Statement by H.E. Neven Jurica, Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001) concerning counter-terrorism to the Security Council.
Mr. President,
In my capacity as Chairman of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001), known as the Counter-Terrorism Committee, it is my honor to brief the Security Council on the work of the Committee in the past six months.
Before entering into the core of this presentation, I would like to extend the Committee's gratitude to Mr. Mike Smith, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), and his team, for their valuable assistance. I also appreciate continuous support by the Secretariat, as well as constructive atmosphere in the Committee which greatly contributes to fulfilling its mandate.
Transparency is one of the basic principles in our work. Therefore, together with the Executive Director, I continued the practice of informing the wider UN membership on the work of the Committee and CTED at an informal briefing held on 6 November 2008.
Mr. President,
At the outset, I am pleased to report that since my last briefing to the Security Council, held on 6 May 2008, the Committee has pursued its activities according to programmes of work and has accomplished several key initiatives.
In May this year, the Committee adopted a document entitled “Survey of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) by Member States”, and submitted this document to the Security Council. The report was prepared on the basis of evaluations contained in the Preliminary Implementation Assessments (PIAs). It provides an assessment of the implementation of resolution in regions and subregions, and draws conclusions about progress in the implementation of this resolution in key thematic areas. The report also contains priority recommendations for the Committee's future action. The survey was discussed at informal consultations of the Security Council, during which it received positive reviews by the Council members. I would like to emphasize that this is the first report of its kind adopted since the establishment of the Committee.
The Committee has continued to analyze the Preliminary Implementation Assessments (PIAs). Thus far, the Committee has adopted some 188 PIAs, and the remaining 5 should be formally approved by the Committee in the forthcoming months. While receiving their assessments, Member States were also given time to send their responses. As the first deadlines for responses have expired, the Committee has recently endorsed a proposal on how to conduct the stocktaking of each Member State's implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001). This process has already started, and will be carried out in stages involving sub-committees and the Committee levels, while particular emphasis will be given to regular dialogue with Member States.
The re-organizational plan of CTED mandated the establishment of five cross-cutting technical working groups, covering major areas of implementation of resolution 1373, as well as implementation of resolution 1624 (2005). The groups have already presented to the Committee first results of their work, aimed at revising and harmonizing criteria for technical judgments of elements of resolution 1373, and they are working towards the completion of a document that will assist CTED in this task.
The Committee has continued organizing visits to Member States, which constitute a fundamental component of its activities to effectively monitor and promote the implementation of resolution 1373 (2001). Throughout this period, the Committee has been performing visits that were approved at the end of 2006, always with the consent of the countries involved. Since our last briefing, the Committee has concluded successful full-fledged on-site visits to Cambodia, Lao PDR, South Africa and Egypt, and a focused visit to Madagascar. As we speak, the Committee is engaged in the follow-up visit to Kenya and will carry out immediately after a visit to Uganda and to the United Kingdom.
Moreover, as the new organizational plan of CTED contains a provision for more flexible and targeted visits, the Committee approved a new list of visits for the period until the end of 2010. Member States have been contacted by the Executive Directorate in this regard and many of them have already provided their consent to a visit.
In addition, and in order to promote transparency in the work of the Committee, I am pleased to inform you that, based on a recent decision of the Committee, Member States to be visited will be invited, on a voluntary basis, to meet in an informal setting with the members of the Committee before the consideration of the final visit report, in order to present their views on the visit and its outcome.
Regarding the facilitation of technical assistance, along with its regular activities which include ongoing dialogue with Member States, donors and beneficiaries, the Committee is engaged in ensuring follow-up to its fifth special meeting with international, regional and sub-regional organizations, held in Nairobi in 2007. The Committee also maintains on its website the technical assistance matrix and a directory of assistance programmes.
In its dialogue with Member States, the Committee continued reminding them that they must ensure that any measures taken to combat terrorism comply with all their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law.
With respect to the implementation of resolution 1624 (2005), the Committee held a discussion to explore the technical assistance needs of States to implement this resolution, as well as to facilitate the provisions of such assistance. The Committee continues to encourage those States that have not yet reported to do so.
The Committee also continues to encourage Member States to become party to and implement the 16 international counter-terrorism instruments.
The Committee continues to play its part in the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and CTED is participating actively in the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force through contributing to the work of several working groups. The Committee has held a discussion on the issue of its participation in the Strategy, and is also regularly assisting Member States to implement those provisions of the Strategy that fall within its mandate. In this respect, it is worth noting that the recent Committee's visit to Madagascar was organized with the participation of representatives of CTITF.
The Committee, mostly through its experts and in line with resolution 1805 (2008), cooperates and coordinates its activities with two other Security Council subsidiary bodies that deal with counter-terrorism – committees established pursuant to resolutions 1267 and 1540. One tangible example of this cooperation is organizing, together with UNODC, sub-regional workshops on the preparation of responses to the UN Security Council committees dealing with counter-terrorism. The third such workshop will be held in Nairobi, Kenya.
Moreover, as part of its cooperation and exchange of information with counter-terrorism partners during its meetings in New York, the Committee heard several briefings by representatives of relevant organizations and United Nations' bodies.
Mr. President,
Various activities in the past six months have shown that the Committee is a useful tool in the combat against terrorism. In the forthcoming period, our work will be focused on the stocktaking exercise, as well as on preparing for an interim review of CTED by 30 June 2009, as mandated by the resolution 1805. The Committee is also expecting to receive new revision of the Survey on implementation of resolution 1373 by Member States, and pursue, with enhanced vigor, contacts with relevant countries to facilitate the delivery of technical assistance. I believe that with inclusive but pragmatic approach by all members, this collaborative effort will bear fruit and meet the expectations of the Security Council.
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