The Red Velvet Lawyer

Exploring and Countering the Linkages between Organized Crime and Terrorism The United Nations' Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is organizing, with Qatar University College of Law, a conference in Doha over the next two days.  The conference is entitled: Exploring and Countering the Linkages between Organized Crime and Terrorism.   Panels will explore the following topics: Background on the fight against organized crime and terrorism from the UN perspective and presentation of the E4J teaching modules for tertiary education. Literature review and educational issue paper. Nexus between transnational organized crime and terrorism initiative. Preventing terrorist activities in charitable organizations. Identifying linkages. Regional frameworks. Regional linkages - Africa. Regional linkages - Asia and Europe Regional linkages - Middle East Wrap-up with recommendations.

The Dean of the Qatar University College of Law Provides a Perspective On April 16, 2018, Dr. Mohammed A Al-Khulaifi, Dean of the QU College of Law, wrote an op-ed piece for the Qatar Tribune, one of the English-language papers published in Qatar.   Entitled Terror Financing: A Crime that Requires Global Responses, Dr. Al-Khulaifi argued that regulating terror financing required a two-front approach: (1) supervising charitable contributions, and (2) preventing financial crimes or other illegal economic activities. He posed two questions: (1) What are the international standards that are designed to prevent and combat financing terrorism?, and (2) How does the State of Qatar comply with these standards? He then outlines the international framework for combating terrorism financing, including the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism (1937); the Convention on Offenses and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft (1963); the Interna...

Let the Experts Speak on this Topic From the beginning of the siege of Qatar, the blockading countries -- Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain, and Egypt -- anchored their narrative about Qatar in a way that arguably would trigger the passions of a Western audience. Qatar, they asserted, financed terrorists, sheltered terrorist leaders, and supported Islamic radical movements throughout the region.  Qatar, on the other hand, consistently denied these claims.  It also publicly condemned 2017-18 terrorist attacks in Qatif, Pakistan, Egypt, Manchester, Tehran, London, Bahrain, Somalia, Barcelona, Jeddah, Peshawar, Kabul, and Benghazi. I am in the process of writing three articles about the siege of Qatar.  I spent the week-end closely examining these allegations.  I have found two reports worth reviewing:  Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, U.S. Dept. of State (July 2017), available at https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/272488...