A/HRC/45/27 hinges on scant evidence to prove membership of or association with a terrorist group. For example, in Nigeria, mere membership of a terrorist group is criminalized without further specification as to the scope of the notion of “membership”.21 Similarly, in court hearings of cases tried under the terrorism law and attended by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), judges generally did not determine any specific terrorist act and required simple proof of broadly interpreted “membership” of or “association” with a terrorist group for conviction of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant defendants, often without any assessment of the evidence on which they relied.22 19. In September 2014, the Security Council adopted resolution 2178 (2014) to counter the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters. In December 2017, it adopted resolution 2396 (2017), building on resolution 2178 (2014) and providing greater focus on measures to address returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters and their families, and requiring States to strengthen their efforts in border security, information-sharing and criminal justice. In response, many States enacted new legislation, or toughened pre-existing counter-terrorism legislation, 23 with some definitional variations that criminalized membership of or association with a terrorist group.24 Those provisions have a direct impact on prosecutorial strategies, as discussed below. 20. Another concern relating to the expansion of counter-terrorism legislation is that children are being subjected to laws and procedures that were designed to apply to adults. Broad counter-terrorism legislation often fails to appropriately distinguish between children and adults, thereby undermining the special status of children and the safeguards they should enjoy under international juvenile justice standards.25 The global study on children deprived of liberty, published in 2019, found that States increasingly invoke national security grounds against children, undermining established child rights standards, including the use of detention only as a measure of last resort and the obligation to provide rehabilitation and reintegration assistance for children illegally recruited by armed groups designated as terrorist or violent extremist.26 2. Due process and fair trial guarantees 21. Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which both aim at ensuring the proper administration of justice, guarantee a series of specific rights in judicial proceedings, 27 including those of a criminal nature. States should ensure that all guarantees of due process are respected when arresting, charging and prosecuting a suspect of terrorism-related offences. The General Assembly has stressed the importance of developing and maintaining effective criminal justice systems,28 and has urged States to ensure due process guarantees as enshrined in international human rights law and international humanitarian law, as applicable, while countering terrorism.29 22. The United Nations human rights bodies have recorded a number of due process concerns during the different phases of criminal proceedings initiated against those 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 6 UNU and Institute for Integrated Transitions, The Limits of Punishment, p. 102. UNAMI and OHCHR, “Human rights in the administration of justice in Iraq: trials under the antiterrorism laws and implications for justice, accountability and social cohesion in the aftermath of ISIL” (Baghdad, January 2020), p. 15. Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017: Events of 2016 (2017), pp. 27–38; A/HRC/40/52, para. 3; A/73/361, para. 43; and A/HRC/28/28, paras. 21, 26 and 49–50. Anthony Dworkin, “Beyond good and evil: why Europe should bring ISIS foreign fighters home”, European Council on Foreign Relations, policy brief, October 2019, p. 7. For example, A/HRC/39/72, para. 56; CAT/C/NER/CO/1, paras. 29–30; and Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 24 (2019) on children’s rights in the child justice system, paras. 97–101. A/74/136, paras. 73–78. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 32 (2007) on the right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial, para. 2. General Assembly resolution 73/174, para. 9. General Assembly resolution 72/180, para. 5 (s).