U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at an event on human rights
IN PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at an event on human rights in North Korea in advance of the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 23, 2014. REUTERS/Darren Ornitz Reuters/Darren Ornitz

The war on the terrorist organization ISIL dominated the discussion at the Global Counterterrorism Forum. The discussion was co-chaired by the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry. He pointed out some of the brutalities of the terrorist organisation and outlined the measures that countries can take.

Calling the members of ISIL "cold-blooded killers," Secretary Kerry said that the organisation has brutalised women and girls and sold them off as slaves. He said that the group was attempting to commit genocide against the Yezidis, a minority in the region.

He also said that one of the sources of funds to ISIL is through kidnappings for ransom. Innocent civilians like journalists, doctors and humanitarian aid workers are targeted by the terrorist organisation for ransom. The U.S. policy was not to pay the terrorists any ransom. Algeria, Canada and the U.S. have developed training modules that will be shared with other countries to prevent kidnappings.

The ranks of ISIL have been growing with fighters from foreign countries travelling to the region to join in the fight. Some of the foreign fighters are from the Western countries; including the U.S. Secretary Kerry suggested that the visas of those who have travelled to the country to fight should be cancelled.

He acknowledged that some of the reasons for people to join with ISIL are a growing population of young people who do not have many opportunities and the only alternative to poverty is to join the terrorist organisation.

Secretary Kerry said that stepping up the security measures alone will not help in stopping foreign fighters from joining ISIL. He said that many of these fighters are radicalised and encouraged to join the fighting back home and that this has to be combated with ideas that counter radicalisation. He also highlighted the need for strong counter terrorism laws.

The Global Counterterrorism Forum will be adopting a set of global good practices, which was spearheaded by Morocco and Netherlands. The measures are aimed at stopping the flow of foreign fighters to the region. The U.S. has committed $40 million for the purpose. More measures are expected to be announced by President Obama in a meeting at the U.N. Security Council.

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