Protecting human rights while countering terrorism in focus at OSCE/ODIHR training events in Madrid

Protecting human rights while countering terrorism was the focus of two OSCE training courses organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 14-15 November and 17-18 November 2016 in Madrid.

Altogether, 35 officers - 27 men and 8 women - from the Spanish National Police, the Civil Guard, the Intelligence Centre against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO), penitentiary institutions, regional police and armed forces participated in the courses, which were facilitated by experts from Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as by OSCE staff.

The training course on 17 and 18 November, organized jointly with the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department (TNTD/SPMU), focused on human rights in counter-terrorism investigations. Participants discussed, in a real-case scenario, human rights issues related to policing, including how stakeholders involved in investigations can make informed decisions and use information and intelligence responsibly. This was the second course delivered as part of a joint project aimed at developing a training curriculum for law enforcement based on the ODIHR-TNTD/SPMU manual Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism Investigations.

“The course highlighted the complexity of counter-terrorism investigations and operations,” said Guy Vinet, Head of TNTD/SPMU. “It gave participants the opportunity to critically approach the intelligence gathering and investigation process related to terrorist acts, taking into account not only the human rights of victims and potential offenders, but also of police officers.”

At the earlier course, on 14 and 15 November, participants discussed the short- and long-term adverse effects of human rights violations in counter-terrorism policing. Topics discussed included the impact of such violations on the effectiveness of counter-terrorism measures and on law-enforcement officers themselves, interviewing techniques that create trust and respect, the consequences of negative stereotypes and ways to increase community support for police work. The course built on two similar training events ODIHR had held in Spain in November 2015.

“Respect for human rights is essential for effective action against terrorism,” said Johannes Heiler, ODIHR’s Adviser on Anti-Terrorism Issues. “The interactive and practice-oriented training courses provide concrete tools for law enforcement officers to firmly anchor counter-terrorism policing in human rights.”