Key Events On March 21, 2019, the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies hosted a roundtable focusing on “Canadian Intelligence Operations Overseas”. This presentation was given by Captain Duane Kempton, member of the Canadian Armed Forces and member of the Sixth Intelligence Company. Captain Kempton highlighted military intelligence in war fighting, peacekeeping, and established the differences between the two by discussing OP SOPRANO. The following roundtable discussion centred on the value of intelligence gathering in peacekeeping when you lack the military capacity while war fighting. Audience members then discussed the repatriation of ISIS fighters and the status of their families. Nature of Discussion Presentation The presentation drew from Captain Kempton’s experiences with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in South Sudan. He established that the resources afforded to war fighting are greater than those when peacekeeping, describing means of how intelligence could be gathered. It discussed the significant actions taken in South Sudan and gave potential explanations to the instability in the region. Finally, it ended with highlighting future capabilities required to successfully undertake peacekeeping operations in war torn areas. CANADIAN INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS OVERSEAS Date: March 21st, 2019 Disclaimer: This briefing note contains the encapsulation of views presented throughout the evening and does not exclusively represent the views of the speaker or the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies. CASIS Vancouver The Journal of Intelligence, Conflict, and Warfare Volume 2, Issue 1 Page 2 Roundtable The Roundtable focused on whether or not Canada should allow citizens who left Canada to fight for ISIS to return to the nation. It also centred on whether or not family members returning to Canada from ISIS. Audience members also discussed the burden on the Government of Canada to legally remove citizenship. Background Presentation Captain Kempton began by explaining the basis for military intelligence and its role in preparing a commander or force for the battlefield. He described the importance of intelligence in war fighting because it’s used to determine variables like weather, terrain, terrorist presence, and criminal activity. Inputs range from human intelligence to sensors, but the risks associated with intelligence gathering are high. Intelligence in peacekeeping is very different for various reasons. Funding isn’t given as freely as it’s seen as less critical to troop survival. Therefore, both require different tasks with different assets on the ground. For peacekeeping, the objective is to assist the local government and develop their infrastructure so that eventually they can leave. OP SOPRANO, the UN Mission in South Sudan was a peacekeeping mission that utilized open source information to protect civilians. Challenges during this mission were high because of the local government providing anti-UN propaganda, restrictions being placed on their movement, and resources being unable to enter the country. Kempton openly described failures of intelligence as their goal was to protect civilians and eventually UNMISS failed with 3800 peacekeepers being killed and many more individuals being displaced or at severe bodily risk. Roundtable CASIS Vancouver The Journal of Intelligence, Conflict, and Warfare Volume 2, Issue 1 Page 3 Discussion centered on the role of human intelligence in South Sudan, with emphasis placed on the various political and social issues at play in the region prior to the UN arriving. Other discussion pointed to rules of engagement and the issues associated with various nations having differing ROE’s and their governments being more willing to prosecute breaches of conduct than the UN. Case Study While not being directly centered on intelligence, the role of ISIS fighters in Canada was examined critically. Audience members debated the roles of the Criminal Code (specifically section 83), in the illegality of Canadian citizens leaving in order to fight for ISIS abroad. Counter to these claims, Canada stands able to potentially deradicalize fighters but at the cost of security to Canadian individuals. The ethics of stateless individuals also was fiercely discussed, with the understanding that it’s illegal via international law for Canada to strip a citizen of their citizenship, leaving them stateless. For the other topic concerning the families of fighters, no clear consensus was given. It’s a folly to gloss over many interpersonal conflicts and issues when family and children are involved. Various social issues of control from the ISIS fighters were discussed, and to assert that children had a clear “choice” in the movement from Canada to ISIS centres was asserted as vague and improper. Key Points of Discussion and West Coast Perspectives Presentation - War fighting and peacekeeping, while different in purpose, require the same military backing in order to protect fighters and enforce initiatives. - The effects on the individuals in South Sudan are likely to continually be felt because of the lack of enforcement of the CASIS Vancouver The Journal of Intelligence, Conflict, and Warfare Volume 2, Issue 1 Page 4 government. The UN requires a realistic support mechanism for intelligence or else human security is at risk. Roundtable - Canadian security is threatened by the return of ISIS fighters with the government being unable to do anything about this without running into major issues internationally. - Canadians are hesitant to outrightly ban the entire family from returning due to various human rights issues associated with it. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. © CASIS, 2019 Published by the Journal of Intelligence, Conflict and Warfare and Simon Fraser University, Volume 2, Issue 1. Available from: https://jicw.org/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/