C Explanatory memorandum, by Ms Gabriela
Heinrich, rapporteur for opinion
1. The terrorist attacks which
afflicted several Council of Europe member States in 2014, 2015
and 2016 have highlighted the extent of radicalisation leading to
terrorism. The reasons for this phenomenon are complex and require
close and objective analysis to avoid falling into the trap of preconceived
ideas and stereotypes which lead straight to stigmatisation, discrimination
and hatred.
2. The type of radicalisation which is now receiving the closest
attention is religious radicalisation. Indeed, those who carried
out the recent terrorist attacks in Europe claimed that they were
part of their jihad. However, it must be borne in mind that religious
radicalisation is not the only form of radicalisation. It can also
be political, as was the case in the 1970s when radicalisation was
expressed in terms of extreme left-wing movements. Far-right movements
in Europe can equally be seen as a form of radicalisation. Similarly,
the Utoya attacks in Norway in 2011 were the expression of the political
radicalisation of the perpetrator and there was no religious dimension
whatsoever. There are also mixtures between religious and political
radicalisation. Moreover, the different types of radicalisation
are interdependent, so that religious radicalisation can lead to
political radicalisation or vice versa.
Discrimination and Islamophobia
3. I would like to endorse the
position taken by the rapporteur, who says that Islamophobia can
be an aggravating factor in some of the vicious circles leading
people into terrorism. At a hearing held in June 2015 by the No
Hate Parliamentary Alliance and the Committee on Social Affairs,
Health and Sustainable Development, Professor Tahir Abbas underlined
the links between radicalisation and Islamophobia, both being the
product of the current social context. He said that there were very
few European-born Muslims involved in violent jihadism and that
“extremism was often a result of marginalisation and disengagement,
of voices unable to find expression in their social context. This
applies to Muslims but also to other disadvantaged groups”.
Note
4. In its opinion on the report “Combating international terrorism
while protecting Council of Europe standards and values”, the Committee
on Equality and Non-Discrimination pointed out that “the political approach
to preventing future terrorist acts is also crucial. Longer-term
political responses must always be designed bearing in mind that
sustainable cohesion, including a sense of shared nationhood, cannot
be achieved in societies in which large parts of the population
feel excluded or discriminated against. Much damage is already being
done to the fabric of our European societies by polemical discourse
stigmatising individuals or groups on the basis of their national
or ethnic origins, religion, skin colour, nationality or perceived ‘race’”.
Note This phenomenon can be called neo-racism.
It occurs in the member States of the Council of Europe in many
different forms. One of them, “race-less racism” is, compared to
traditional racism, “equally damaging because it tends to justify
discrimination against certain groups and individuals”.
Note
5. I think that it is important to point out that the acts of
individuals should not be attributed to and supported by an entire
group. We should not accept the idea of collective responsibility
for acts carried out by individuals. Nevertheless, generalisations
continue. Although the recent terrorist attacks were not followed
by outbreaks of violence against Muslims, a rise in anti-Muslim
behaviour has been noted. In France, the figures provided by the
Interministerial Delegation against racism and anti-Semitism (Dilcra)
in January 2016 on the number of anti-Muslim offences revealed an
increase of 223% between 2014 and 2015. It should also be pointed
out that Muslim women who wear veils are among the first to be targeted
by such behaviour.
6. This finding obliges us to be more vigilant and to make an
effort to explain the situation to people so as not to fuel hatred
against one particular population group and not be caught up in
the vicious circle that leads to more hatred, more discrimination
and more radicalisation as a response. That is the purpose of the amendment
I would suggest to paragraph 3 of the draft resolution (Amendment
A).
7. I should emphasise that parliamentarians have a specific responsibility
in this context as they are given a great power for communication
and speaking in public forums and in the media. As a member of the
No Hate Parliamentary Alliance, I therefore strongly encourage all
members of the Parliamentary Assembly to join the Alliance and to
speak out against all forms of racism, intolerance and hate.
