Annex M Voluntary Briefing by Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT)
ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM INTER-SESSIONAL SUPPORT GROUP MEETING ON CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES (ISG ON CBMS) PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA, 26-28 OCTOBER 2004 Voluntary Briefing by Southeast Asia Regional Centre For Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT) Background Southeast Asia has always been a peaceful region for many years and also a region for social-economic success. However, since September 11 no region in the world is spared from terrorists' threat. Southeast Asia cannot allow terrorist to disrupt its growth and prosperity. It needs to maintain its peace and stability as to ensure a continuous growing foreign investment environment and a vibrant economy. In order to remain as a region of peace and stability, there is a need for South-East Asia's solidarity and united response to combat terrorism. Hence, in November 2002, Malaysia decided to establish the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT), Kuala Lumpur. Vision 2. Towards becoming a world class counter-terrorism institution and centre of excellence specialized in the areas of capacity building and public awareness. Mission Statement 3. The Centre aims to achieve its vision based on the following Mission Statement: 3.1. To develop highly capable and vigilant security and enforcement agencies through quality capacity building and training programmes; 3.2. To be actively involved in promoting public awareness and education on the issue of terrorism; 3.3. To establish itself as a renowned centre of reference on the issue of terrorism through active research efforts and cooperation with other intelligence agencies; 3.4. To provide reliable advise and assisting the Government in formulating policies related to terrorism; and 3.5. To facilitate mutual cooperation and understanding between local agencies with other international and regional establishments in the field of counter-terrorism.
Objectives and Strategy 4. SEARCCT will primarily focus on training and capacity building. This is to enhance the capability and also public awareness towards countering the threat of terrorism. Therefore it would continuously organize courses, seminars and other related activities to train and upgrade the capabilities of the agencies and participants, both from Malaysia as well as other interested countries. 5. The Centre is currently focusing its activities in three aspects, namely: 5.1. Efforts in Capacity-Building (through programmes organized for law enforcement agencies to upgrade their knowledge and skill in counterterrorism measures, as well as establishing networks for further cooperation); 5.2. Creating Public Awareness (by addressing the issue of terrorism among target groups such as NGOs, Universities and the public in general); and 5.3. Establishing a Website and Database (for publication and information gathering purposes on the subject of terrorism, terrorist organizations, etc.). Establishment and Cooperation 6. The establishment of SEARCCT has received endorsement from the 36 th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 16-17 June 2003. Since its launched on 1 st July 2003, SEARCCT has been operating at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia in Putrajaya. It is now relocated at its permanent address in Kuala Lumpur since 13 May 2004. The Centre is headed by a Director General and has a total staffing of 37. 7. The Centre shall be fully borne by the Government of Malaysia. However, other interested parties could provide assistance in terms of organizing courses, funding of participants, providing expertise and other related expenses. At this juncture, SEARCCT has received positive response from United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Italy, Australia, France, Spain, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, and European Commission (EC). Activities of SEARCCT 8. SEARCCT is not involved in operations nor serves as an intelligence agency. In this respect, SEARCCT is a centre for training in prevention of terrorist activities and management of post-terrorism situations. These include, among others, anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing, border control/security, documentation training of government officials and maintaining database of terrorist activities. Activities conducted or participated by SEARCCT in 2003/2004 were: i. ASEAN Anti-Money Laundering Workshop, 28-30 July 2003 in Kuala Lumpur hosted by the Central Bank of Malaysia as part of the ASEAN Plan
of Action to Combat Transnational Crime. Participants from the ASEAN + 3 (China, Japan & South Korea) countries and Observers from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka had attended this Workshop; ii. Basic Analysis and Suspicious Transaction Reporting Workshop, 25-29 August 2003, Kuala Lumpur in collaboration with the Central Bank of Malaysia and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury Department, USA with 60 participants from ASEAN countries, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Macau and Timor-Leste. Presenters include from USA, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, The Netherlands and Hong Kong; Mi. Seminar on Counter-Terrorism, 8-10 October 2003 in Langkawi, Malaysia in collaboration with Australian Secret Intelligence Services (ASIS); iv. Course on 'Interdicting Terrorist Organizations', 15-26 March 2004, jointly organized with the United States of America. The Course was held at the S enior Police O fficers' C ollege, R oyal Malaysia Police K uala L umpur, Cheras, and Selangor. Thirty-two (32) participants from the ASEAN countries attended the Course. Instructors for the Course came from USA; v. Course on 'Financial Underpinnings of Terrorism in Southeast- Asia', 19-22 April 2004, Kuala Lumpur, in collaboration with the Department of Justice, United States of America. vi. Seminar on "All Hazards Response", 1-3 June 2004 in Kuala Lumpur in collaboration with the United States of America; vii. Seminar on "Prevention and Crisis Management on Chemical Terrorism" in collaboration with Japan in Kuala Lumpur, 5-9 July 2004; viii. Course on "Interdicting Terrorist Organizations" in collaboration with the United States of America in Kuala Lumpur, 19-30 July 2004. ix. Advance Document Examination Training Course in collaboration with Australia, 23-26 August 2004; x. Conference on "Bringing Terrorists to Justice in Southeast Asia: Law Enforcement Experience in Fighting Terrorism" with US Government in Kuala Lumpur, 26-28 September 2004; xi. Seminar on "Maritime Safety" with South Korea in Kuala Lumpur, 6-9 October 2004; xii. Seminar on Chemical / Biological / Radiological / Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorism in collaboration with the United Kingdom in Kuala Lumpur, 11-14 October 2004;
Future Activities in 2004 i. Commonwealth Workshop on Capacity Building in Combating Terrorism in Kuala Lumpur in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 22-26 November 2004; ii. Fraudulent Document Detective Course (Document Security) Border Integrity for customs and immigration officials/police in collaboration with Canada, 29 November-3 December 2004; iii. Training course on Cyber/Bio/Chemical Terrorism in collaboration with Japan and South Korea, 4-9 December 2004; Other Future Activities i. Training on Border Management and Anti-Money Laundering / Terrorist Financing in collaboration with the European Commission; ii. iii. Training Course on Aviation Security in collaboration with the United Kingdom; and Financial and Terrorist Financing Seminar in collaboration with Germany. Other Activities 9. SEARCCT is actively engaged with other governments on the possibility of cooperation in various fields to enhance the fight against terrorism. SEARCCT welcomes cooperation from interested countries in any counter-terroism related issues. In fact, we have taken the opportunity to organize a talk and lectures by visiting professionals to Malaysia, for example: i. On 23 rd June 2004, Admiral Thomas Fargo, Commander of the US Pacific Command had delivered a lecture at SEARCCT; and ii. On 3 rd November 2004, a lecture will be given by Prof. Vlatko Cvrtila with the cooperation of the Republic of Croatia. Conclusion 10. As a newly established centre, SEARCCT is looking forward to continuous cooperation and support from member countries in conducting our activities, particularly in participating in our courses and seminars. With the continued efforts and strong commitment from everyone, we hope that the threats of terrorism could be kept at bay at the minimum.