28/5/2004
“Fighting Terrorism Must Remain UN Priority”

If the United Nations want to make any headway on the key aspects of its agenda- from development and peace to human rights and the rule of law - the fight against terrorism must remain a priority, the chair of the committee monitoring terrorism told the Security Council this week.

In an open briefing on threats to international peace and security on 24 May, Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of Chile, who heads the Council's committee overseeing sanctions against Al-Qaida and the Taliban, stressed that preventing terrorist attacks required extensive and effective international cooperation.

"The United Nations is the only organ equipped to martial the required level of commitment to address this threat, which, given the global network of Al-Qaida, reaches almost every corner of the world," he said.

Reviewing the work of the committee since the Council strengthened the sanctions and modified the panel's framework in January, Ambassador Muñoz said several positive developments have occurred, including an increase in state compliance.

Despite some advances, however, terrorism remains a serious threat to international peace and security, he noted, referring to recent terrorist incidences worldwide. To prevent these in the future, Ambassador Muñoz said he would like to see the committee communicating more with member states and report regularly to the Council.

A preliminary assessment of the reports submitted by member states shows that their quality of implementing sanctions has been uneven. Most member states had not provided precise details on implementation initiatives, and the information requested by the monitoring team was often lacking.

Regarding legislation, many member states appeared not to have incorporated the sanctions in their domestic legislation or administrative rules. Only a few states had indicated their intentions to amend their laws, the majority considered their existing laws to be sufficient to deal with all forms of terrorism. Especially with regard to freezing financial assets and resources, facts made clear the opposite is true.

On the travel ban, Ambassador Muñoz said most states appeared to have integrated the consolidated list into their border control systems, but only a few had been able to do that electronically or in a way that allowed for quick and efficient transmission of data. On the arms embargoes, most states appeared to have adequate legislation to deal with the illicit acquisition of both conventional and unconventional arms, although many had not taken specific measures to implement those provisions.

--