Figures and portraits of radicalised
young people
8. The figures are constantly
rising as regards the number of Europeans who have travelled to
Syria and Iraq to join Daesh. In France, 500 citizens and residents
have allegedly taken part in military action in these two countries;
the number of British citizens is thought to be 750.
Note Other Council of
Europe member States have also been affected. For example, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, where over 200 Bosnian citizens are said to have
joined Daesh,
Note or the Russian Federation – 4 000 Russian
nationals are believed to be with Daesh in Syria and Iraq. The available
portraits of these radicalised persons show that there is no standard
profile. However, their common point is their young age: most of
these Europeans are under 30. I therefore welcome the fact that
the rapporteur of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable
Development has included young adults in her report and has not
limited it to minors as initially planned.
9. Especially regarding the young age of the most radicalised,
teaching children and adolescents to take a critical approach to
information they have to deal with is of particular importance in
terms of prevention. So too is learning about sophisticated discussions
(avoiding over-simplification) and learning to reflect carefully
about what they read and are told (Amendment B).
10. When describing the current phenomenon, Olivier Roy, a French
political scientist, referred to “an islamisation of radicality”
as opposed to a so-called “radicalisation of Islam”. In this respect,
Islam only appears as the available “product” through which to express
such radicalisation. The portraits of most young people who commit
terrorist acts show that they are not, as a rule, interested in
theology, do not attend mosques and were only converted a short
time before they became radicalised.
Note I, for my part,
firmly believe that religious identity is not the direct cause of
radicalisation and that many young radicals have no religious beliefs
whatsoever. To the contrary, a stable religious identity seems to
prevent radicalisation. As well as religious education in schools and
other religious institutions, mosques should be more encouraged
to clarify the peace-oriented dimension of religions, combined with
activity in the field of prevention (Amendment C).
11. Olivier Roy also observed that in Syria these jihadists “are
engaged only in warfare: none of them are interested in or try to
become members of civil society. The fact that they take women as
their sex slaves or recruit young women on the Internet is proof
of the fact that they are not true members of the Muslim communities
they claim to defend”.
Note In
the account she published in January 2016, a young woman who left for
Syria describes how Daesh took control of the city of Rakka, referring
to Daesh as “an occupation army”.
Note Such
accounts are valuable and definitely provide the best arguments
to dissuade young people from joining Daesh.
12. In its opinion on the report “Combating international terrorism
while protecting Council of Europe standards and values”, the Committee
on Equality and Non-Discrimination already observed that “Radicalisation
in the sense of holding (somewhat) extreme views, contesting societal
norms, bucking the system, is common among young people. Many young
and less young persons hold fundamentalist religious views, or views
that are perceived by others as such. But this does not mean that
they pose a risk to society or that they will seek to express those
views through violent means. The vast majority of people holding ultraorthodox
or fanatical religious views are not, and never will be, terrorists.
What distinguishes terrorists from others is that, one way or another,
they have arrived at the conclusion that it is less grave for them
to commit violent acts (including possibly taking human lives) with
the aim of spreading terror than for others to transgress the principles
for which the terrorists stand.”
Note
13. On 11 March 2016, the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination
heard the moving testimony of Ms Véronique Roy Burin, whose son
left for the jihad in Syria in 2014 after converting to Islam a
few years before. Following the death of her son in January 2016,
Ms Roy Burin continues to participate in awareness-raising campaigns
in order to contribute to preventing the radicalisation of young
people. She explained to the committee that she did not notice or
understand the signs of radicalisation until very late in the process
and underlined the sense of abandonment felt by the families finding
themselves alone facing the situation. That is why I would like
to suggest adding an explicit reference to the need to support families
in the draft resolution (Amendment D).
Women and radicalisation leading
to terrorism
14. As a member of the Committee
on Equality and Non-Discrimination, I wish to express my concern
at the growing number of radicalised girls and women. According
to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 550 women from the West
are currently in the areas controlled by Daesh.
