Briefings to Security Council Spotlight Need to Adapt Counter-Terrorism Effort to Ever More Complex Networks Seeking Refuge in Susceptible Regions

November 14, 2012
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2012/sc10816.doc.htm
Sanctions Committee Chairs Describe Actions to Defeat Threat, Send Immutable
Message of Intolerance; Speakers Commend Greater Synergy, Transparency, Fairness

With terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction continuing to pose a serious threat to international peace and security, close cooperation and coordination among partners were essential, the Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001) said as the Security Council reviewed the work of its three anti-terrorism Committees.

Speaking on behalf of the three Committees — the Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida, the 1540 Committee concerning the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the 1373 Committee, also known as the Counter-Terrorism Committee — Hardeep Singh Puri, of India, said the three bodies and their expert groups had been working together to maintain close cooperation and effective coordination towards their common goal.

“The outcomes of this interaction are used by the expert groups to refine the modalities of information exchange, enhance coordination on technical assistance facilitation and explore the potential for further subregional cooperation,” he said, elaborating on that enhanced cooperation during the last six-month reporting period, which included a growing number of events and discussions worldwide.

Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011), Peter Wittig of Germany, stressed that the Al-Qaida threats continued to evolve.  Key leaders had been eliminated, he said, but there was an ever more complex variety of networks growing in a number of regions worldwide, with the danger of terrorist structures being rebuilt in Europe and individual acts of terror occurring in that theatre.

As a result, the Committee aimed at ensuring that the Al-Qaida sanctions list was dynamic and responsive to the changing nature of the threat, he said.  Undertaking three specialized reviews, its investigations had led to 12 de-listings and 24 amendments.  It also had completed its first round of the so-called triennial review to ensure that every single entry underwent regular assessment.  The sanctions regime, he said, benefited from increasingly fair and clear procedures, with the Office of the Ombudsperson playing an important role.

Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004), Baso Sangqu of South Africa, said work had included an ongoing effort to raise global awareness of the resolution, facilitating assistance to States to allow them to strengthen national capacity to implement its requirements, laying the foundation for improved mechanisms for sharing best practices, and promoting synergy with other international organizations in the effort to prevent non-State actors from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

Guided by the principles of transparency, equal opportunity, cooperation and consistency, the Committee and its experts had participated in 14 outreach events organized by inter-governmental organizations, information on which was posted on the Committee website, he said.

Following those presentations, speakers, referring to recent events in the Sahel region, said a deepening of cooperation between the bodies and their expert groups was critical as extremist threats were spreading.  Many said a long-term counter-terrorism strategy was needed.  In addition, the spread of extremism and the need to indentify and address the root causes of terrorism were growing concerns, speakers said.  For those reasons, it was critical that the United Nations counter-terrorism committees worked side by side to fine tune their fight.

As for the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee, speakers welcomed the work of the Ombudsperson, applauding her efforts and calling for continued transparency and accountability in addressing issues surrounding the lists of targeted individuals and entities.  Many speakers said they were pleased with the results of the triennial review, as it helped to ensure fairness.

Commenting on the increase in cooperation efforts and outreach activities of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate, speakers commended its close work with the other two Committees to share information.  Some speakers also raised issues about groups using the Internet for terrorist acts, asking for further action in that regard.

Supporting the 1540 Committee and its aims to ensure transparency and to assist States, speakers urged the body to continue to help to keep weapons of mass destruction out of terrorists’ hands.  Speakers also welcomed the expansion of its expert group, with some requesting that individuals from developing countries were selected to ensure fair representation.

Speaking today were the representatives of the Pakistan, Morocco, China, Colombia, France, Azerbaijan, United Kingdom, Guatemala, Russian Federation, Portugal, United States, Togo, the Netherlands (on behalf of a Group of Like-Minded Countries), Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Syria, Japan and Israel.

The Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of the European Union delegation also delivered a statement.

The meeting started at 3:16 p.m. and adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

Background

The Security Council met today to hear briefings by the Chairs of three of its subsidiary bodies:  the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001), also known as the Counter-Terrorism Committee; the Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida; and the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004), or the 1540 Committee, concerning the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.  A debate on the subject was expected to follow.

In the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1373, which, among its provisions, obliges all States to criminalize assistance for terrorist activities, deny financial support and safe haven to terrorists, and to share information about groups planning terrorist attacks.

Seeking to revitalize the Committee’s work, in 2004, the Council adopted resolution 1535, creating the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate to provide the Counter-Terrorism Committee with expert advice on all areas covered by resolution 1373.  The Executive Directorate was also established with the aim of facilitating technical assistance to countries, as well as promoting closer cooperation and coordination, both within the United Nations system and among regional and intergovernmental bodies.

During the September 2005 World Summit at the United Nations, the Security Council — meeting at the level of Heads of States and Government — adopted resolution 1624 (2005) concerning incitement to commit acts of terrorism.  The resolution also stressed the obligations of countries to comply with international human rights laws.

