Participants in the visit to SELEC
Many terrorist groups are active in South-East Asia. Some aim to establish an Islamic ※caliphate§ encompassing the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, and the Southern Philippines. The region also faces a new and growing threat posed by returnees from conflict zones in Iraq and Syria. International cooperation in investigating terrorism cases therefore continues to be crucial.
On 7-8 October 2015, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) brought representatives of the police forces from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC) in Bucharest. The aim was for participants to learn about operational practices in the investigation of transnational crime, as well as administrative arrangements in running a regional organization. The Secretariat of ASEANAPOL, the platform for all ASEAN Police Forces, also participated in the visit.
ASEAN has concluded the 2007 Convention on Counter-Terrorism and the 2004 Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (MLA), both of which have been ratified by all ASEAN Member States. However, in the absence of formal regional mechanisms for judicial and law enforcement collaboration, cooperation takes place on a largely ad hoc basis.
To help remedy this, CTED＊s South-East Asia initiative brings together participants from the Council of Europe, EUROJUST, Europol, INTERPOL, and SELEC. The October 2015 visit to SELEC followed two regional workshops on international joint investigations for ASEAN members, held in Malaysia in 2012 and 2013.
Visit participants agreed that the SELEC model might offer a good model for cooperation among States of South-East Asia and that ASEANAPOL could play a more active and prominent role in coordinating the investigation of transnational crimes, including terrorism, in the region.
As a follow-up, the ASEANAPOL Secretariat has invited CTED to attend the November 2015 meeting of ASEAN contact persons.