The Secretary-General’s new report contains observations on current and emerging trends and recommendations for action.
An increase in terrorist attacks described as motivated by “far-right” or “extreme right-wing” ideology is a growing concern and transnational threat, the Secretary-General stated in a new report.
Some Member States are considering this new and emerging form of terrorism to be the fastest growing or even most prominent domestic security threat they face, he stated in the report “Terrorist attacks on the basis of xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief” (A/77/266).
The report contained observations and recommendations for action. Noting an increase in the frequency and lethality of such attacks, including the mass killings in Utøya, Norway, in July 2011 and attacks against two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019, the report observed that one example of research has indicated a 320 per cent rise in attacks conducted by individuals affiliated with “right-wing terrorism” between 2014 to 2018, mostly in Western States.
While Member States have also foiled a number of such plots, the report highlighted a noticeable increase in the United Nations and Member States acknowledging the growing threat. Although many such attacks are carried out by individuals, designation of groups as terrorist entities by Governments has grown since 2019, as they have improved their awareness of these groups’ activities, most notably in Western and Eastern Europe, North America and Oceania, the Secretary-General said in the report.
Stakeholders have also increasingly identified the rise in this new form of terrorism, including in General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, reviews of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities, including the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
Moreover, the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech has recognized the growth in xenophobia, racism, intolerance, violent misogyny, antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred globally. In a same vein, civil society, academia, think tanks and other non-governmental stakeholders have been similarly seized of the phenomenon.
Read the full report here.