Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - report

Third report of the Secretary-General states that the threat posed by Da’esh is still significant

BMUSONI — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 09:18:00 +0000

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“The threat posed by ISIL continues to be significant and to diversify,” according to the United Nations Secretary-General’s third report on the threat posed by Da’esh/ISIL to international peace and security, and on the efforts of the UN in support of its Member States to counter this threat. The report (S/2016/830), presented to the Security Council on 13 October 2016, follows resolution 2253 (2015), which requests the Secretary-General to provide strategic-level reports every four months demonstrating the gravity of the threat posed to international peace and security by Da’esh/ISIL and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities.

The report includes an assessment of the threat of foreign terrorist fighters, and the sources of financing of these groups through illicit trade in oil, antiquities, and other natural resources, as well as their planning and facilitation of attacks, and reflects the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering this threat.

“Increasingly complex and nearly simultaneous attacks in different countries – committed through large-scale operations and individual or small terrorist cells, either directed or inspired by ISIL – have a significant impact and present particular problems to UN Member States in terms of the security response,” Mr. Feltman told Security Council members.

The report considers the presence and influence of Da’esh/ISIL outside Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, including in Yemen, East Africa, and South and South-East Asia. Taking a regional approach, the report highlights the efforts and progress of Member States of South and South-East Asia to implement counter-terrorism measures in a number of thematic areas. It also considers how Member States are dealing with the issue of foreign terrorist fighters who return to their home States. The use of information and communications technology by Da’esh/ISIL, the issue of conflict-related sexual violence, and the range of technical assistance and capacity-building efforts undertaken by the United Nations and its partners are also addressed.

S/2016/830 was prepared with the input of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) in close collaboration with the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team assisting the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011), and 2253 (2015), as well as other relevant United Nations actors.

The Secretary-General’s reports are an important tool for Member States and United Nations bodies in their efforts to address the threat posed by Da’esh/ISIL and associated entities to international peace and security. The past two reports were dated 29 January 2016 and 31 May 2016.

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Webcast of ED Laborde briefing UN correspondents on the third Security Council report on foreign terrorist fighters

BMUSONI — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 22:29:00 +0000

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Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), Mr. Jean-Paul Laborde.

Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), Mr. Jean-Paul Laborde. He will brief reporters on the third report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2178 on States affected by foreign terrorist fighters.

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CTED interim review report 2014-2015 (18 December 2015)

BMUSONI — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 22:29:00 +0000

S/2015/984 — Report of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate on its activities and achievements during the period from 2014 to 2015

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Security Council receives report on challenges-and solutions-in prosecuting foreign terrorist fighters Counter-Terrorism Committe

BMUSONI — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 16:03:00 +0000

In adopting resolution 2178 (2014) on 24 September 2014, the Security Council delivered a clear message: Member States and the international community must take active measures to address the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). According to this resolution, “all States shall ensure that their domestic laws and regulations establish serious criminal offences sufficient to provide the ability to prosecute and to penalize in a manner duly reflecting the seriousness of the offense.” In the practical implementation of these measures, however, prosecutors from around the world are facing significant challenges. As terrorism is a unique and evolving crime, cases related to this type of offence pose questions about the collection of admissible evidence and successful prosecution. In an effort to share these experiences – and identify possible remedies to these challenges – the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) gathered prosecutors from various regions and legal systems in Valletta, Malta, 15-17 December 2014. A report just adopted by the Security Council (S/2015/123) summarizes the discussions and broad conclusions of these deliberations.

The report notes that although the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters is not new, it is unprecedented in terms of numbers, timeline, and impact, as well as closely related to the recently increasing incidence of terrorists acting alone or in small cells. Whereas some Member States have specific terrorism-related legislation in place to prosecute a broad range of terrorist acts, many countries rely on other offences, including legislation pertaining to fighting organized crime, or criminal code provisions prohibiting the change of the constitutional system by non-democratic means. Other types of legislation employed relate to immigration law offences to prevent individuals from travelling, provisions on threats to national security, or financial crimes committed prior to departure.

Relying on existing legislation can present its own set of challenges, however; courts can be unwilling to accept such innovative interpretation by the prosecution, or provisions used include different acts and intentions as basis for conviction and require different elements of proof. It can therefore complicate international legal cooperation, raising issues related to dual criminality or because the violation falls under exclusion clauses in extradition treaties, such as political offences.

Another topic that generated much discussion among prosecutors, according to the report, was how to obtain admissible evidence. This challenge can be related to the conversion of intelligence into evidence, the question of generating or capturing evidence from social media sources, or of how to prove the intent of committing an act of terrorism, for example. Other complicating factors include the claim by many individuals that the purpose of their travel is to provide humanitarian aid in destination countries, the diffuse structure of terrorist networks, which often makes the link between the individual planning to travel and the organisation tenuous, and the fact that many accused are youth without any criminal association, raising the question of rehabilitation, reintegration, and the impact of prosecutions.

In the concluding observations of the report, it is highlighted that lacking specific terrorism-related laws it is possible to apply existing legislation, with the prosecution mobilising various forms of cooperation and stressing the need to be practical. Underscoring the essential role of respect for the rule of law in effective counter-terrorism measures, including human rights, prosecutors concluded that the way their cases are conducted should never play into terrorists’ propaganda.

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