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Implementation of a Human Rights-Based Approach to Border Management in the Fight against Terrorism: Challenges vs Opportunities

About This Webinar

In collaboration with United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism Border Security & Management

Comprehensive and integrated border management strategies are paramount for the effective and timely identification of suspected or known terrorists and foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), members of transnational criminal organizations, and other serious criminals attempting to cross international borders. The issue has been reiterated by the General Assembly during the Seventh Review of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/75/291), with renewed concerns over the continued threat posed by FTFs and the importance of international and regional cooperation to prevent terrorist movement.

Recognizing the nexus between organized crime and terrorism is also key for effectively countering and preventing terrorist activity and movement. In resolution 2482 (2019), the UN Security Council called upon Member States to “better understand the nature and scope of the linkages that may exist between terrorism and organized crime”, including trafficking in persons, acts of sexual and gender-based violence, money laundering, trafficking of dual-use materials and the illicit trade in natural resources.

While enhanced and coordinated border controls are at the core of preventing and countering terrorism, all counter-terrorism measures, including at borders, must be compliant with human rights law, humanitarian law, and refugee law. As recently highlighted by the UN General Assembly, “respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law are complementary and mutually reinforcing with effective counter-terrorism measures and are an essential part of a successful counter-terrorism effort”

This webinar series aims to explore the various ways in which border practices, in particular within the counter-terrorism context, can impact the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms of people on the move, and the importance and advantages coming from incorporating rights-based and gender-responsive approaches to all areas of preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism.

While the first webinar will focus on general human rights implications of border management in the context of counter-terrorism, and a discussion of key considerations regarding the protection of human rights at international borders in the context of counter-terrorism.

It will explore the potential impacts of border security and management practices on the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals crossing borders and address the ways in which border officials can be better equipped to apply a rights-based approach to their daily interaction with individuals crossing borders. The importance of integrated border management strategies will also be addressed during the discussions, as well as the role of border communities in supporting the development of human rights-based and gender-responsive screening practices and border strategies.

Who can view: Everyone
Webinar Price: Free
Featured Presenters
Webinar hosting presenter
Editor Border Security Report / World Security Report
Editor of World Security Report, Border Security Report and Director of the World Border Security Congress
Webinar hosting presenter
Associate Human Rights Officer on Anti-Terrorism Issues, ODIHR
Mona Koehler-Schindler currently works as Associate Human Rights Officer on Anti-Terrorism Issues at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Prior to joining ODIHR, she served as a member of NATO’s International Staff in Afghanistan and Belgium. From 2017 to 2019, she worked as Political Advisor to the NATO Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan, providing political assessments and supporting civil-military cooperation in the country. Before that she served in different capacities at NATO HQ in Brussels, including in the Counter-Terrorism Section, the Science for Peace and Security Programme and the Strategic Analysis Capability Centre. Previously, she worked amongst others for the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) in the Police Programme Africa (components Cameroon and Chad) focusing on security sector reform in the counter-terrorism context. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Aberdeen and is currently enrolled in an Executive Master on the International Law of Armed Conflict at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the Graduate Institute Geneva.
Webinar hosting presenter
Senior Border Management Advisor, DCAF – Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance
Irving is a licensed attorney in Mexican law, specialized in North American Law, Public International Law, International Criminal Law, and National Security. In addition, Irving has extensive experience in international negotiations and began his training in the Program on Negotiations at Harvard Law School, and subsequently at other highly respected academic institutions. Irving holds an LL.M. (Master of Laws) in International Legal Studies at American University Washington College of Law. Currently, he is a Doctoral Candidate of Juridical Science (SJD) with a concentration in International Law of Armed Conflict and National Security Law, also at American University.

Irving has 15 years of experience in international affairs. He previously served as the Director General of INTERPOL Mexico, the youngest individual to have ever served in this post. For the past three years, he served as the International Legal Expert and Judicial Cooperation Expert for the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Central and West Africa (22 countries). Currently he serves as Senior Border Management Adviser for DCAF- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance office in Banjul, The Gambia

Irving has received numerous professional recognitions and distinctions by US federal and state law enforcement agencies. As a Legal Attaché in El Paso, Texas, he oversaw the processing of international extraditions, coordination of bilateral programs at the border for the prosecution of criminals, requests for mutual legal assistance, and counterterrorism efforts. As the Head of Protection and Legal Affairs (advocate) for the Consulate General of Mexico in Atlanta, Georgia, Irving was responsible for immigration and criminal matters and advocated for Mexican national defendants in death penalty cases in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.
Webinar hosting presenter
Head Border Security and Management Unit, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT)
Rocco Messina is currently heading the Border Security and Management Unit at the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) within the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). In this tenure, he is managing a multi-year global programme mandated to support the inclusion of the counter-terrorism elements in the UN Member States' border security strategies through technical assistance and capacity-building activities.

Prior to this appointment, from 2011 to 2017, Mr. Messina served as Head of the Border Management Section at the United Nations Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) implementing a capacity-building portfolio to design a comprehensive on Haitian national border national policy. His leadership and matter expertise were instrumental to the creation of the Haitian Technical Border Commission, the Customs Police, as well as a specialized branch of the Haitian National Police in charge of securing the land borders. Mr. Messina started his professional career in 1990 after a two-year military police academy training with the Counter-terrorism branch of the Italian Guardia di Finanza (Italian Military Police).

During his 25-year long career, he was deployed to several field missions, at both national and international levels, focusing mainly on counter-terrorism and border security matters. He was bestowed with several national and international medals and awards for the successful completion of his high-risk duties. Between September 2006 and May 2007, Mr. Messina was deployed in Herat Afghanistan with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Mission as Training Programme Officer, where he developed a training programme for the Afghan Border Police.

Mr.Messina holds a master’s degree in literature and a degree in international law and he speaks fluently English, Spanish and French.
Webinar hosting presenter
Programme Management Officer, Border Security and Management Unit, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre
Flavia Saldanha Kroetz is a Programme Officer with the Border Security and Management Unit of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) within the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). She is a lawyer specialized in criminal justice and human rights, with over 12 years of experience working at various national and international organizations, including the International Criminal Court, the Federal Court of Justice in Brazil and the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Most recently, she led the implementation of a UN Programme on prison reform and incarceration in Brazil.

Flavia holds a Masters in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford. She completed her Law Degree and was admitted to practice law in Brazil, where she also obtained a Master’s Degree in International Relations and an LLM in Constitutional Law.

Webinar hosting presenter
Senior Immigration and Visas Specialist, Head of Unit, IBM - IOM
As of early 2022, Ms. Kristiina Lilleorg is the Senior Immigration and Visas Specialist, Head of Unit, IBM HQ. She previously held the role of Senior Regional Immigration and Border Management Thematic Specialist with IOM’s Regional Office for North Africa and the Middle East since 2020. Before joining the Cairo office, she worked as Regional Immigration and Border Management Thematic Specialist with IOM Regional Office in Brussels (2016-2020). From 2013 – 2016 she worked as a regional migration management specialist in Abuja, Nigeria, on ECOWAS free movement protocols implementation. She went there from Kabul, Afghanistan, where she worked as Immigration and Border Management Programme Manager and Project Development Officer for IOM Afghanistan from 2010 through 2013. Kristiina joined IOM in 2008 in its Headquarters in Geneva. Before joining IOM, Kristiina worked as a migration specialist with the Estonian Citizenship and Migration Board, and NGOs for IDPs in Russia and Serbia. Kristiina holds an MA in Political Science from Moscow State University for International Relations and speaks English, French, and Russian, with Estonian her mother tongue.
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