"Women are the demographic group w/the lowest overall rate of return from the conflict zone in #Iraq & the #Syria|n Arab Republic" in part due to reluctance of countries to repatriate them, per new brief by @UN_CTED on #ISIS
.@UN_CTED analytical brief "identifies an urgent need to develop more gender-sensitive criminal justice responses, as well as alternative approaches to rehabilitation & reintegration outside the criminal justice system" in order to bring back more women from #ISIS in #Iraq#Syria
"Some States routinely investigate all returnees, regardless of gender; some do so on a case-by-case basis; and some do not investigate women, based on the assumptions that they are “victims”" per @UN_CTED brief
Getting evidence vs #ISIS women a challenge, per @UN_CTED
"While women are often active as online propagandists & recruiters, their involvement in other types of activities, including violence, was less prominently documented online because of #ISIL’s restrictive gender norms"
Some #ISIS women are being tried now for war crimes, such as "outrages upon personal dignity (inhumane and degrading treatment of persons); child recruitment into an armed group; and the killing of a protected person under international humanitarian law" per @UN_CTED
"Several [#ISIS] women,but no men,have been charged w/the war crime of pillage...for living w/their families in houses previously captured&subsequently allocated to them by #ISIL" per @UN_CTED - raises q's re "extent to which a woman’s association w/ISIL was voluntary or coerced"
#ISIS women also being chrged w/"parental abduction of minors & neglect of the duty of care & education towards their children" per @UN_CTED, which notes "The practice of bringing charges relating to parental roles against mothers, but not fathers, reflects a clear gender bias"
"Initial research suggested that in Western Europe (& North America) women returnees tended to receive more lenient sentences compared to men" per @UN_CTED, citing "gender stereotypes relating to the notion of female victimhood"
"The tendency to view women as passive followers of their husbands continues to prevail &, together with evidentiary challenges, contributes to low rates of conviction and/or shorter or suspended sentences" for #ISIS women, per @UN_CTED brief
Not all #ISIS women treated w/leniency- "There is evidence of women receiving disproportionately harsh sentences compared to men, including life sentences or the death penalty for mere “association”’ with #ISIL fighters" per @UN_CTED
.@UN_CTED warns of future threat from #ISIS women returnees
"Access to rehabilitation and reintegration programs has consequently been limited" per brief "...undermining women’s successful reintegration into society and putting them at potentially greater risk of recidivism"
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HAPPENING NOW - US intelligence chiefs testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee:
@ODNIgov Dir Avril Haines
@CIA Dir William Burns
@FBI Dir Christoper Wray
@NSAGov Dir Gen Timothy Haugh
@DefenseIntel Dir LtGen Jeffrey Krause
@StateDept Asst Sec for Intel Brett Holmgren
Noting that the current era is as challenging as ever, with a wide variety of threats, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair @MarkWarner calls for "redefining what we think of" when it comes to national security
@MarkWarner "We are no even seeing the possibility of foreign adversaries weaponizing space" in ways that could be detrimental to US way of life, per @MarkWarner
NEW: @FBI joins White House, Senate intelligence committee chair in sounding alarm about foreign interference in #Election2024
"This election cycle, the US will face more adversaries, moving at a faster pace & enabled by new technology
per Dir Christopher Wray at @INSAlliance
#ArtificialIntelligence advances "lowering the barrier to entry-making it easier for both more & less-sophisticated foreign adversaries to engage in malign influence" per @FBI's Wray
"Making foreign influence efforts by players old and&new more realistic & difficult to detect"
@FBI Where are US adversaries focused?
“The attack surface for the bad guys is the private sector” per @FBI's Wray "The intelligence that we need is in the hands of the private sector, often”
NEW: US worried about #Russia seeking to interfere in #Election2024
"Of course there are concerns" White House Nat'l Security Adviser @JakeSullivan46 tells @MeetThePress
"There's plenty of reason to be concerned" per @JakeSullivan46
"There is a history here in presidential elections by the #Russia|n Federation, by its intelligence services" he says
"We are going to be vigilant"
Concerns about #Russia|n interference in #Election2024 "not about politics" per @JakeSullivan46
"This is about national security. It is about a foreign country, a foreign adversary seeking to manipulate the politics & democracy of the United States of America."
NEW: US confirms #Houthis using "various #Iran|ian-origin missiles & unmanned aerial vehicles" in their attacks on shipping in the #RedSea #GulfofAden
Conclusion based on new analysis by @DefenseIntel
The assessment is based on information current as January 2024 - including a "comparative analysis of publicly available images of #Iran|ian missiles & UAVs to those displayed & employed by #Houthi forces in #Yemen to attack commercial shipping" per @DefenseIntel
US @DefenseIntel on #Iran|ian drones in #Houthi arsenal:
-Sayad (Sammad) - range of 1800km
-Shahed-136 - range of 2500km
-Waid-1 (version of the Shahed-131) - range of 900km
AQ "established up to 8 new training camps in Afghanistan, including four in #Ghazni, #Laghman, #Parwan & #Uruzgan Provinces w/a new base to stockpile weaponry in the #Panjshir Valley" per new @UN report
The new #alQaida camps appear to be "conducting suicide bomber training for TTP [Tehrik-i-Taliban #Pakistan]" per the @UN report
Intelligence provided by @UN member states also notes #alQaida is operating madrasas in #Laghman, #Kunar, #Nangarhar, #Nuristan & #Parwan provinces
AQ also "maintains safe houses to facilitate the movement between #Afghanistan & the Islamic Republic of #Iran"
NEW: @usairforce disciplines 15 Air National Guard members as a result of the so-called Discord intel leak this past April
Inspector General report cited lax inspections, lack of guidance & lack of supervision as contributing factors in the leaks by 21-year-old Jack Teixeira
"The IG investigation found individuals in Teixeira’s unit failed to take proper action after becoming aware of his intelligence-seeking activities..." per @usairforce statement
"...However, the investigation did not find evidence that members of Teixeira’s supervisory chain were aware of his alleged unauthorized disclosures" per @usairforce