Building a collective response to terrorism.

The experience of recent years demonstrates that it is only through the joint efforts of the world community that the fight against terrorism can succeed. In the face of the dramatic growth of this threat, which acquired a global dimension, the Russian Federation was among the first to call for the establishment of a mechanism for international anti-terrorist cooperation on the basis of the United Nations Charter and the norms of international law.

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Back in 1999, on Russia's initiative, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1269 (1999), its first comprehensive anti-terrorist resolution in history, which set the goal of eradicating terrorism on a global scale. Before that, the Council had only considered some specific cases related to terrorism, as in the case of sanctions against the Taliban. Resolution 1269 laid the groundwork for the establishment of the counter-terrorist coalition, articulated its key principles and defined the areas for collective efforts.

The resolution, in particular, outlawed any acts of terror as having no justification whatsoever, qualified terrorism as a threat to peace and security, called upon all States to adhere to all international anti-terrorist conventions and to fully implement them, and emphasized the need to coordinate efforts of Governments and international and regional organizations. The Security Council also called upon all States to prevent and suppress terrorist acts and attempts to prepare and finance them, to bring to justice those who organize or commit such acts, to deny safe haven to those who are engaged in the planning and commissioning of terrorist activity, and to cooperate in information-sharing and taking concerted administrative and legal measures to prevent terrorist acts. All these provisions laid the conceptual and practical framework for the consequent anti-terrorist resolutions of the Security Council, among which resolution 1373 (2001), adopted after the tragic events of 11 September 2001, occupies the central place. The significance of this resolution, drafted with Russia's active involvement, is that it made the requirements set out in resolution 1269 binding upon all States and established a specific monitoring and coordinating mechanism. This mechanism is the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), where Russia holds a post of one of the Vice-Chairmen and heads one of its three Sub-committees.

The work of the CTC enters a qualitatively new stage when on the basis of the experience gained this body begins to bring together practical actions of States and various international and regional institutions. Through the work of the CTC, its Sub-committees and expert group, an inventory has been made comprising an analytical record of each and every State's performance as regards counter-terrorism legislation, and administrative and law-enforcement practices, as well as adherence to the relevant international conventions.

Specific assistance is provided to the countries that need it, in order to bring their performance up to high universal standards. Among the institutions cooperating with the CTC in achieving these goals are the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the G-8, Interpol and others. Regional organizations from Eurasia, including the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, contribute to these efforts. They all established partnership relations with the CTC and fulfil an important anti-terrorist mission in the Eurasian region. This cooperative network becomes more and more efficient, allowing to block different channels that may be used to plan, finance and execute terrorist acts. As a result, room for the terrorists to maneuver is narrowing and their capacity to commit their dirty deeds is shrinking.

One of the immediate tasks is to further strengthen the international legal basis for countering terrorism. In addition to making all existing conventions universal, it is necessary to fill in the remaining legal lacunae. Following Russia's initiative, a draft convention on combating nuclear terrorism has been under consideration in the United Nations for several years. All efforts should be made to approve it as soon as possible, given a very real threat that terrorists might get access to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or their components. This threat causes serious concerns, and Russia believes that the UN Security Council must also play its role to counter it by taking specific measures which would ensure that all Governments cooperate to prevent any unlawful access by individuals or groups to WMD-related materials, equipment and technology.

On the whole, it is impossible to make the fight against terrorism efficient without taking into account the relationship between this phenomenon and other global threats and challenges, including not only the increased risks of the spread of WMD but also illegal drug trafficking, organized crime, and growth of extremist trends in the regions where interethnic and other conflicts persist and the need to overcome hunger, poverty and underdevelopment is ignored.

Three years ago, being convinced that a comprehensive approach to all these problems was needed, Russia made a proposal to elaborate under UN aegis a global strategy to counter new threats and challenges. This initiative was unanimously endorsed in the resolutions of the fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth sessions of the UN General Assembly, which set the task to work out specific recommendations for a more effective response by the world community to new threats, with the coordinated engagement of the entire potential of the multilateral mechanisms of the UN system and regional organizations.

It was in this context that UN members supported the initiative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to convene the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, and on the basis of the Panel's report, to submit his recommendations to the General Assembly. Consideration of these recommendations would be of utmost importance for defining the ways of strengthening the world Organization as a centre for coordinating the actions of all States and adapting its structures to the needs of today. Only together can we eliminate the risks posed by terrorism and other threats. The UN role in this regard can hardly be overestimated.

RELATED ARTICLE: Strengthening the Legal Regime Against Terrorism

The Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1373 (2001) on 28 September, declaring that terrorists' acts, methods and practices, as well as the financing, planning and incitement of terrorism are "contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations". It also emphasized the need to enhance the coordination of efforts to strengthen a global response to combat threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, and expressed its determination to take all necessary steps to fully implement the resolution.

Acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which makes its provisions mandatory on all States, the Council laid out wide-ranging strategies to combat international terrorism and established a Committee, consisting of all Council members, to monitor implementation of the resolution.

The Council required all States to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts, as well as to criminalize the willful provision or collection of funds for such acts. The financial assets of those who commit, attempt to commit, or facilitate terrorist acts should be frozen. It also decided that States should prohibit their nationals or people and entities in their territories from making funds or services available to those involved in terrorism, refrain from providing support to people involved, take steps to prevent terrorist acts, and deny safe haven to those who commit or support terrorist acts or provide safe havens. States are also required to prevent terrorists from using their territories for those purposes against other countries, bring to justice anyone who has participated in terrorism, and ensure that terrorist acts are established as serious criminal offences in domestic laws and are punishable accordingly. They should further assist one another with criminal investigations or proceedings relating to the financing or support of terrorist acts, and prevent the movement of terrorists or their groups by effective border controls and regulation of identity and travel documents.

The Council called on all States to become parties to relevant conventions and protocols to combat terrorism. Full implementation of the twelve anti-terrorism conventions (see UN Chronicle, #3, 2001, p. 74) will mean far more than ratifying them and putting in place the supporting legislative framework. It has many aspects, including national security doctrine, budgetary allocations, and administrative and personnel measures. The development of legislation is, however, an initial practical obstacle to a State party's compliance with resolution 1373 and to ratification of the global anti-terrorism conventions.

By Sergey V. Lavrov

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Sergey V. Lavrov was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in March 2004. He had served as Permanent Representative to the United Nations. from 1994. He wrote this article for the Chronicle prior to his appointment as Foreign Minister.

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