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2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and the establishment of the Counter-Terrorism Committee. As part of the year of commemoration, CTED experts reflect on their work. 

Ambassador Rupérez served as Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of CTED from 2004 to 2007. Here are his written responses. 

Where has your career taken you since you were Executive Director of CTED? 

Ambassador Rupérez: From 2007 to 2011 (the year I retired from the Spanish Diplomatic service), I served as Consul General of Spain in Chicago, covering the American Midwest. Since then, and after moving back with my family to Washington, D.C., I have been actively involved in a variety of fields, including as President of the consulting firm Rupérez International; Professor of International Relations and Security at various Spanish Universities (including CEU San Pablo, Villanueva, Francisco de Vitoria); Senior Adviser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies [CSIS] in Washington, D.C.; member of Spain’s Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences; member of the board of the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences [FAES] Foundation and of the Hispanic Council; and regular contributor to a number of Spanish media outlets, including ABC and El Debate, COPE Radio, and 13TV. In 2009, I published El Espejismo Multilateral (“The Multilateral Mirage”), reflecting upon my experience at the UN. My memoirs La Mirada sin ira (“The look without Anger”) appeared in 2016, and in 2020, I published Las crónicas de la pandemia (“The pandemic chronicles”), a diary of my experiences in Madrid during the first (and worst) times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What were the main priorities and achievements of the CTC and CTED when you were Executive Director? 

Ambassador Rupérez: As the first Executive Director of CTED, the task on my shoulders was to give life to the new element of the counter-terrorism policy of the Security Council and to do it within the scope of the already existing CTC, which was badly in need of an active and professional arm. We were able to put together, within the time allotted, a group of dedicated and capable individuals some of whom are still working for CTED and who were ready and willing to give life and strength to resolution 1373 (2001), which is the foundation (then, and now) for all the counter-terrorism policies of the UN. CTED, in those first years of its existence, became the forceful spokesman of the universal fight against terrorist violence. With that purpose, we visited, encouraged, and assisted States of every region of the world (sometimes, despite opposition from certain Members of the Council).

What are you most proud of during your time as Executive Director? // What was the most meaningful engagement for you, personally? 

Ambassador Rupérez: Kofi Annan, the then Secretary-General of the UN, was in Madrid on 11 March 2005, at my request, to take part in the act of remembrance of the terrorist attacks which had taken place in the Spanish capital a year before. His closing address (which was to shape many later UN approaches to counter-terrorism) took into account my own contributions, which included the now well-known five “Ds” (“Dissuade, deny, deter, develop, defend”) and several powerful paragraphs dedicated to the recognition and help due to the victims of terrorism (something avoided by several UN Member States, then and now). On 27 April 2006, Kofi Annan presented to the General Assembly his “United against Terrorism” manifesto, which followed and expanded upon his address in Madrid and which, a few months later, on 8 September, served as the basis for the General Assembly’s adoption of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. I was closely involved in both events, and proud of what we managed to achieve (in spite of, and against, those who always tend to drag their feet when terrorism is under consideration).

What would you say have been the greatest changes in the terrorist threat and the response to it since 2007? 

Ambassador Rupérez: The rejection of terrorism and its perpetrators has been growing exponentially since the time I left CTED. But “non-State actors” continue to attempt to disrupt the lives and beliefs of those who do not share their beliefs. The list of outrageous cases in this field continues to be of great concern, whether in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, or the Far East. Fortunately, the UN approach has been and continues to be (with a few isolated, though significant exceptions among its members) effective and unwavering. But a great deal remains to be done in terms of training and ensuring an effective defence against the criminals.

What are the lessons to be learned from these changes, and how can they inform the way we address terrorism in the future? 

Ambassador Rupérez: Nobody could deny the clarity of purpose and reach of the resolutions of the Security Council and other UN bodies against terrorism, but we cannot forget the essential fact that, thus far, the UN has still been unable to agree on a definition of terrorism. There are only a few States that continue to believe that “your terrorist is our freedom fighter” but, so far, they have been able to prevent the world at large from acting without restrictions or doubts against the scourge of terrorism. This is no longer the time to speculate about the “root causes” of terrorism or to dwell on whether terrorist propaganda should or should not be the subject of criminal prosecution. Enough is enough. Perhaps this is the time to apply to terrorism the evolving versions of the “Responsibility to Protect” commitment in order to protect mankind from those who think they have the right to inflict “untold sorrow” upon generation after generation.

2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1373 (2001) and the creation of the CTC. How would you characterize the significance of these two decades and the legacy – to date – of the CTC? 

Ambassador Rupérez: Impressive. It is a history of endurance and purpose, of clarity and progress, of dedication and sacrifice, which must be continued, regardless of shortcomings and setbacks. The CTC (since 2001) and also CTED (since 2004) embody, better than many other institutions, one of the fundamental purposes of mankind, as proclaimed in the UN Charter: “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small”. So be it.