UAE main backer of OIC in the fight against terrorism
Thursday 07/March/2019 - 01:40 PM
Mohamed Abdel Ghaffar
The Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is one of the largest Islamic governmental organizations. It includes several countries and different governments and aims to reunite the nation by achieving greater cooperation and coordination among member countries. It is one of the most comprehensive governmental gatherings.
The organization was established after the Rabat summit in 1969 in response to the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It has 57 member states on four continents. It is the second largest governmental organization after the United Nations. The first Islamic conference of foreign ministers was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1970.
The organization works to serve the interests of its members, promotes international harmony among different peoples, works to eliminate racial segregation and coordination between states to preserve the safety of holy sites and create an atmosphere conducive to enhancing cooperation and understanding between member states and other States.
The OIC includes several different institutions that serve their objectives, such as the Islamic Development Bank, the Education, Culture and Science Foundation, the International Commission for the Preservation of Islamic Civilizational Heritage, the Center for Research in Islamic History and Culture, the International Islamic News Agency, and Islamic Fiqh.
At the level of terrorism, the organization adopted the Code of Conduct against Terrorism at the 1994 meeting and the signing of the OIC Convention against International Terrorism in 1998, which came into effect in 1999.
This agreement is important because it was able to develop a comprehensive definition of the concept of terrorism, regardless of all religious, ideological or personal foundations. This is what many organizations, especially the United Nations, have not been able to do.
On the other hand, the agreement was able to link a group of countries that suffer from terrorism. Terrorist cells are active in these countries, so there is a need for a confrontation agreement, especially since these countries are the most affected by terrorism.
The agreement adopted by the OIC on the existence of tripartite cooperation, include one on the security side, another on the judicial side, and a third on the media, among member states.
Security arrangements
These arrangements depend on a number of measures, including ones to prevent the occurrence of terrorist crimes by preventing the financing of terrorist groups, others that prohibit the codification of their activities on the territory of any state and others that seek to detect transfers and arms and ammunitions exports, through the development of surveillance systems and border security.
The agreement signed between member states emphasizes the need for exchanging information and expertise on the activities of terrorist groups and their members, as well as the sources of their funding.
It also underscores the need for rapid exchange of information on any anticipated operation or information that contributes to the capture of terrorist elements and the confidentiality of information exchanged between the parties.
Cooperation depends not only on the information aspect, but also on technical aspects, through the exchange of studies and research among experts in member states, and the provision of technical assistance in the form of joint programs and training courses among members.
Media and education
Judicial cooperation within the counterterrorism agreement of the organization does not only focus on the areas of security and judicial cooperation. It also extends to the media and educational aspects.
This shows a great understanding of the terrorist crisis. Article no. 4 of the OIC Convention on Combating Terrorism stipulates that states should cooperate in promoting information activities to highlight the true image of Islam and to incorporate correct religious concepts within the educational curricula of states.
Many Arab countries have played a prominent role in the establishment and implementation of the convention and the promotion of joint cooperation among Islamic countries in the field of combating terrorism. The UAE is one of the most prominent Arab countries active in this field. The UAE has provided several ideas, projects and contributions in this field.
The most prominent of these was presented by the UAE Parliamentary Division to the Working Group of the Executive Committee of the Union of Member States of the OIC, which came in the form of draft of the Islamic Parliamentary Charter to combat terrorism and extremism in May 2015.
The draft emphasizes the importance of the role of education in disseminating positive ideas about Islam, tolerance and love values urged by the Islamic religion, emphasizing the ethics of this religion, establishing a permanent program of dialogue among the members of the organization, the European Parliament and the Latin American Parliament.
