Terrorist Prisoners and Deradicalization

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to a Canadian helper.

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute has released a new report entitled ‘From Rehabilitation to Recruitment’, an in-depth look at the problem of prison radicalization – the recruitment and indoctrination of future terrorists within prison populations by fellow inmates. While Canada’s problem with prison radicalization is still limited in comparison to other countries, author Alex Wilner argues that now is the time to stop this phenomenon in Canada before it starts, and offers a number of recommendations for preventative action.

Link:http://www.macdonaldlaurier.ca/files...ecruitment.pdf

[Bob's World]

Considering that perceptions of injustice are one of the major causal factors for increasing the conditions of insurgency in a community, it should be little surprise that in the prison system one might find a community that finds the rule of law as applied to them to be injust.

This is certainly true in America where one really can't rationalize the percentages of minorities who end up in the system. Or in Saudi Arabia where some 9,000 have been arrested on suspicion of "terrorism" over the past 7 years or so and held without charge or trial.

By understanding from the perspective of the populace and working to address those things that contribute most to perceptions of injustice is the best way to "deradicalize" this populace. These other programs are mere mitigation of the symptoms, and not true solutions.

I don't think we fully appreciate the magnitude of the problem, or the interconnectivity through informal networked means.

My Uncle was a corrections officer at the facility where Sirhan Sirhan is held. When he walked by his cell on 9/10/01 he noticed Sirhan sitting in a meditative state with a freshly shaved head. "Why the new hairdo?" he asked. "I'm preparing for war," Sirhan replied. The following day is, of course, history.

One more good reason we should put the bulk of our intel community in prison...

[davidbfpo]

This Canadian parliamentary report has some depth - in the variety of witnesses heard - and the testimony of Professor Andrew Silke (UK) on the effect of prison is important:http://parl.gc.ca/40/3/parlbus/commb...df/09issue.pdf

Perhaps another surprising observation is that in the U.K. we have had over 400 al Qaeda-linked extremists convicted of terrorism-related offences since 2001. Approximately 300 of these people have been released already, and many have received relatively short sentences. Most of these people are on the streets in the U.K. One finding is that there does not seem to be any evidence of these people re-engaging in extremism or becoming involved in violence again. The re-conviction rate or the re-offending rate of these individuals is extremely low. It has surprised many people who assumed that if someone was radicalized, chiefly engaged in violence and had spent time in
prison, they would still be dangerous when they came out. From most of them we see that prison represents a transition period where they move on to other issues and away from violence.

Link to report:http://www.parl.gc.ca/40/3/parlbus/c...p03mar11-e.pdf

[davidbfpo]

Spotted in an ICSR report on the Yemen:

At its core are 100 veteran jihadists, who escaped local prisons in 2006 and 2011. The group also counts on 11 former Guantanamo detainees, who returned to terrorism after undergoing "rehabilitation" programs in Saudi Arabia.

See main post (No. 57), with full copy of the ICSR report:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...t=12784&page=3

[davidbfpo]

A rare insight into how Spain is accommodating it's violent past, now that the Basque separatist ETA has declared a ceasefire and the brave people on either side:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/wo...&smid=tw-share

[davidbfpo]

A thoughtful article, from a country with very few convicted terrorism prisoners and if Canada is struggling with a plan and implementation, how will others fare?

Link:http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11...bilitate-them/