26/3/2004
New More Agile Structure For Security Council Committee

Stepping up United Nations efforts to combat the terrorist threat, the Security Council today restructured its Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in a bid to revitalize the panel's efforts in fighting the worldwide scourge and adapt to the evolving nature of its mission.

Through a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council decided that the CTC would consist of a Plenary – comprising the Security Council's Member States and focusing on strategic and policy decisions – and a Bureau, which would be composed of the Chair and Vice-Chairs, as well as the consolidated expert and Secretariat staff, known as the Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), headed by an Executive Director.

The text includes a "sunset clause" for the CTED, set for 31 December 2007, and calls for a comprehensive review of the Directorate by 31 December 2005 to enhance the Committee's ability to monitor the implementation of Resolution 1373 and "effectively continue the capacity-building work in which it is engaged."

The move comes after the CTC's Chairman, Ambassador Inocencio F. Arias of Spain, told the Council earlier this month that the proposal to rejuvenate the Committee's work had originated from a dual conviction that terrorism was one of the major threats to international peace and security, and that the UN must play a central role in the fight against that threat with the Council, through the CTC, leading the effort.

Speaking at a press briefing this week, Ambassador Arias hailed the Council's move and described the new structure as enabling the Committee to be more agile and efficient as it helps Member States comply with Resolution 1373, adopted in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks against the United States.

He stressed that the Executive Director should have the status and clout to carry out today's resolution, as that person will need to be able to clearly state which countries need technical assistance and which ones are not complying with Resolution 1373 because they lack the political will.

"In short, we are trying to make the Committee operative because the United Nations cannot remain passive, [it] cannot play a secondary role" in as big a threat as terrorism is in the beginning of this century, he said.

The CTC was created through Resolution 1373, adopted in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks against the United States. That landmark text called on UN Member States to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism, refrain from providing any support to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, and deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support and commit such acts.

The Committee itself is not a sanctions body but rather monitors steps taken by countries, through the adoption of laws and regulations as well as the creation of administrative structures, to combat terrorism.