The Role of Civil Society in the Fight against Terrorism

What role can civil society institutions play in fighting terror? This question was the subject for discussions at a roundtable organized by the Center for Military Studies by Journalists “Doctrine.” 

     According to military expert, Dashdamirov Aliyev, in modern times, the role of NGOs and media in the fight against terror is increasing, because the fight against terrorism requires enlightenment of citizens. This main interest causes international experience and cooperation between state and civil society in the fight against terrorism in the United States.

 Participants discussed the role of ruling regimes in the fight against terror. In democratic countries, the fight against terrorism is not limited to civil rights, where under authoritarian regimes, government uses the slogan, “combating terrorism” to restrict press freedom and expression.

     A point was made, that after the terrorist attack at the Oil Academy in Baku in April 2009, for several hours the media could not obtain official information about what happened. So far, authorities have not provided the public intelligible information about motives, causes, and organizers of the attack.

     In democratic countries, there is a practice of warning the public about possible acts of terrorism. According to Ildrym Mammadov, military expert in Azerbaijan, in such cases, informants are subjected to questioning, where they regret their own initiative.

    According to participants, the government must respect citizens.

    A package of proposals will be prepared and sent to state agencies. Months ago, based on the discussions proposals have been have been developed to improve legislation in this area. –05C06-