Home

Campbell at Workshop on Fighting Terrorism

November 17, 2006


Photo courtesy of the Club of Madrid Foundation Inc.

Berlin, Germany. On November 17th, 2006, the Club de Madrid together with the German Council on Foreign Relations convened a workshop “Fighting Terrorism, Upholding Human Rights” at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell, Secretary General of the Club of Madrid at the time, chaired the sessions and spoke at the press conference.  The high level panel of experts at the workshop discussed how to face the challenge of terrorism without compromising democratic practice and human rights with the aim of producing practical policy recommendations for G8 policy makers.

This was particularly relevant because in January 2007 Germany assumed the presidency of the G8 and the challenges posed by international terrorism were one of its main focuses, along with cooperation in terms of global trade and energy security. Unfortunately, combating terrorism has led to initiatives that have compromised human rights and democratic practice through restrictions on civil liberties and civil society development.

Panelists to the workshop included Former Prime Minister Campbell, Imam Al Sadig Al Mahdi, former Prime Minister of Sudan and Member of the Club of Madrid; Tatyana Lokshina, Demos Center, Russia; Tom Malinowski, Human Rights Watch, United States; moderator Alexander Rahr, Program Director, Koerber-Centre Russia/CIS, German Council on Foreign Relations; and Matthias Sonn, Head, Task Force on International Co-operation on Counterterrorism, German Federal Foreign Office.

The workshop in Berlin was a follow up of the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security convened by the Club of Madrid in March 2005, in commemoration of the terrorist attacks that struck the city of Madrid the year before. More than 1,200 people participated in that gathering, amongst them 200 experts, 17 Heads of State and Government, the Secretary General of the United Nations and many other leaders from international organizations and delegations from more than 70 countries. As a result of the Summit, the Members of the Club of Madrid created the Madrid Agenda, a plan of action to confront terrorism within a framework of democratic values.

Ms. Campbell would go on to continue her involvement in this issue by becoming a founding trustee of the International Center for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence.

← Return to all 2024 Recent Appearances