8528th Security Council Meeting: Subsidiary Bodies

Hearing briefings by chairs of subsidiary bodies of the Security Council, council members call for updating sanctions lists to ensure constant vigilance against threat of terrorist attacks, at 8528th meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 02:03:37
• Production Date: 20 May 2019
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Corporate Name: COUNTER-TERRORISM COMMITTEE - CTC; COUNTER-TERRORISM COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORATE - CTED
• Subject Topical: ARMED CONFLICTS; ARMED GROUPS; COUNTER-TERRORISM; TERRORISM
• MAMS Id: 2395708
• Parent Id: 2395277

Description

Concerns Include Fear of Returning or Relocating Foreign Terrorist Fighters, Al-Qaida Affiliates Filling Space Vacated by Da’esh

The Security Council must ensure it remains vigilant against terrorist threats by updating the sanctions list of individuals and entities engaging in such activities, members said today during a joint briefing by the chairs of three of the Council’s subsidiary counter-terrorism bodies.

Several Council members expressed concern that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) is evolving into a covert network despite its territorial setbacks. The Russian Federation’s representative noted that experts of the subsidiary organs agree that ISIL, Al-Qaida and their affiliates are trying to expand their operations to States previously deemed safe from such risk. ISIL’s activities in Afghanistan are driven by foreign terrorist fighters, he said, underscoring the need to continuously include those fighters on the sanctions lists of the relevant Security Council subsidiary bodies. The 1267 Committee, in particular, has proven itself one of the Council’s most effective counter-terrorism mechanisms, he added.

The representative of the United States also applauded the important work of the 1267 Committee in adapting and keeping pace with the threat. Welcoming its designation of Masood Azhar, leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, and ISIL-Khorasan, an ISIS affiliate operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for sanctions, he said Mr. Azhar’s listing demonstrates that the international community can and will hold terrorists accountable for their actions. ISIL and Al-Qaida are dynamic organizations that continue to evolve, he warned.

China’s representative stressed that the listing and delisting of suspected individuals and entities must be conducted with impartiality and on the basis of solid evidence in order to safeguard the sanctions regime.

Some Council members expressed concern about new threats posed by foreign terrorist fighters returning to their home countries or relocating elsewhere. Côte d’Ivoire’s representative said thousands of foreign terrorist fighters are “recycled” in this way, emphasizing that this calls for States to share the relevant information at the regional level.

Germany’s representative, recalling the recent terrorist attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, underlined the need for the Council to pay more attention to extremist groups, urging it to study whether the international components of far-right extremists are interconnected.

South Africa’s representative stressed the need to ensure that counter-terrorism efforts do not have a negative impact on the delivery of humanitarian and medical assistance in conflict situations.

Equatorial Guinea’s representative referred to the work of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) concerning the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, calling upon the Council, as the defender of global peace and security, to act firmly against the ambition of “new States” to possess nuclear weapons.

Kuwait’s representative called for universal implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), reiterating his delegation’s concern that non-State actors might obtain and use weapons of mass destruction. “We can’t wait until these weapons are used,” he said, emphasizing that “prevention is better than cure”.

The United Kingdom’s representative pledged that his country will continue to support sanctions against ISIL, Al-Qaida and their affiliates to prevent them from increasing their nuisance capacity. He called for the strengthening of responsiveness to the latest terrorist trends, such as attacking places of worship and other vulnerable sites, emphasizing the need to better understand the consequences of these new attacks on humanitarian action.

Delivering the briefings were the representatives of Indonesia, Chair of the 1540 and 1267 Committees, and Peru, Chair of the 1373 Committee.

Also speaking today were representatives of the Dominican Republic, France, Poland and Belgium.

The meeting began 10:04 a.m. and ended at 12:08 p.m.

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