Violence and Security

UN Body Criticizes Philippines Terror List

May 22, 2018

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has published a decision calling on the Philippines government to remove all indigenous peoples and "human rights defenders" from a list of individuals associated with "terrorist organizations," asserting the list seeks "to narrow the democratic space" and violates international law regarding racial discrimination.
Twitter Takes Action Against Perceived "Trolls"

May 22, 2018

The BBC reports that social media giant Twitter has announced it is making the tweets of so-called "trolls," identified through account registration activity and tweeting patterns, less visible to users, as their comments are "disruptive" and "distort and detract from the public conversation."
Al-Qaeda Pushes Back Against Saudi Reform Effort

May 21, 2018

Al-Qaeda leadership is working actively to undermine the modernization efforts of the current leadership of Saudi Arabia as part of the Islamist power struggle of the al-Qaeda-led salafist-jihadi networks against the Wahhabi House of Saud.
Cyber-Jihadists Intensify Activism in Run-up to Indonesian Election

May 21, 2018

Cyber-jihadists associated with two Islamist groups, Saracen and Muslim Cyber Army, are using Facebook and other social media platforms to target and "destroy the religious blasphemers and the government" in the lead-up to regional and national elections in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
China Uses "Home Stays" with Officials to Monitor Muslims

May 18, 2018

CNN reports that the Chinese government is using a program of political indoctrination, local surveillance, and forced ethnic assimilation to address concerns about the radicalization of the country's sizable Uighur Muslim population concentrated in western China, sending over a million ethnic Han Chinese Communist officials to live with suspected radicals in forced "home stays."
Saudi Arabia Receives Guantanamo Prisoner in Rehab Center

May 18, 2018

The US Defense Department has confirmed its transfer of a convicted al-Qaeda operative from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia for participation in a rehabilitation program aimed at deradicalization and social reintegration of Islamist extremists, marking the first detainee transferred under the Trump Administration.
Al-Qaeda Received US Arms Intended to Combat IS in Syria

May 18, 2018

According to recent reports by Syrian rebels, al-Qaeda operatives received US military equipment, including weapons, ammunition, and vehicles, transferred to Turkey under the Obama Administration's "train-and-equip" program intended to build moderate Syrian rebel capacity to combat Islamic State (IS) forces in Syria.
US Terrorist Designation Signals Expanding Footprint of IS Franchises

May 18, 2018

The US State Department's designation of a new terrorist group, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, underscores the internationalization of Islamic State (IS) franchises from the Islamist terror group's original footprint in the Mideast to Africa and other parts of the world.
Cleric Calls for Jihad over US Embassy Move to Jerusalem

May 18, 2018

In response to the completion of the US's embassy move in Israel to Jerusalem, a senior Sunni cleric in Lebanon issued a call for jihad by all Muslims as a holy war to defend Palestinians.
IS Attacks Worsen Indonesia's Security Environment

May 18, 2018

The security environment in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, continued to worsen with the latest in a spate of terrorist attacks by supporters of the local Islamic State (IS) affiliate, as four men with swords produced one fatality in a staged assault on police headquarters in Sumatra.