A/HRC/43/46 I. Introduction 1. Preventing and countering violent extremism has become a central and defining dimension of contemporary global counter-terrorism policy and practice. The most recent comprehensive examination of the human rights impact of preventing and countering violent extremism policies and practices on the promotion and protection of human rights was conducted in 2015.1 The present report is prompted by the acceleration, deepening and scale of programming aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism globally and the measurable effects on human rights protection, enforcement and the promotion of such programming at the national, regional and global levels. An Internet search for “preventing and countering violent extremism” provides 8.2 million results. The global expansion and breadth of increasingly standardized policies and programmes aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism 2 has become evident to the current mandate holder in her substantive and country-specific work. The present report is timely and necessary, in the light of new and emerging practices and trends, as well as of the centralizing role of international and regional organizations in the conceptualization, creation and delivery of such policies and programmes. 2. Preventing and countering violent extremism is found at the root of extensive highlevel legal and policy decisions and practices, and the language thereof is pervasive in political, policy and legal settings. Preventing and countering violent extremism as a discourse and the related set of normative standards are ubiquitous in the counter-terrorism and human rights fields. Measures to prevent and counter violent extremism have significant effects on human rights and the rule of law, as well as on the perceived neutrality and evenhandedness of, and the equal treatment afforded by, States and international organizations to individuals, groups and communities. The Special Rapporteur underscores that the target population of the prevention and countering of violent extremism is by nature much broader than that of counter-terrorism measures, which creates a compelling need for States and national and international policymakers to apply a fine-grained human rights and rule of law analysis to the domain. It is also incumbent upon human rights-focused entities and organizations to better understand the impact and effects of the prevention and countering of violent extremism, to take note when States and international organizations substantially shape their policies around the new vocabulary, to ensure the adherence to due diligence obligations in their application and to avoid their being co-opted by security-driven policies aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism that undermine and diminish human rights protections. 3. The analysis of the Special Rapporteur reaffirms the indisputable global challenges posed by violent extremism. As made clear in the report of the Secretary-General on his Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism, 3 there are significant threats that deserve our attention and require national, regional and global responses. 4From the emboldened marches and violence of neo-Nazi supporters to the fanatical, brutal violence of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), violent extremist ideology is pervasive across the globe. 4. It is also clear however that, as with any complex matter that engages the production of collective and individual violence, the diagnosis may be simpler than the cure. Preventing and countering violent extremism as a motif, a discourse and a set of policies and interventions does not emerge in a neutral universe. It arrives after almost two decades of post-11 September 2001 counter-terrorism regulation, into a well-defined global counterterrorism architecture that has entrenched and consolidated since then. The global promulgation of counter-terrorism norms, of which the prevention and countering of violent extremism is a part, should be understood as precisely that: a global and internationalized 1 2 3 4 2 A/HRC/31/65. Some countries use only the term preventing violent extremism, while in others countering violent extremism also encompasses preventing violent extremism. The Special Rapporteur will refer to preventing and countering violent extremism. A/70/674. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Journey to extremism in Africa: drivers, incentives and the tipping point for recruitment”, 2017.