Terrorist Rehabilitation

This book seeks to explore the new frontiers in counter-terrorism research, analyses and practice, focusing on the imperative to rehabilitate terrorists. The post-9/11 world is in a very early stage of global rehabilitation both of terrorists and criminals. Nonetheless, some correctional rehabilitation programs have led convicted and suspected terrorists to express remorse, repent, and recant their violent ideologies and re-enter mainstream politics, religion and society. Although operational counter-terrorism initiatives have received both investment and attention, strategic counter-terrorism initiatives that ultimately end violence including terrorism but require patience and sustained efforts have been neglected by governments and received inadequate public coverage. This book is an early attempt to examine a few case studies both by practitioners and scholars. This book provides a better understanding of the process of deradicalization, and will be the first step towards exploring the development of tools necessary to examine and address challenges faced by practitioners. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, radical Islam, conflict resolution, war and conflict studies and IR/Security Studies.

With the rise of religiously motivated violence and terrorism, governments around the world need to develop their religious and ideological capabilities in parallel with strengthening their law enforcement, military and intelligence capabilities. Terrorist Rehabilitation: A New Frontier in Counter-terrorism aims to provide an understanding of the importance of the approach and strategy of terrorist rehabilitation in countering this threat. Comprising of nine chapters, this book provides case study assessments of terrorist rehabilitation practices set against the backdrop of their unique operational and geopolitical milieu in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. This will help the reader to form a foundational understanding of the concept of terrorist rehabilitation by combining the insights, successes and experience of senior government officials and counter-terrorism experts. In addition, the contributors provide discussions on religious concepts that have been manipulated by violent Islamists as a background to understanding religiously or ideologically motivated terrorism and the avenues open for countering it. Contents:Terrorist Rehabilitation: Genesis, Genealogy and Likely Future (Rohan Gunaratna)Saudi Efforts in Counter-Radicalisation and Extremist Rehabilitation (Dr Abdulrahman al-Hadlaq)Terrorist Rehabilitation: The Singapore Experience (Rohan Gunaratna and Mohamed Feisal Bin Mohamed Hassan)Current State of Indonesia's Deradicalisation and Rehabilitation Programme (Irfan Idris and Muh Taufiqurrohman)Sri Lanka's Rehabilitation Programme: The Humanitarian Mission Two (Malkanthi Hettiarachchi)Delegitimising the Al-Qaeda of Obligatory Jihad: Interpreting the Islamic Concept of Jihad Based on the Fatwa on Terrorism (Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri)Al-Wala' wal Bara' (Loyalty and Disavowal) in Modern Salafism: Analysing the Positions of Purist, Politico and Jihadi Salafis (Dr Mohamed Ali)Weighing the Arguments of Takfir and "Islam Under Attack" (Dr Muchlis M Hanafi)The Outcome of a Long Process: Tracking Terrorist Rehabilitation and the Beginning of a Longer One — Implementing Best Practices in Regional Contexts (Dr Douglas M Stone) Readership: Security practitioners interested in new approaches to countering the threat of violent extremism and terrorism from a perspective of terrorist rehabilitation, including counter-terrorism officials, senior police officers and managers involved in counter-terrorism, and non-government organisations and policy-makers with a specific interest in counter-terrorism; graduate students and researchers in the field of security studies and counter-terrorism. Key Features:Discusses successful terrorist rehabilitation in various countries set against the backdrop of their distinct operational and geopolitical milieuProvides discussions of some of the religious concepts that have been manipulated and used by violent IslamistsHelps the reader to form a foundational understanding of the concept of terrorist rehabilitation by combining the insights and experience of senior government officials and counter-terrorism experts on how terrorist rehabilitation strategies have been successfully implemented across the worldKeywords:Terrorist Rehabilitation;Deradicalisation;Counter-Ideology;Community Engagement;Counter-terrorism

The threat of terrorism, if not adequately managed, is likely to increase exponentially. As terrorist groups’ influence and networks spread globally, a concerted effort in counterterrorism strategy is critical to mitigating the threat they present. Governments facing the threat of terrorism are typically strengthening their law enforcement, military and intelligence capabilities, but more complex initiatives such as deradicalisation and terrorist rehabilitation are more time-consuming and less attention-grabbing and so tend to be neglected. It is all too easy to 'do' rehabilitation ineffectively or to simply ignore it altogether. This is unfortunate, as an effective rehabilitation strategy can yield dividends over the longer term. Every committed terrorist is a potential recruiter, whether in prison or at liberty, for more terrorists. Even in death, they can potentially be presented as martyrs. Conversely, successfully rehabilitated terrorists can be valuable assets in the public relations theatre of battle. There is no single, simple solution to the challenges of deradicalisation and rehabilitation, but this book places examples of best practice within a robust, but flexible, conceptual framework. It gives guidelines for establishing and implementing a successful deradicalisation or rehabilitation programme, derived from a series of empirical case studies of successful projects around the world. It sets out both the necessary and desirable facets of such a programme, identifying which areas to prioritise and where budgets can be best spent if resources are tight. The authors provide detailed case studies of each step to illustrate an approach that has worked and how best to replicate this success.

