Statement(as Chair of Counter Terrorism Committee) during a joint debate on the briefing by Chairmen of Subsidiary Bodies of the UN Security Council on Counter Terrorism

Nov 14,2012

I would like to make a second statement on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

I have had the honour to chair the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001) since the beginning of 2011. It gives me great pleasure to brief the Security Council on the work of the Committee since the previous briefing, held in May this year.

The Committee continues to be guided in its work by the relevant Security Council resolutions, especially resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005) and 1963 (2010), and continues to play a critical role in promoting and facilitating their implementation.

As mentioned in this year’s Programme of Work, the Committee is organizing a special meeting, with Member States and relevant international and regional organizations on “Preventing and Suppressing Terrorist Financing” which will be held on 20 November at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Previous special meetings of the Committee, focusing on various major counter-terrorism-related themes, have been held in New York, Washington, D.C., Vienna, Almaty, Nairobi and Strasbourg.

This year’s special meeting will focus on raising Member States’ awareness of the terrorist financing threat; drawing attention to the related best practices (including the revised FATF Recommendations) and their relevance to the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001); discussion of experiences and effective measures in addressing the related challenges; and helping to ensure that combating terrorist financing remains a priority for Member States.

The speakers will include representatives of invited Member States and international, regional and sub-regional organizations. I encourage Member States to actively participate in this meeting.

Furthermore, as part of its outreach efforts, the Committee will also explore the possibility of collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

In June this year, the Committee conducted an interim review of CTED, in accordance with resolution 1963 (2010), which stipulated that the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate would continue to operate as a special political mission under the policy guidance of the Counter-Terrorism Committee for the period ending 31 December 2013.

The Committee, through CTED, has also been constantly improving its analytical tools to monitor and assess the progress in implementation of resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005) around the world. Having developed Preliminary Implementation Assessments of the entire UN membership and achieving considerable progress in stocktaking, the Committee has agreed to revised assessment tools including the Overview of Implementation Assessment (OIA) and the Details of Implementation Survey (DIS).

These tools are designed to further enhance thoroughness, consistency, transparency and even-handedness in the Committee’s stocktaking process with a view to identifying States’ strengths and challenges in countering terrorism worldwide.

The Committee continues to focus on region-specific discussions and on issues identified in the 2011 Global Survey (S/2009/620, annex). The Committee also continues to organize and participate in discussions and workshops on thematic issues. Some of the major thematic issues considered by the Committee during the last six months include the challenges in adopting and implementing counter-terrorism measures for effective cross-border control of SALW, the FATF revised recommendations and the role of central authorities in enhancing international counter-terrorism cooperation.

CTED has also been active in conducting a number of workshops on specific topics, aimed at a specific regional audience. Important workshops organized during this period include the Practitioners Seminar – The role of the Prosecutor on Terrorist Cases (Algiers, 5-7 June 2012), the regional seminar for Southeast Asian States on international joint investigations (Kuala Lumpur, 26-28 June 2012), the workshop for Member States of the Maghreb and the Sahel on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1624 (Rabat, 17-19 July 2012), the South-East Europe workshop on countering violent extremism (Istanbul, 1-2 October 2012), the first expert meeting on the establishment of an operational freezing mechanism (Amsterdam, 22-24 October 2012) and the 4th regional workshop on preventing abuse of non profit sector (Buenos Aires, 14-16 November 2012).

In addition, the Committee and CTED continue to enhance their ongoing dialogue with Member States, donors and beneficiaries on the facilitation of technical assistance for capacity-building, at the national and subregional levels. Since the last briefing to the Security Council, CTED on behalf of the Committee has conducted eight assessment missions to Member States: Argentina, Canada, Djibouti, Finland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and Uruguay.

I would like to emphasize that the Committee and CTED have continued, and will continue to pay close attention to the question of respect for human rights and the rule of law in the counter-terrorism measures taken by States, in accordance with the relevant mandates conferred by the Security Council. The Committee and CTED continue to work closely with the relevant Working Groups of the CTITF, United Nations Centre for Counter-Terrorism and the Global Counter Terrorism Forum in order to support, coordinate and complement each other’s counter-terrorism endeavours.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the Committee will continue to play a critical role in the global fight against terrorism, 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.

I should like to conclude by expressing my sincere appreciation to Mr. Mike Smith, Executive Director of CTED, and to his team, for their excellent work on the Committee’s behalf, and to thank the Secretariat for its continued support.