Children’s Rights, ‘Foreign Fighters’, Counter-Terrorism emphasises the vulnerability of children in situations of war, conflict and radicalisation. Exploring issues of nationality rights and statelessness, chapters examine counter-terrorism measures such as the cancellation of citizenship as a strategy of pre-emption of violence while dissecting relevant cases across Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.

This book, a follow-up publication to the 2016 volume Foreign Fighters under International Law and Beyond, zooms in on the responses that the international community and individual States are implementing in response to (prospective and actual) returning foreign fighters (FFs) and their families, focusing on returnees from Syria and Iraq to European countries. As States and international organisations are still ‘learning by doing’, the role of the academic community is to help steer the process by bridging the divide between international standards and their implementation at the national level and between security concerns and human rights law. Furthermore, the academic community can and should assist in identifying ways forward that are both effective, sustainable and international law-compliant. Those are, ultimately, the goals that the present volume seeks to pursue. The observations, recommendations and warnings included in this book will be useful in future debates on (returning) FFs, both in the academic world and in the world of policy makers and practitioners, as well as to the public at large. Francesca Capone is Associate Professor of International Law at the Istituto DIRPOLIS of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, Italy. Christophe Paulussen is Senior Researcher International Law at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague, The Netherlands. Rebecca Mignot-Mahdavi is Lecturer in International Law at the Manchester International Law Centre, University of Manchester, School of Law in Manchester, United Kingdom.

In 2006, the United Nations urged Member States to ensure that counter terrorism policies guaranteed respect for human rights and the rule of law. This book demonstrates that, in many cases, counter terrorism policies relating to preventive detention, targeted killing and measures relating to returning foreign terrorist fighters have failed to respect human rights, and this encourages vulnerable people to be drawn towards supporting or committing acts of terrorism. Furthermore, in recent years, jurisprudence and public opinion in some countries have shifted from being at one stage more protective of human rights, to an acquiescence that some particularly draconian counter terrorism methods are necessary and acceptable. This book analyzes why this has happened, with a focus on the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel, and offers suggestions to address this issue. The work will be essential reading for students, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of human rights, humanitarian law, and counter terrorism.

Ce Liber Amicorum, qui rend hommage à Gilles de Kerchove, coordinateur de l’Union européenne pour la lutte contre le terrorisme de 2007 à 2021, dresse le bilan de ce qui a été mené dans ce secteur ces dernières années et se penche également sur les défis à venir. Après une introduction retraçant le parcours du récipiendaire, la première partie se penche sur différents aspects de la coopération au sein de l’Union européenne, allant du mandat d’arrêt européen, à la protection des droits fondamentaux en passant par le rôle de certaines institutions ou agences de l’UE. La deuxième partie traite de la coopération entre l’UE et le reste du monde, qu’il s’agisse d’organisations mondiales ou de certains États en particulier, comme les États-Unis. La troisième partie, plus transversale, rassemble des contributions diverses touchant notamment à l’État islamique, au financement du terrorisme, aux victimes et aux nouvelles technologies. L’ouvrage se clôt par une quatrième partie relative à la prévention, à la lutte contre la radicalisation, aux valeurs, à la liberté de la presse et à la littérature. Les auteurs, issus de diverses parties du monde, présentent des profils très divers, parmi lesquels d’éminentes figures politiques, des fonctionnaires européens, des académiques, des magistrats et des journalistes. L’ouvrage a été coordonné par Dr. Christiane Höhn, Conseillère principale de Gilles de Kerchove, Isabel Saavedra, son Assistante personnelle et Prof. Anne Weyembergh, Professeur ordinaire à l’Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). * * * This Liber Amicorum, which pays tribute to Gilles de Kerchove, EU counter-terrorism coordinator from 2007 to 2021, takes stock of what has been achieved in this field in recent years and looks at the challenges ahead. After an introduction tracing the recipient’s background, the first part looks at different aspects of cooperation within the European Union, ranging from the European arrest warrant, to the protection of fundamental rights and the role of certain EU institutions or agencies. The second part deals with cooperation between the EU and the rest of the world, both with global organisations and with specific States, such as the United States. The third, cross-cutting part brings together various contributions relating to the Islamic State, the financing of terrorism, victims and new technologies. The book concludes with a fourth part on prevention, the fight against radicalisation, values, freedom of the press and literature. The authors come from various parts of the world and present a wide range of profiles, including prominent political figures, EU officials, academics, magistrates and journalists. The book was coordinated by Dr. Christiane Höhn, Principal Advisor to Gilles de Kerchove, Isabel Saavedra, his Personal Assistant and Prof. Anne Weyembergh, Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

This book sheds light on the emergence, roots and gradual change of jihadism and exposes its detrimental impact on human lives. The author collected insightful interviews with ISIS fighters and also with women who joined ISIS. The book analyzes root causes and motivations of people based on the firsthand information and proposes the non-enigma cycles radicalization theory, and argues that two main cycles- grievances and resentment, and the radical ideology are the most significant. The book addresses the current situation with 70,000 women and children, who were family members of ISIS fighters, trapped in the desert following the defeat of the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq. The work also analyzes incentives of those who joined ISIS, nature of the jihadist ideology, emergence of a family jihad, roles of women and children within a so-called caliphate, and state policies to deal with captured ISIS fighters and their family members. The author gives detailed information on post-ISIS lives of women and children, who were family members of ISIS fighters who currently held in the desert in Northeast Syria. Detailed and vivid depiction of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in these camps presents the readers a clear understanding of the extent, intensity, and importance of the issue at hand and is what makes this book such a compelling and eye-catching one. The book also gives compelling accounts of state policies toward ISIS fighters that being discussed by international community such as establishing ad hoc tribunal, stripping citizenship, transferring to Iraqi prisons etc. It also gives detailed insights into rehabilitation and reintegration programs in several countries that repatriated their citizens from Syria and Iraq. The author`s research is unique due to her direct access to repatriated foreign fighters in several countries, which brought back their citizens from Iraq and Syria. “We will depart to Jihad if the God calls us,” such are the imprints that are left on the minds of young children born and raised in ISIS-controlled territories. The book contains many human stories which makes the book interesting not only to scholars and policy makers but to general audience too.

Explores the problems of rights, legitimacy and accountability in transnational counter-terrorism.

This book offers various perspectives, with an international legal focus, on an important and underexplored topic, which has recently gained momentum: the issue of foreign fighters. It provides an overview of challenges, pays considerable attention to the status of foreign fighters, and addresses numerous approaches, both at the supranational and national level, on how to tackle this problem. Outstanding experts in the field – lawyers, historians and political scientists – contributed to the present volume, providing the reader with a multitude of views concerning this multifaceted phenomenon. Particular attention is paid to its implications in light of the armed conflicts currently taking place in Syria and Iraq. Andrea de Guttry is a Full Professor of International Law at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy. Francesca Capone is a Research Fellow in Public International Law at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Christophe Paulussen is a Senior Researcher at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague, the Netherlands, and a Research Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague.

The Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law aims to publish peer-reviewed scholarly articles and reviews as well as significant developments in human rights and humanitarian law. It examines international human rights and humanitarian law with a global reach, though its particular focus is on the Asian region. The focused theme of Volume 2 is Islamic Law and its Implementation in Asia and the Middle East.

Jessie Blackbourn is a research fellow at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford, UK. Deniz Kayis is currently the Associate for Chief Justice Allsop AO of the Federal Court of Australia. Nicola McGarrity is a senior lecturer and the Director of the Terrorism Law Reform Project at the University of New South Wales, Australia.