The African Union is finalizing legal frameworks aimed at cutting off lifelines for terrorist actors and denying access to safe havens for radical groups and individuals. Following a ministerial meeting in Addis Ababa this week, the AU Peace and Security Council called on the AU Commission to finalize the African Arrest Warrant and the AU Data Bank of terrorist groups and individuals supporting or facilitating the activities of terrorist organizations in order to further enhance judicial cooperation, cut terrorist lifelines, and deny safe havens to terrorist actors who exploit jurisdictional gaps across borders. The AU urged international partners to support counterterrorism efforts on the continent, and pushed member states to ensure that arms produced within their territories are not sold to non-state actors and other armed groups.
The council pledged to strengthen enforcement capacities and stressed that member states need to prioritize the prevention of terrorism and violent extremism in countries not currently directly impacted by the scourge and to conduct comprehensive stakeholder mapping to actively integrate non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations into continental security frameworks. The council also expressed alarm over the growing terrorist use of emerging technologies (including drones, encrypted platforms, and digital finance), and called on the AUC to counter this through a continental framework. The council emphasized the critical need to enhance cybersecurity measures across the continent and requested the AU Commission to develop continental guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence in the prevention of, and fight against terrorism, including for predictive analysis, early warning, and the detection of extremist content.
This week’s meeting approved the operationalisation of the PSC Subcommittee on Counter Terrorism and directed the AU Commission to support the subcommittee to ensure the successful implementation of its mandate in countering terrorism and violent extremism on the continent. The AUPC expressed grave concern on the “downturn in international cooperation including withdrawal of technical and financial support to peace support operations in Africa attributed to the shift in national policies and escalating geopolitical fragmentation” and urged the international community to revamp support for the …
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