Experts plot strategy to stymie prison radicalization
After Paris attacks, corrections and counterterror officials meet to consider stopping spread of radical Islam in jails
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Prisons chiefs and justice officials of 47 countries met in Bucharest Wednesday to look at ways to fight radicalization in prisons after the January terror attacks in Paris.
The 20th Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services was held under the theme of “Strategic Challenges for Prison and Probation Services,” according to the conference website.
Prisons face a problem “of the utmost importance,” said Philippe Boillat, human rights and rule of law chief for the European Council, who cited the case of Amedy Coulibaly, the jihadist who killed four Jewish hostages and a police officer in the Paris attacks that earlier this year left a total of 17 dead.
Coulibaly is believed to have been radicalized during a stint in prison.
Boillat warned that “the most dangerous extremists learn to hide their beliefs and intentions.”
Attendees were a medley of justice ministers, prison system administrators and counterterrorism experts.
Among the presenters were Romanian Justice Minister Robert Marius Cazanciuc, Director General of Romanian Prisons Claudiu Cătălin Bejan, Council of Europe counterterrorism coordinator Ivan Koedjikov and Professor Mark Hamm who is researching so-called “lone wolf” attacks.
The Bucharest meeting aimed to draft “guidelines” defining the role of prison services in the fight against radicalization and violent extremism, which will be submitted to the Committee of Ministers in December.
The Times of Israel Community.