The IJJ successfully conducted a four-day capacity-building activity in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 21 to 24 May 2024. This event, part of the EU-funded Counter-Terrorism Platform for Human Rights Engagement (CT PHARE), trained 25 law enforcement practitioners from Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda in the Human Rights-Based Decision-Making Model (DMM) for counter-terrorism interventions and crisis management.
The activity was officially opened by CT PHARE Project Leader Paul Madden, alongside representatives from the EU Delegation to Tanzania and the National Prosecutions Service of Tanzania.
The DMM, a structured, iterative approach, guided participants in making informed, human rights-compliant decisions—whether responding to spontaneous incidents or planning strategic operations. The model emphasized ethical decision-making, accountability, multi-agency cooperation, and continuous evaluation, aligning with both international human rights standards and national legal frameworks.
Participants engaged in interactive working groups and discussions that explored the five stages of the DMM and its practical application, situational awareness and crisis response, threat and risk assessment in counter-terrorism cases, accountability, ethics, and values in decision-making, record-keeping and transparency, communication strategies across management levels, gender mainstreaming and protecting vulnerable populations.
The activity built on insights from the March 2023 Expert Group Meeting (EGM) in Malta, which highlighted human rights challenges in counter-terrorism efforts across the IIJ's focus regions.
Looking ahead, the training will inform the development of an IIJ Toolkit on Human Rights-Based DMM in Counter-Terrorism and lay the groundwork for a follow-up policy reform workshop as part of the CT PHARE project's next phase.
The IIJ’s commitment to rule of law-based capacity-building supported the Council Conclusions on EU External Action on Preventing and Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism (2020) by promoting effective, human rights-aligned counter-terrorism strategies.