Abstract
The phenomenon of foreign fighters is not new to OSCE participating States, although the current conflicts in Syria and Iraq have worsened it to the point where it is now perceived as constituting a serious threat to their national security. As a response, the OSCE has started systematic canvassing aimed at mapping out the OSCE-wide perspective on the phenomenon, in order to foster focused solutions. The comprehensive framework towards coherent and sustained actions in preventing and combatting terrorism based on an ‘all-encompassing approach’ to countering terrorism, which the organization has set up over the years, constitutes the blueprint against which such solutions are envisaged. It is crystallised in the OSCE 2012 Consolidated Framework for the Fight against Terrorism that contains a rule-of-law based toolbox putting forward ready-made responses to be adapted and tailored to the specific terrorist threats. OSCE executive structures are playing a decisive role in facilitating such adaptation to the threat posed by foreign fighters. This chapter provides an overview of the measures undertaken by the OSCE in responding to the phenomenon of foreign fighters taking part in hostilities within and outside the OSCE area. It also reflects on the possible role of the organisation—as the largest United Nations Charter Chapter VIII regional organisation—to act as a regional platform for sharing good practice, information, and challenges on foreign fighters in synergy with efforts being conducted by other international and regional actors.
The author is a Research Fellow at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
OSCE Swiss Chairmanship 2014a.
- 3.
Ibid., 4.
- 4.
OSCE 2014a.
- 5.
OSCE 2012.
- 6.
- 7.
OSCE Swiss Chairmanship 2014b, 4 (emphasis added).
- 8.
Ibid.
- 9.
Indeed, the speech by the Secretary General Lamberto Zannier at the White House Countering Violent Extremism Summit on 19 February 2015, Washington, D.C., OSCE 2015b, or the remarks by Thomas Wuchte, Head on Anti-terrorism Issues Transnational Threats Department at the Asian Contact Group on 7 November 2014, both focused on foreign terrorist fighters and OSCE Counter-Terrorism strategic priorities. The first official document by a political body of the organisation, where the wording foreign terrorist fighter is used is the Declaration on the OSCE role in countering the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters in the context of the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 2170 (2014) and 2178 (2014), adopted by the Ministerial Council on 5 December 2014. OSCE 2014a.
- 10.
Although it could seem that the regional organisation considers the phenomenon from a purely counter-terrorism lens, because of the focus only on foreign fighters joining terrorist groups, the approach to devise responses to it is a holistic one.
- 11.
See in this regard Chap. 14 by de Guttry in this volume.
- 12.
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) is engaged, amongst other tasks, in an expansive study of foreign fighters participating in the Syrian conflict. See http://icsr.info/projects/western-foreign-fighters-syria/ accessed on 7 March 2015.
- 13.
Neumann 2014, available at http://icsr.info/2015/01/foreign-fighter-total-syriairaq-now-exceeds-20000-surpasses-afghanistan-conflict-1980s/ accessed on 5 March 2015. The figures include estimates for 50 countries for which reliable government estimates where available and/or sufficient data existed.
- 14.
Ibid.
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
- 17.
OSCE Swiss Chairmanship 2014b, p. 4.
- 18.
- 19.
OSCE 2014a.
- 20.
OSCE 2014a, preambular para 5.
- 21.
Ibid., preambular para 6.
- 22.
Ibid., operative paras 1 and 2.
- 23.
Ibid., operative paras 8–12.
- 24.
Ibid., operative para 11.
- 25.
OSCE 2015d
- 26.
OSCE 2001.
- 27.
Bakker and Kessels 2012, 92–93.
- 28.
OSCE 2002.
- 29.
OSCE 2012.
- 30.
Ibid., para 12.
- 31.
Ibid.
- 32.
For a list of possible activities the OSCE can pursue in this direction see OSCE 2012, paras 15 and 16.
- 33.
Bakker and Kessels 2012, 93.
- 34.
See in this regard Chap. 14 by de Guttry in this volume.
- 35.
The Unit was established in 2002 and since January 2012 it has been part of the Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) at the OSCE Secretariat.
- 36.
The anti-terrorism strategy pursued by the Unit is founded on 7 key areas of involvement: promotion of international legal framework/co-operation in criminal matters; travel document security; Violent Extremism and Radicalisation that lead to Terrorism (VERLT); combating terrorist use of the internet; Non-Nuclear Critical Energy (NNCEI); Counter-Terrorism Network and countering the financing of terrorism. See OSCE 2015c, 19–22.
- 37.
For a comprehensive overview of the role and tasks of different units, offices and programmes of the OSCE in the fight against terrorism see: OSCE 2015c, 31 et seq.
- 38.
OSCE 2014b, 5.
- 39.
Ibid.
- 40.
Ibid., 6.
- 41.
Ibid.
- 42.
Ibid.
- 43.
Ibid.
- 44.
S/Res/2178 (2014), operative para 11.
- 45.
Infra.
- 46.
OSCE 2014a, para 11.
- 47.
OSCE 2012, para 26.
- 48.
As stated by the Head of the OSCE-ATU during his address to the EU Working Party on Terrorism (COTER) of last May, ‘the current co-operation between the OSCE and EU is very much alive and fruitful on many areas, levels and regions.’ See OSCE 2014c.
- 49.
For an exhaustive analysis of the EU activities on counter-terrorism and the specific measures enacted to counter the phenomenon of foreign fighters, see the contributions of Gilles de Kerchove, Christiane Höhn and Matteo Bonfanti in this book.
- 50.
The article established that ‘the Union shall define and pursue common policies and actions, and shall work for a high degree of cooperation in all fields of international relations, in order to preserve peace, prevent conflicts and strengthen international security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, with the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and with the aims of the Charter of Paris, including those relating to external borders.’
- 51.
See http://www.osce.org/networks/111482 accessed on 9 March 2015.
- 52.
See, Council of Europe 2012, p. 9.
- 53.
Council of Europe 2015.
- 54.
Ibid.
- 55.
These are: Algeria, Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- 56.
GCTF 2011, 4–5. https://www.thegctf.org/documents/10162/13878/Political+Declaration.pdf accessed on 11 March 2015.
- 57.
Ibid., 3.
- 58.
Ibid., 4.
- 59.
The Memorandum influenced the drafting of the UN Security Council Resolution 2178, which specifically refers to it, and contains a display of measures States can adopt to implement the Resolution. See GCTF 2014.
- 60.
Sean Davis affirms that ‘the international community must agree on an approach to coordinate ongoing civilian-led initiatives on FTFs and to mobilize and direct highly targeted capacity-building programs in a manner that optimizes outcomes on the regional and ultimately global levels” and argues that the GCTF could easily “play a focal role because of its broad-based but manageable membership and strong relationships with the UN system and other international and regional organizations’. See Davis 2014, p. 7.
- 61.
See in this regard Mohamedou 2014, p. 41.
- 62.
http://www.osce.org/tajikistan/142826, accessed on 11 May 2015.
- 63.
OSCE 2015a.
- 64.
http://www.osce.org/odihr/145681, accessed on 11 May 2015.
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Creta, A. (2016). Towards Effective Regional Responses to the Phenomenon of Foreign Fighters: The OSCE Toolbox. In: de Guttry, A., Capone, F., Paulussen, C. (eds) Foreign Fighters under International Law and Beyond. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-099-2_18
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