In recent years, the Sahel region has experienced a surge of violent terrorist attacks. In the case of Mali, there is an increasing presence of terrorist groups in the country which has underscored the need to enhance the use of special investigative techniques (SITs) in terrorism investigations, while ensuring respect for human rights.
SITs are techniques applied by competent authorities in the context of criminal investigations for the purpose of detecting and investigating serious crimes and suspects. Although the use of SITs is not required under international standards, these techniques have been recognized as a possible component of an effective strategy against serious crimes, including acts of terrorism.
To contribute to the use of SITs by criminal justice actors in Mali, UNODC’s Terrorism Prevention Branch launched a new project in March 2022 on “Improving the criminal justice response to terrorism by enhancing the technical capacity of the Specialized Judicial Pole and the Specialized Investigation Brigade to effectively investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate terrorism-related crimes.” This new project, financed by the Government of Italy, strengthens the capacity of Malian criminal justice officers to investigate and prosecute terrorism-related cases.
In the framework of this project, a national workshop was organized in Bamako on the use of SITs during counter-terrorism investigations, in accordance with human rights and the rule of law on 8-10 March. The event included participants from the Specialized Judicial Pole and the Investigation Brigade, as well as judicial police officers and gendarmes, who shared their practices and experiences on SITs. The experts and participants highlighted the importance of ensuring the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, and non-discrimination, as well as human rights, in implementing SITs.
During the activity, the interactive discussions on international and regional legal framework of SITs, as well as on the current Malian reform of the Criminal Procedure Code, led to the identification of further technical assistance needs. In particular, the participants noted the positive impact of enhancing the national legal framework to ensure the effective judicialization of information obtained during the investigation phase.