With resolution 1540 (2004), the Council adopted its first international instrument dealing specifically with weapons of mass destruction, their delivery means and related materials, in an integrated and comprehensive manner (Press Release http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/sc8076.doc.htm SC/8076 of 29 April 2004).  The main objective of the text is preventing the proliferation of mass destruction weapons and deterring non-State actors from accessing or trafficking in such items.

The Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) had concerned Al-Qaida and the Taliban and associated individuals and entities, and had monitored implementation of the provisions of that resolution, including a freeze of funds and financial assets of designated individuals and entities put on a list by the Committee; a travel ban of designated individuals; and an arms embargo on designated individuals and entities.

On 17 June, the Council unanimously adopted resolutions 1988 (2011) and 1989 (2011) as successor texts to resolution 1904 (2009).  By so doing, it decided to split the Al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions regime.  Resolution 1989 (2011) stipulates that the sanctions list maintained by the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) will henceforth be known as the “Al-Qaida Sanctions List” and include names of only those individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida.

Briefings

HARDEEP SINGH PURI ( India), Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1371 (2001) concerning counter-terrorism, updated the Council on the work of the three anti-terrorism Committees.  With terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction posing an ongoing serious threat to international peace and security, the three Committees deemed it important to ensure close cooperation and coordination among themselves and their respective expert groups.

He said that while cooperation among the expert groups increased, they should also continue to strengthen their outreach activities.  He welcomed all efforts aimed at enhancing the visibility of the United Nations counter-terrorism activities and strengthening cooperation, with a view to promote transparency and avoid duplication.  The Committees noted the invitation extended to the Secretary-General, in General Assembly resolution 66/282, to provide Member States with more detail on the proposal to create a United Nations counter-terrorism coordinator.

Outreach activities and country visits of expert groups were important tools for the Committees in facilitating the full implementation of their mandates, and could be used to strengthen dialogue with Member States, he said.  Since May, the expert groups had taken part in more than a dozen workshops and other events, including at the Secretariat of the Eastern and Southern African Anti-money-laundering Group, and joint visits had also taken place.

He noted that the coordinated approach agreed by the three expert groups was enriched by the significant contributions of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate and the Monitoring Team of the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.  By doing so, they were able to enhance cooperation.  “The outcomes of this interaction are used by the expert groups to refine the modalities of information exchange, enhance coordination on technical assistance facilitation and explore the potential for further sub-regional cooperation,” he added.

For its part, the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force provided a platform for enhanced cooperation, not only among the three expert groups, but also with more than 30 relevant United Nations organizations, agencies and programmes, he said.  The expert groups also participated in the Integrated Assistance for Countering Terrorism.

Regarding information exchange, he said that the expert groups regularly shared findings and invited each other to briefings by visiting officials from intergovernmental organizations or to thematic briefings of mutual interest.

Speaking as Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, he outlined its activities, including the upcoming special meeting on preventing and suppressing terrorist financing, to be held 20 November at United Nations Headquarters.  That meeting would focus on raising awareness of the terrorist financing threat, drawing attention to best practices and their relevance to implementing resolution 1373 (2001).

As part of its outreach efforts, the Committee explored the possibility of working with the Inter-Parliamentary Union.  It had also conducted an interim review of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, in accordance with resolution 1963 (2010), which stipulated that that body would continue to operate as a special political mission under the policy guidance of the Committee until 31 December 2013.  Through it, the Committee had been constantly improving its analytical tools to monitor and assess the progress in implementing resolutions 1371 (2001) and 1624 (2005) around the world.  The Committee had also continued to focus on issues identified in the 2011 Global Survey (document S/2009/620, annex), organizing and participating in discussions and workshops on related topics.  Events included the South-East Europe workshop on countering violent extremism and the fourth regional workshop on preventing abuse of the non-profit sector.

Noting the Committee and the Executive Directorate’s ongoing dialogue with Member States, donors and beneficiaries, he said eight assessment missions had taken place — to Argentina, Canada, Djibouti, Finland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden and Uruguay.  The Committee would continue to pay close attention to the question of respect for human rights.  It, along with the Executive Directorate, would continue to work closely with groups from the Task Force, the United Nations Centre for Counter-Terrorism and the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum.

“The Committee will continue to play a critical role in the global fight against terrorism,” he said, “and will strive to do so in a more strategic and transparent manner so that it can more effectively contribute to the global counter-terrorism effort within the scope of its mandate.”

In his national capacity, Mr. Puri said that the international community needed to step up its collective efforts with real cooperation among Member States to confront the scourge of terrorism squarely and decisively.  That concerted action included the complete dismantling of terrorist safe havens, sanctuaries, training grounds and financial and ideological support structures.

He said it was critical that all sanctions regimes established by the Security Council ensured swift, fair and transparent procedures in their decision-making.  The international community must strengthen its efforts to eliminate the risks relating to the acquisition of sensitive materials and technologies by terrorists and non-State actors.

“Meeting new proliferation challenges requires fresh approaches for evolving a more cooperative and consensual international security order that effectively addresses genuine proliferation concerns,” he said.  “The success in the fight against terrorism goes hand in hand with progress in strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation and exchange of information at the international, regional and sub-regional levels.  Our collective endeavour should be to enhance coherence and synergy among different counter-terrorism structures.”