Note They allegedly represent 10% to 20% of
the foreign fighters in some countries.
Note These
girls are often 18 or younger and some are hardly 15 years old.
Note These
women travel to Syria alone or with their husband, if not their
whole family, including very young children.
Note
15. At the hearing held by the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination
on 11 March 2016, Ms Melanie Smith, researcher at the International
Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR)
and at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, presented her work
on female extremism. Her research shows that there is no standard
profile for radicalised women.
Note They
may come from the middle classes and have no strong link to Islam.
Some of them have recently converted to Islam; others come from
moderate Muslim families.
16. These women are often recruited via social networks, usually
by other women, to build “the Caliphate” of the “Islamic State”
(Daesh), in other words to become the wives of jihadi fighters and
the mothers of the next generation. Contributing to the creation
of a new State appears to be a pull factor for young women, as well
as the promise of sisterhood with other women sharing the same values.
They sometimes also leave for humanitarian reasons to help their
Syrian brothers and sisters in hospitals. However their motivations
must not lead either to a simplification or an under-estimation
of the danger they represent. It appears that they also play a role
in inciting others to violence, raising serious concerns that terrorist
acts may become more frequent.
17. The Parliamentary Assembly’s recent resolution on “Foreign
fighters in Syria and Iraq” also expressed the Assembly’s concern
at the growing involvement of women and girls who leave their homeland
to join Daesh. The Assembly called on member and observer States
and States whose parliaments enjoy partner for democracy status
with the Parliamentary Assembly to “take fully into account the
increasing number of women and young girls departing to join Daesh,
develop a gender-specific approach in prevention and re-integration, and
specific counter-narratives aimed at women and girls, and fully
use the social and family role of women in countering violent extremism”.
Note I
fully endorse this recommendation.
18. Better use must be made in prevention programmes of the accounts
given by women and girls who have returned from Syria and Iraq.
That is the purpose of Amendments E and F that I propose to the
draft resolution. The descriptions of the living conditions, which
are particularly difficult for women as they are often locked up, are
a powerful counter-narrative for girls and women who want to leave
for Syria and Iraq, and far from the utopian ideal put forward by
Daesh to attract new female recruits. Ms Melanie Smith explained
during the hearing organised on 11 March 2016 that testimonies by
women returnees remind that Syria and Iraq are war zones which imply
the lack of basic services with serious consequences on health,
in particular for pregnant women. In addition, joining Daesh is
usually a one-way ticket and returning is extremely difficult and
dangerous.
19. Concerning religious radicalisation it is in my opinion crucial
that a dialogue be initiated not only between religions, for example
between Muslims and Christians, but also within the Islamic or Christian
community. To prevent radicalisation due to religious fanaticism,
religions and their theologians should start discussing questions
such as: does any religious content of the mainstream religion promote
religious fanaticism or radicalisation? That is why I propose Amendments
G, H and I.
20. To conclude, I would like to quote the report issued on 14
March 2016 by the International Crisis Group which underlines that:
“If roots are complex, the catalyst is clear enough. The descent
of most of the 2011 Arab revolutions into chaos has opened enormous
opportunity for extremists. Movements have gathered force as crises
have festered and evolved, as money, weapons and fighters flow in,
as violence escalates. Mounting enmity between States means regional
powers worry less about extremists than about traditional rivals, leverage
the fight against IS against other enemies or quietly indulge jihadists
as proxies. Especially in the Middle East, jihadists’ expansion
is more a product of instability than its primary driver; is due
more to radicalisation during crises than beforehand; and owes more
to fighting between their enemies than to their own strengths. Rarely
can such a movement gather force or seize territory outside a war
zone or collapsed State.”
Note We
have to draw our conclusions from this statement: to efficiently
prevent violent extremism and radicalisation leading to terrorism,
we need to invest in conflict prevention without further delay.
