Developing the GCTF Rome Memorandum on Rehabilitation & Reintegration of VEOs

In response to the successful December 2011 conference in The Hague, in May 2012, members of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) convened to discuss the ICCT/UNICRI good practices document that was produced after the conference in The Hague. Here, the GCTF members transformed the document into a GCTF product (the “Rome Memorandum”), which was formally adopted at the GCTF ministerial-level plenary session in Turkey from 7-8 June 2012.

In corporation with UNICRI and Hedayah, ICCT co-organised the GCTF Plenary meeting on Prison De-Radicalisation and Reintegration in Abu Dhabi from 3-5 June 2013. Participants included delegations from 15 countries as well as practitioners and experts in the field. The general aim of this plenary meeting was to further build on the Rome Memorandum, and to exchange experiences on the integration of the Rome principles in national programmes.  The implementation of rehabilitation programmes in different environments, such as conflict zones, was also addressed, as was the need to properly assess – and not exaggerate – the threat stemming from prisons as potential breeding grounds for radicalisation.

In May 2013, ICCT convened an expert workshop on The Role of Psychology in Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Violent Extremist Offenders together with the Hedayah centre in Abu Dhabi. More than twenty practitioners and experts from around the world shared best practices and lessons learned for the role of psychology and psychologists in rehabilitation, and developed more detailed guidelines for the involvement of psychologists. The experts also suggested creative approaches to de-radicalisation for settings in which psychologists may not be available. Further, the need for risk assessment was discussed; these assessments are required to measure the potential of a convicted offender radicalising other individuals in prisons, and to evaluate the risk of an incarcerated offender re-committing a crime upon release. The focused discussions led to additional guidance and concrete suggestions of ways in which the Rome Memorandum can be implemented.

On 28 and 29 June 2012, the UN General Assembly convened for the third biennial review of its Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy at UN headquarters in New York. Following a keynote speech by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the morning session – chaired by UNICRI Director Jonathan Lucas – focused on rehabilitation and reintegration programmes and the efforts of UNICRI and ICCT on this front. Former ICCT Director Mr. Peter Knoope and UNICRI Senior Advisor Dr. Douglas Stone brought the programme, good practices document, and technical assistance component to the attention of the large audience of Member State representatives.

Approximately 20 countries, a number of multilateral organisations and 30 independent experts participated in the December meeting on the rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists and the related issue of prison radicalisation which took place in The Hague. This initiative aimed to bring together relevant policymakers, practitioners and experts to share information and best practices. Due to the overwhelmingly positive response of participant nations, a decision was made to expand this project to include a capacity building component. The conference in The Hague can be seen as a key step to transition from dialogue to capacity building.