On 29 June 2021 at the 2nd UN Counter-Terrorism Week ECNL's Marlena Wisniak delivered a brief statement on the urgency of centering human rights in counter-terrorism (CT) policy and strategy, and what implications this has for the use of biometrics and other emerging technologies.
This oral statement was allowed by the "questions and observations from the floor" where registered civil society representatives could make a 3-minute intervention at the end of Session III on Upholding human rights and promoting gender responsiveness while countering terrorism in the age of transformative technologies. This was the only session on human rights and gender, with ECNL's Marlena as one of only two CSO representatives on the speaking list for floor interventions with only a few women.
In our statement we emphasised that:
- Emerging technologies have severe human rights impacts, especially on marginalised and vulnerable groups. What's more, the “function creep” of emerging technologies also leads to a spillover effect from CT to all aspects of our life. Our already shrinking civic space and civil liberties are at risk of harm worldwide.
- Civil society representatives are often the first to sound the alarm on human rights abuses related to CT, while simultaneously targeted and harmed by the misuse of CT measures themselves.
- Despite the international enthusiasm for using so-called transformative technologies in the context of CT, there is little evidence that they are indeed effective for preventing or combating terrorism.
- The private sector must respect human rights when developing or deploying emerging tech for CT, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
We see that there is much more interest and urgency in deploying more biometrics and emerging technologies in CT efforts, than there is of making sure that human rights safeguards are duly implemented and that these technologies are regulated in line with human rights. It is therefore essential to include civil society and affected communities in policy debates related to CT. Any policy or legal debate must begin with, and continuously center, human rights and the particular risks to marginalised communities.
You can download the full statement below: