A/HRC/33/28 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 30/15, decided to convene a panel at its thirty-first session to discuss the human rights dimensions of preventing and countering violent extremism. The panel discussion was held on 17 March 2016. 2. The panel discussion was chaired by the President of the Human Rights Council and included four panellists: (a) Nazila Ghanea serves on the Board of Trustees of the Universal Rights Group and is a member of the Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Associate Professor in International Human Rights Law and Fellow of Kellogg College at the University of Oxford; (b) Gastón Garatea, Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, formerly held the position of Chair of the National Bureau for the Fight against Poverty in Peru and is a former member of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission; (c) Mehreen Farooq, Senior Fellow with the World Organization for Resource Development and Education, leads research projects that explore the capacity of local civil society organizations to promote peace and counter violent extremism and helps policymakers and communities to support programmes that build resilience against violent extremism; (d) Ahmed Abbadi is Secretary-General of the Moroccan League of Mohammedan Scholars, Professor at Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakesh, where he teaches comparative history of religions and Islamic thought, and has served as Director of Islamic Affairs at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of Morocco. 3. Following the introductory statement by the Secretary-General, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights delivered the opening statement. The panel discussion was moderated by the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Beatriz Londoño Soto. After an initial round of contributions by the panellists, 31 States (some on behalf of a group of countries), two intergovernmental organizations and seven non-governmental organizations (on behalf of a total of 18 non-governmental organizations) contributed to the interactive discussion. 4. In its resolution 30/15, the Human Rights Council requested that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights prepare a report on the panel discussion in the form of a summary. The present report was prepared pursuant to that request. II. Opening statements A. Statement by the Secretary-General 5. In his video message, the Secretary-General welcomed the discussion on the human rights dimensions of preventing and countering violent extremism. He emphasized that human rights abuses by violent extremists constitute direct assaults on the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Secretary-General 2