On 26 April 2019, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee, the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and the Taliban Sanctions Committee held a joint special meeting on “The nexus between international terrorism and organized crime”.
The purpose of the meeting was to identify areas for further research into the nature and scope of the links that may exist between terrorism, and transnational organized crime. The participants discussed regional aspects of the issue, as well as responses and lessons learned, and underlined the need for strengthened domestic, regional and international cooperation.
The discussions were led by H.E. Mr. Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Peru to the United Nations, in his capacity as Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, and H.E. Mr. Dian Triansyah Djani, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations, serving in his capacity as Chair of the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011).
The participants also included Mr. Weixiong Chen, Deputy Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), and Mr. Edmund Fitton-Brown, Coordinator of the Monitoring Team of the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.
“It is my hope that today’s discussions will help further strengthen our understanding of those factors and vulnerabilities that may foster the terror-crime connection,” said H.E. Mr. Meza-Cuadra.
H.E. Mr. Dian Triansyah Djani stated, “Today’s event is an integral element of the engagement and partnership between the CTC and the 1267 and 1988 sanctions committees aimed at accomplishing our common objectives”.
The meeting featured panel discussions with a regional focus on Latin America, West Africa, Europe, and Asia, respectively. The panellists included representatives of Member States, international and regional organizations, academic institutions, and member entities of CTED’s Global Research Network.
The participants also explored ways to enhance the use of, or adapt, in the context of terrorism cases, existing methods that have proven successful in dealing with cases of organized crime.