A/HRC/33/29 Special Rapporteur has joined others19 in warning against overemphasizing religious ideology as the driver of terrorism and violent extremism at the expense of considering other potential political, social or economic factors.20 III. Domestic law and policy developments in the area of preventing and countering violent extremism 16. As documented in contributions received for the present report, recent events in the international and domestic arena, including the need to stem the flow of foreign fighters and acts of home-grown terrorism and violent extremism, or fear of such acts, have led many States to adopt legislation and policies aimed at dealing with the challenge of violent extremism. 17. Laws, policies and measures adopted refer to “violent extremism” and related notions, such as “extremism” and “radicalization”. Violent extremism has been described as the “use or support of violence”;21 the “willingness” to use violence;22 committing, advocating or encouraging acts of violence;23 and “promoting views which foment and incite violence in furtherance of particular beliefs, and foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence”.24 Violent extremism is generally conceived as being aimed at achieving political, ideological or religious goals,25 or as the means employed by groups that reject democracy, human rights and the rule of law.26 Some definitions explicitly note that radical views are by no means a problem in themselves, but that they become a threat to national security when such views are put into violent action.27 In other cases, definitions employed do not make fully clear whether “violent extremism” presupposes violent action or inciting violent action, or whether lesser forms of conduct that do not normally trigger criminal law sanctions would also be included. 18. Some domestic laws and policies address the phenomenon of “extremism” without qualifying it as “violent”. They define “extremism” as “vocal or active opposition” to the values of the respective country or society, including “democracy, the rule of law, 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 See www.e-ir.info/2014/11/20/interview-marc-sageman; Kundnani, “A decade lost”, pp. 10-11 and 22-25; “Scott Atran on youth, violent extremism and promoting peace”, available from http://blogs.plos.org; and Matthew Weaver, “Cameron’s anti-terror strategy is ‘barking up wrong tree’, says expert”, The Guardian (20 July 2015). See also A/HRC/28/66, paras. 19 and 22-38. See Mark Sedgwick, “The concept of radicalization as a source of confusion” in Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 22, No. 4 (2010), pp. 480-481. Government of Australia, Attorney-General’s Department, “Countering Violent Extremism”, available from https://www.ag.gov.au/NationalSecurity/Counteringviolentextremism/ Pages/default.aspx. Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Action Plan against Radicalization and Violent Extremism, available from https://www.counterextremism.org/resources/details/id/679/ action-plan-against-radicalisation-and-violent-extremism. Swiss Federal Council, Ordonnance sur le Service de renseignement de la Confédération. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Development Assistance Committee highlevel meeting, communiqué of 19 February 2016. Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Action Plan against Radicalization and Violent Extremism. See also Government offices of Sweden, Action Plan to Safeguard Democracy against Violence-Promoting Extremism. Swiss Federal Council, Ordonnance sur le Service de renseignements de la Confédération. Government of Canada, “Violent extremism”, available from https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/cntrng-vlnt-xtrmsm/vlnt-xtrmnsm-eng.aspx. 7