulnerable to radicalization, media messaging and counter-/alternative narrative campaigns, and community trust building with law enforcement, etc. Radicalization that leads to terrorism – the dynamic process whereby an individual comes to accept terrorist violence as a possible, perhaps even legitimate, course of action. This may eventually, but not necessarily, lead this person to advocate, act in support of, or to engage in, terrorism. Rehabilitation programming – programmes that target individuals radicalized to violence and possibly their families at different stages of radicalization. The types of programmes include both prison-based de-radicalization/disengagement and post-criminal aftercare programmes focusing on the rehabilitation and reintegration of terrorist offenders