OSCE trains border officials on protecting human rights in securing borders from terrorism

Senior border officials taking part in an exercise at the training event on protecting human rights in securing borders from terrorism, organized jointly by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) in Dushanbe, 11 April 2014. (OSCE BMSC/Ilona Kazaryan)

DUSHANBE, 11 April 2014 – Senior border officials from ten OSCE participating States and two Partners for Co-operation completed today a one-week course in Dushanbe on the protection of human rights when countering terrorism at the borders.

The training course, which brought together 22 participants, focused on the need to develop and implement human rights-compliant measures to successfully counter transnational terrorist threats to border security. It was organized jointly by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC).

“The compliance of counter-terrorism measures with international human rights standards and OSCE human dimension commitments is indispensable to successfully combatting and preventing terrorism”, said Enrico Boninsegna, ODIHR Human Rights Officer on Anti-Terrorism Issues. “This course provided participants with practical tools in that regard.”

Henryk Raczkowski, Director at the OSCE Border Management Staff College, said: “Legal and moral standards that every state must meet while tackling security issues were in focus of this joint seminar. Through practical exercises, participants discussed how to ensure the protection of human rights in the anti-terrorism context, considering that human rights are the cornerstone in building sustainable democracy.”

The training course was conducted as part of OSCE assistance to strengthen participating States’ capacities in preventing and combatting terrorism within a framework based on the rule of law and respect of human rights. This was the fourth training session on human rights in counter-terrorism and border security jointly organized since 2010 by ODIHR and the BMSC.