Terrorist Deradicalisation in Global Contexts by Rohan Gunaratna;Sabariah Hussin;

Author:Rohan Gunaratna;Sabariah Hussin; [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781000707281
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2020-12-16T20:00:00+00:00

Prison-based deradicalisation programme in Yemen

Yemen’s first official CVE programme was the formation of a committee consisting of four senior clerics that was led by Judge Hamoud Abdulhameed Al-Hitar. He was tasked to administer a programme as part of Yemen’s war on terrorism. The committee is known as the Intellectual Dialogue Committee (Lajnah al-Hiwar al-Fikri) or the Religious Dialogue Committee. Judge Al-Hitar was the Minister for Endowment and Guidance and a former Head of Yemen Supreme Court. He has extensive experience in the country’s legislation, judiciary and politics (‘Combating Terrorism in Yemen through the Committee for Religious Dialogue’ 2010, 5). The committee was established as an instrument to address individuals on suspicion of involvement with Islamist extremists and terrorists. Some of these individuals were unable to be punished legally due to Yemen’s legal and judicial limitations. They were either arrested and imprisoned without trial or were not be able to be tried under Yemen’s Penal Code (Taarnby 2005). Although they may be seen as innocent, these individuals are potentially dangerous to society because of their militant views and association or sympathy to Al-Qaeda.

In addressing the issue of extremism, militancy and jihadism in the country, Yemen adopted a counter-terrorism strategy that deals harshly with imminent threats. This was carried out through its legal system punishment, while focusing on long-term and presumably lasting solutions. As for the latter, it was the core – probably the only – aspect that RDC focused on, that is addressing the ideological aspect.

Judge Al-Hitar believed that every act of terrorism is borne out of a distorted ideology and such ideology can be addressed through a dialogue. He argued that dialogue session provides a platform for exchanging ideas, experiences and changing behaviours (‘Combating Terrorism in Yemen through the Committee for Religious Dialogue’ 2010, 5). The idea for a religious dialogue was first mooted on 30 August 2002. The President of Yemen initiated a special meeting with religious scholars to inform them of a detention order made by the government involving a group of youth who were propagating a distorted ideology of the religion. The President warned that the group, if left unchecked, could cause more harm not only to themselves but also to the country. The members at the meeting unanimously decided to embark on the concept of ‘hiwar’ or dialogue to counter the distorted ideology on 5 September 2002. The RDC was then extended and carried out in several prisons in Yemen; in Sana’a, Hadramaut, Aden, Ta’iz and Ibb (‘Combating Terrorism in Yemen through the Committee for Religious Dialogue’ 2010, 10).

The dialogue was a form of communication between two parties where each party tried to convince the other with arguments based on the Quran and Sunnah. The session was grounded mainly in religious arguments aimed to correct detainees’ distorted beliefs. The goals and parameters were set prior to the exchange, in terms of the selected topics for discussion, references and clarity of the objectives. The detainees were informed of the visit by the Dialogue Committee for its purpose and objectives.

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