Addressing the issue of Daesh foreign fighters and their families returning from Syria and other countries to the member States of the Council of Europe
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 15844
| 11 October 2023
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted at the 1477th meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies (4 October 2023). 2023 - Fourth part-session
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 2244
(2023)
1. The Committee of
Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 2244 (2023) and forwarded it to the Council of Europe Committee
on Counter-terrorism (CDCT), the European Committee on Legal Co-operation
(CDCJ) and the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF)
for information and possible comments. It welcomes the attention
given by the Assembly to the potential return of Daesh foreign fighters
and their families, including children, to Council of Europe member
States. The Committee agrees that this is a pressing issue requiring
concerted international action and the broadest possible co-operation.
2. In this context, the Committee draws attention to the new
Counter-terrorism Strategy for 2023-2027, which it adopted on 10
February 2023, setting out a number of actions aimed at supporting
member States in addressing challenges related to disengagement
and reintegration, links between terrorism and violations of the
laws on armed conflict, and return and relocation of foreign terrorist
fighters. In addition, the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights
of the Child (2022-2027) contains objectives and actions which are
relevant to safeguarding the rights of children of Daesh foreign
fighters.
3. With respect to paragraph 4.1 of the recommendation, the Committee
notes that the Counter-terrorism Strategy calls for the drafting
of non-binding instruments to further support member States in the
areas of deradicalisation, disengagement and social reintegration
of persons involved in, or at risk of being involved in, terrorism,
particularly as concerns women and children who have been involved
with, or exploited by, terrorist groups. This work will be based
on the report under preparation by the CDCT on comparative practices
in these areas that take stock of advancements across member States.
4. As concerns paragraph 4.2 of the recommendation, the Committee
of Ministers welcomes the call for justice and accountability for
foreign fighters suspected of having perpetrated acts of terrorism,
war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It fully agrees
that the magnitude and severity of these crimes call for an examination
of the interplay between counter-terrorism legislation and the rules
of armed conflict, including the issue of cumulative prosecutions.
In this context, the Committee informs the Assembly that, under
the Counter-terrorism Strategy, the CDCT will continue work on the
use of information collected in conflict zones as evidence in criminal
proceedings for terrorism and other offences, the elaboration of
guidance on prosecuting terrorist offences and serious violations
of international humanitarian law committed in the context of an
armed conflict, and efforts aimed at raising capacities of national
authorities to consider and apply cumulative charging, with a view
to effectively prosecuting persons suspected of having been involved
in terrorism offences or serious violations of international humanitarian
law committed in the context of an armed conflict.
5. Regarding paragraph 4.3, the Committee considers that there
are substantial complications involved in the setting up of an international
tribunal, or hybrid tribunal with jurisdiction over international
crimes, to prosecute Daesh foreign fighters, not least the question
of the death penalty mentioned by the Assembly. It recalls that
the CDCT has on numerous occasions welcomed efforts made by member
States to ensure judicial processing of individuals suspected of
involvement in terrorist activities in Syria and Iraq, and supported these
efforts through activities to improve international co-operation
in this area, such as its 24/7 Network on Foreign Terrorist Fighters.
The CDCT also plans to prepare a report on the status and developments
regarding foreign terrorist fighters in Europe to ensure that member
States are kept abreast of threats within and beyond Europe stemming
from European foreign terrorist fighters.
6. Concerning paragraph 4.4, the Committee acknowledges the complicated
situation, both from a security and human rights perspective, of
children left in camps in North-East Syria, where they are detained
in wholly unsuitable conditions and exposed to violence, sexual
abuse and exploitation, risk of radicalisation and other violations
of their fundamental rights.
7. On the question of deprivation of nationality, the Committee
of Ministers agrees that children of foreign fighters should be
treated first and foremost as children and should not bear the consequences
of the offences committed by their family members. In this context
it recalls the safeguards set out in the 1961 UN Convention on the
Reduction of Statelessness and the 1997 European Convention on Nationality
(ETS No. 166), as well as in Recommendation
CM/Rec(2009)13 on the Nationality of Children. It informs the Assembly
that further work is planned on specific issues related to statelessness
of children and their access to nationality.
8. The Committee of Ministers further agrees, in principle, that
children of foreign fighters who are nationals of member States,
when they are repatriated, it can be with their mothers where possible.
This is for each member State to decide. In the judicial procedures
against parents upon their arrival on the national territory of a
member State, maintaining the link with their children should then
be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the best
interests of the children. It informs the Assembly that work connected
with these challenging questions is currently ongoing or planned,
including draft recommendations on the rights and best interests
of the child in parental separation and in child care proceedings;
guidance on (re)integration programmes for children exposed to terrorist
violence and ideologies; assessment of the needs and challenges of
child victims and witnesses of violent crimes within the justice
system, including re-integration and rehabilitation of children
affected by terrorism; and children’s rights in crisis and emergency
situations, including armed conflict and terrorism.