Civil society perspectives: ISIL in Africa - Key trends and developments | Security Council

Overview

CTED’s latest report synthesizes the views of more than 50 representatives of African civil society organizations (CSOs), located in 15 Member States, who contributed to two virtual roundtables convened by CTED in October and November 2021. The roundtables formed part of CTED’s ongoing efforts to engage with its civil society partners in accordance with Security Council resolution 2617 (2021), which notes the importance of engagement with locally-focused entities and recognizes “the importance of civil society, including community-based civil society, in increasing awareness about the threats of terrorism and more effectively tackling them.”

The report draws on the roundtable discussions and findings — as well as on additional CTED research and analysis — to highlight important perspectives from civil society on the worrying trajectory and impact of ISIL-affiliated groups’ activities in Africa, and showcases their insights on the gaps and challenges in African Member States’ ability to implement the relevant Security Council resolution.

ISIL in Africa will be the focus of a joint open briefing (scheduled for 7 April 2022) by the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015 concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertaking and entities.
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A sandstorm in Erg Chebbi Desert, Morocco, Africa. istockphoto.com/ Pavliha

The Threat of ISIL in Africa

Since suffering significant tactical and territorial losses in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as Daesh, appears to have given greater emphasis to its activities in Africa, including by establishing branches across Africa and expanding into areas already troubled by conflict and other areas previously unscathed by terrorist violence.

A growing number of ISIL-affiliated groups in Africa have shown an ability to launch deadly and coordinated attacks, capture strategic territories, recruit followers using anti-Government propaganda, and conscript child soldiers. With the exception of attacks carried out by the Islamic State — Sinai Province and the Islamic State in Somalia (ISS), the frequency of ISIL attacks and the resulting casualties across the continent indicate that African States are facing an unprecedented terrorist threat. This trend is buttressed by attacks claimed by ISIL affiliates, which reflect the growth in attacks on the African continent over the past three years (as shown in the map below).

Incidents attributed to ISGS and ISWAP respectively are attributed to “Greater Sahara Faction” and “Lake Chad Faction” in the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)’s dataset, .

Key Challenges

Inadequate exit strategies and support provided to former terrorists after they leave reintegration programmes, leading them to consider re-joining terrorist groups.

Lack of compensation and support for victims and local populations (particularly women) disproportionately affected by terrorism and counter-terrorism.

Insufficient criminal justice response mechanisms in most affected States.

Failure of the relevant authorities to take advantage of the positive role that civil society, community, and women can play in preventing terrorism, building resilience, and reintegrating former fighters.

Insufficient coordination of P/CVE initiatives between the national and community levels, which undermines efforts to understand and better support communities and families.

Selected recommendations

1. For Governments and relevant authorities:

Consistently protect and respect human rights in counter-terrorism and CVE initiatives, including by thoroughly investigating and ensuring justice for past abuses.
Find the appropriate balance between over-securitized measures and under-securitized responses.
Develop comprehensive responses which address the underlying causes of violent extremism conducive to terrorism and strengthen resilience while also attending to the humanitarian, psychological, and other needs of people impacted by terrorism.
In close partnership with local communities, women, youth, and other relevant groups, create and implement gender and age-appropriate CVE processes and psychological support programmes for victims and persons associated with terrorism.
Conduct scoping visits to States with Screening, Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (SPRR) frameworks to assist in the design and implementation of comprehensive national strategies to deal with FTFs, which include provision for alternatives to imprisonment (including traditional justice mechanisms).
Provide meaningful and equitable skills to men and women to enable them to successfully reintegrate into communities and share the strategies employed with interested partners.
Address various types of criminality (including the flow of SALW) by strengthening border controls between States and between North Africa and West Africa.
Employ whole-of-Government and whole-of-society approaches and strengthen coordination of all relevant counter-terrorism-related actions by the relevant actors.
Engage in dialogue with fighters and terrorist groups, including through respected local community and religious leaders, in areas where confidence in Government is lacking.

2. For international aid and capacity-building partners:

Provide comprehensive human rights support to Governments (including clear evidence on the practical implications of human rights violations on communities) to facilitate a culture change within security forces.
Provide international human rights training to relevant government authorities on evidentiary requirements in terrorism cases and other aspects to facilitate the delivery of justice for human rights abuses; facilitate the provision of basic assistance to victims; and help build trust between the military and criminal justice arms of Government.
Support the building of civil society capacity to strengthen expertise in various areas, including by providing psychosocial support, SPRR support, and support in handling FTFs.
Sensitize security forces to the benefits of including communities in counter-terrorism responses and the need to understand and build trust with communities as part of the response.
Promote the development of other justice mechanisms for terrorism situations, such as transitional justice mechanisms and reparations, alongside the criminal justice system.
Develop partnerships with local and community-based organizations to implement counter-terrorism programming and enhance community ownership.
Work with communities to achieve behavioural and attitudinal changes in order to deter them from advocating harsh punishments, such as extrajudicial killings, for terrorists.

3. For CTED:

In partnership with Governments and research entities, promote research to better understand the nuances of radicalization, recruitment, and other aspects of violent extremism conducive to terrorism in affected communities, where gaps exist.
Work closely with States to enhance their understanding of the importance of collaboration with CSOs in counter-terrorism and CVE.
Assess whether States have mechanisms in place to compensate victims as part of their counter-terrorism measures and encourage the introduction of such mechanisms within the framework of the recommendations emanating from Counter-Terrorism Committee assessment visits.
Convey policy recommendations through appropriate knowledgeable and influential government channels to promote implementation of the necessary actions.
Highlight the need to prioritize efforts to protect children in terrorism situations.
Continue to engage with African States that are not yet affected or severely affected by terrorism, emphasizing context-specific conditions that can be conducive to terrorism and sharing lessons learned from other States to enable them to take preventive measures against terrorism.

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