Background

The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism intends to continue to advance the important work of his predecessor on issues including: the impact of counter-terrorism (including terrorist financing measures) on civil society; repatriation of foreign fighters and their families; resolution of Guantanamo Bay cases; impacts of new technologies (including spyware); interactions between counter-terrorism law and international humanitarian law, and peace operations and peace building; human rights in the United Nations counter-terrorism system; and the rights of victims of both terrorism and excessive counter-terrorism measures, including to reparation.

New issues the Special Rapporteur is considering addressing include:

• The participation of non-state actors in counter-terrorism activities (including corporations providing security-related goods or services; private military and security contractors; and de facto governmental authorities in conflict situations) and the responsibilities of states engaging with such actors;
• The proliferation of non-criminal, administrative measures in counter-terrorism (for example, restrictive preventive measures (such as control orders, preventive detention, and post-sentence continuing detention); border and migration-related controls (such as travel bans or restrictions, exclusion orders, citizenship deprivation, and surveillance-oriented data collection and sharing); proscription of terrorist organisations; and social measures to prevent or counter violent extremism (P/CVE));
• Compliance with human rights by regional organisations involved in counter-terrorism (including the European Union, Council of Europe, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, League of Arab States, Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Commonwealth of Independent States, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and Association of South East Asian Nations, among others; and informal groups of states such as the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum (GCTF) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF));
• Counter-terrorism standards and measures of specialized bodies (particularly the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation).
• Reparation and accountability for large-scale human rights violations when countering terrorism, especially historical conflicts where impunity has prevailed.

Pursuant to the mandate established by Human Rights Council resolution 49/10, the Special Rapporteur promotes and ensures the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms by recommending rights-compliant counter-terrorism legislation and policies; offers support, technical assistance, and expertise to States, UN entities, civil society and other relevant stakeholders; makes constructive and concrete recommendations in relation to areas where there may be room for improvement.