Terrorist Prisoners and Deradicalization

[davidbfpo]

The much-lauded and criticised Saudi rehab process has re-appeared after a rare official statement:

About 25 former Guantanamo Bay detainees have returned to violence after going through a rehabilitation programme in Saudi Arabia, a senior Saudi official has said.

Abdulrahman al-Hadlaq, the director of the interior ministry's ideological security administration, said on Saturday that about 20 per cent of the 120 repatriated former prisoners have returned to radical activity after graduation from a rehab centre in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

More on the link:http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...047249951.html or Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65I22220100619

Hat Tip to The Legal War on Terror Weekly Brief.

[Jedburgh]

ICSR, 25 Jun 10: Prisons and Terrorism: Radicalisation and De-radicalisation in 15 Countries

Introduction

• This report offers a wide-ranging analysis of the role prisons can play in radicalising people – and in reforming them. In doing so, it examines the policies and approaches of 15 countries, identifying trade-offs and dilemmas but also principles and best practices that can help governments and policymakers spot new ideas and avoid costly and counterproductive mistakes.

• Prisons matter. They have played an enormous role in the narratives of every radical and militant movement in the modern period. They are ‘places of vulnerability’ in which radicalisation takes place. Yet they have also served as incubators for peaceful change and transformation.

• Much of the current discourse about prisons and radicalisation is negative. But prisons are not just a threat – they can play a positive role in tackling problems of radicalisation and terrorism in society as a whole. Many of the examples in this report demonstrate how prisons can become net contributors to the fight against terrorism.

[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/

[Bill Moore]

I'm happy to hear that the West is considering approaches other than re-radicalization. Disengagement from violence should be sufficient and potentially achievable. Trying to convince a person to give up their deeply held religious beliefs seems irrational, and quite frankly it flies in the face of the freedoms we have sworn to defend.

‘This is all based on their fundamental belief that they’re doing the right thing, they’re doing God’s will, so that’s a really challenging thing to overcome’

The CSC’s current approach is to focus on changing violent behaviour rather than ideological or religious beliefs, the government source said. Each offender has a customized correctional plan — a mix of spiritual counseling and social and educational programs. The CSC works with the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy to provide religious support for offenders.

This article in my opinion adds evidence that their positions have little to do with their economic status in life, so spending billions to support economic development will not address the underlying cause that motivates serious Islamists. We have a hard time understanding true believers when they're opposed to our way of life, we simply assume they're fighting us because they haven't reaped the benefits of it and we just give them more opportunity they'll drop their beliefs.

[davidbfpo]

A long comprehensive article by Jason Burke of The Guardian, which assembles information from around the globe and tries give an answer to this:

The problem, however, is that nobody knows if they actually work.

Link:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013...on-camps-work?

That the Pakistani police have such a programme I don't recall before. One thing is for sure:

Equally, success in many places, such as Singapore, may be as much to do with 24/7 surveillance of the released militants as anything else, experts say.

I am sure a week ago I read elsewhere that the Yemen is copying the Saudi model for returning GITMO prisoners; since the Saudis now admit a 20% recidivism rate one wonders if the Yemen will ever admit theirs.

There is an existing thread on 'Terrorist Prisoners and Deradicalization':http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=5219 and the wider 'Studies on radicalisation & comments':http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=7188

[davidbfpo]

A good 'Long read' in The Guardian on a topical subject:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-for-terrorism

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