Because terrorists are made, not born, it is critically important to world peace that detainees and inmates influenced by violent ideology are deradicalized and rehabilitated back into society. Exploring the challenges in this formidable endeavor, Terrorist Rehabilitation: The U.S. Experience in Iraq demonstrates through the actual experiences of military personnel, defense contractors, and Iraqi nationals that deradicalization and rehabilitation programs can succeed and have the capability to positively impact thousands of would-be terrorists globally if utilized to their full capacity. Custodial and community rehabilitation of terrorists and extremists is a new frontier in the fight against terrorism. This forward-thinking volume: Highlights the success of a rehabilitation program curriculum in Iraq Encourages individuals and governments to embrace rehabilitation as the next most logical step in fighting terrorism Examines the recent history of threat groups in Iraq Demonstrates where the U.S. went awry in its war effort, and the steps it took to correct the situation Describes religious, vocational training, education, creative expression, and Tanweer programs introduced to the detainee population Provides insight into future steps based on lessons learned from current rehabilitation programs It is essential that we shift the focus from solely detainment and imprisonment to addressing the ideological mindset during prolonged incarceration. It is possible to effect an ideological transformation in detainees that qualifies them to be reclassified as no longer posing a security threat. This volume demonstrates that with the proper program and encouragement, a detainee’s misunderstanding or extremist ideology can be replaced with the principles of moderation, toleration, and coexistence.

The post 9/11 era has produced structured rehabilitation programmes in a wide range of countries including Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt, Iraq, and Uzbekistan. There are also ad hoc and emerging programmes in Nigeria, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, and Nepal. Due to the threat from global Islamist terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS), the focus has tended to be on Islamist groups. However, Sri Lanka also has a multifaceted rehabilitation programme that was created after the ethno-nationalist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group was defeated in 2009, which can teach us some valuable lessons. This book consists of a series of case studies of different terrorist rehabilitation initiatives that have been attempted around the world. Each initiative is critically analysed to develop a sound understanding of the significance of different approaches and strategies of terrorist rehabilitation in helping potential terrorists integrate back into society. Sharing and examining case studies, by both practitioners and scholars, this book provides vital tools to address the challenges faced by practitioners of terrorist rehabilitation programmes.

The contributors to this book analyse the different approaches and modes of terrorist rehabilitation that have been attempted by Malaysia, and other countries in Southeast Asia. With an emphasis on the particular contexts within which they operate, this book examines the factors that determine the relative successes and failure of a wide range of community initiatives in integrating terrorists back into society. These initiatives include using methods based on social psychology, religion, and entrepreneurship to develop a comprehensive approach to rehabilitating and deradicalizing terrorists in Malaysia as well as Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. As such it makes an important contribution to the global policy debate, coloured by the unique characteristics of the South East Asia region. A valuable resource for researchers and policymakers seeking constructive ways to counter violent extremism.

With the rise of religiously motivated violence and terrorism, governments around the world need to develop their religious and ideological capabilities in parallel with strengthening their law enforcement, military and intelligence capabilities. Terrorist Rehabilitation: A New Frontier in Counter-terrorism aims to provide an understanding of the importance of the approach and strategy of terrorist rehabilitation in countering this threat. Comprising of nine chapters, this book provides case study assessments of terrorist rehabilitation practices set against the backdrop of their unique operational and geopolitical milieu in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. This will help the reader to form a foundational understanding of the concept of terrorist rehabilitation by combining the insights, successes and experience of senior government officials and counter-terrorism experts. In addition, the contributors provide discussions on religious concepts that have been manipulated by violent Islamists as a background to understanding religiously or ideologically motivated terrorism and the avenues open for countering it.

Because terrorists are made, not born, it is critically important to world peace that detainees and inmates influenced by violent ideology are deradicalized and rehabilitated back into society. Exploring the challenges in this formidable endeavor, Terrorist Rehabilitation: The U.S. Experience in Iraq demonstrates through the actual experiences of m