Bahey eldin Hassan, the director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, received an invitation to participate in the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism on February 18–20. The proceedings of the first day of the summit will take place at the White House while on the second day the summit will meet at the State Department. On the third day of the summit, activities will take place at several think tanks in the American capital.
Ministers for foreign affairs, interior affairs, and religious affairs from 60 states will participate, along with representatives from civil society organizations, think tanks, and the private sector. President Barack Obama will inaugurate the summit.
The CIHRS and the US-based Human Rights First sent a joint letter to President Obama on Friday, February 13, regarding this summit. The letter states that any successful counterterrorism strategy cannot ignore the fact that the human rights crimes committed by some governments in the Arab world are a major cause of increased terrorist activity in the region and the world. Moreover, some Arab governments and their religious institutions have adopted an ideological and religious discourse that shares the same extremist premises that inspire terrorist groups, which helps to generate successive generations of extremists.
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