Counter-Terrorism
Expected Council Action
In November, the Council is scheduled to hold its semi-annual briefing, possibly followed by a debate, by the chairs of its counter-terrorism-related committees. The briefers will be Ambassador Gary Quinlan (Australia), chair of the 1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki (Morocco), chair of the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and Ambassador Oh Joon (Republic of Korea), chair of the 1540 Committee, concerning the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The last such meeting was held on 10 May (S/PV.6964).
Also in November, an open briefing for UN member states will be held focusing on proliferation and terrorism financing by Vladimir Nechaev (Russia), the president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The briefing is organised by the chairs of the three Committees together with the chairs of the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, 1988 Taliban and 1737 Iran Sanctions Committees.
Key Recent Developments
1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee
On 1 July, the Monitoring Team assisting the 1267/1989 Sanctions Committee circulated its 14th report to the Committee (S/2013/467). The report highlights the trend towards the localisation of Al-Qaida affiliates, which continue taking opportunistic advantage of local conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. Since the 10 May briefing, three individuals have been added to the sanctions list: Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, alleged leader of Syria-based Jabhat al-Nusrah; Mohammed Lahbous from the Sahel-based Mouvement pour l’Unification et le Jihad en Afrique de l’Ouest; and Muhammad Jamal Abdo Al-Kashif, leader of the Muhammad Jamal Network operating in North Africa.
The Ombudsperson, Kimberly Prost, tasked with making recommendations on the requests regarding removal from the sanctions list, submitted her sixth report to the Council on 31 July (S/2013/452). Since 1 February, 13 new cases had been submitted to the Ombudsperson, bringing the total number of petitions submitted since the establishment of the Office to 49. During the reporting period, five individuals were delisted on her recommendation and one delisting request was refused. In two additional cases, a Committee decision resulted in the delisting of two individuals.
On 18 July, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on the Kadi II case. The original Kadi case has been the most significant legal challenge to the 1267 sanctions regime and concerned an EU regulation implementing Council-mandated sanctions. On 3 September 2008, the ECJ struck down the EU implementing regulation because the appellant had not been afforded due process by not being able to challenge the listing in a court.
The ruling, whose political significance goes beyond its original purpose (Kadi was delisted in 2012), states that, despite the improvements added, the procedure for delisting and ex officio re-examination at the UN level do not provide to the person listed “the guarantee of effective judicial protection”.
1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee
Following the 2013 work programme for the CTC and CTC Executive Directorate (CTED), the CTC organised a special event on 24 May on the use of new communications and information technologies to counter terrorism. The meeting focused on the use of mobile-telephone technology and the Internet to counter terrorism, as well as the latest technologies used to regulate the movement of persons at border checkpoints. On 20 September, the CTC held a special event on strengthening the capacity of states in the Sahel region in the global fight against terrorism.
During the reporting period, CTED has carried out a number of visits and capacity-building activities and partnered with regional and subregional organisations.
1540 Committee
On 31 May, the Committee submitted its 12th programme of work to the Council, covering the period from 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2014 (S/2013/327). This follows the same structure as the previous programme of work but incorporates a few new elements such as some specific deadlines, consideration of possible quantitative measures for reviewing progress, establishment of strategic goals and specific objectives for cooperation with international organisations and strengthening the Committee’s relationship with the Nuclear Security Summit.
The Committee held two formal meetings since the last briefing to the Council—on 12 June and 12 August—as well as several working-group meetings. The informal briefing for member states which was planned for October has been postponed until December or possibly January.
Following recent submissions of national implementation reports by Liberia and South Sudan, the number of non-reporting states is now down to 22.
Key Issues
A key issue for the 1267/1989 Committee is to address patterns of non-compliance with the sanctions regime by member states, either due to lack of will or capacity.
Whether to address the challenges raised by the Kadi II case regarding the rights of the defence and the right to effective judicial protection will be a further issue.
An issue for the CTC and CTED is the improvement of the coordination with the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) and the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT).
A key issue for the 1540 Committee is achieving universal reporting by member states.
A further issue is the annual review of the implementation of resolution 1540 due by the end of the year as requested by resolution 1977. (This is expected to start in early November.)
Council Dynamics
On the 1267/1989 Committee, some Council members have shown their disappointment over the ECJ ruling in the Kadi II case, although no action is planned until mid-2014, when the review of the measures imposed by the sanctions regime is due. Previous attempts to strengthen or widen the mandate of the Ombudsperson have been opposed by at least two permanent members.
It seems some discussion about the mandate of the CTED, due for renewal by the end of 2013, has already taken place among Council members, mainly regarding CTC interaction with CTITF and UNCCT, as well as its role in the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
In the 1540 Committee, while there is general consensus on the importance of the work of the Committee, there are some differences among members on main priorities. Developing countries seem to attach particular importance to its role in facilitating assistance. Some members would like to expand the work of the Committee in areas such as proliferation financing and transhipment and seem hopeful that the fact that Russia is currently holding the chairmanship of FATF may facilitate such discussions.
| Security Council Resolutions | |
| 17 December 2012 S/RES/2083 | This resolution renewed the mandate of the Al-Qaida sanctions committee (1267/1989) Ombudsperson for 30 months. |
| 29 June 2012 S/RES/2055 | Expanded the number of 1540 Committee’s Group of Experts members from eight to nine. |
| 20 April 2011 S/RES/1977 | This resolution renewed the mandate of the 1540 committee for 10 years. The committee was requested to conduct a comprehensive review of the status of implementation of resolution 1540 and recommend any necessary adjustments to its mandate every five years. The committee was also asked to consider by 31 August the feasibility of a coordination and leadership post for the group of experts, as well as the expertise and broad geographical representation required for the group of experts. In addition, the Council decided that the committee should submit an annual programme of work to the Council before the end of each May, with the next due by 31 May 2011. |
| 20 December 2010 S/RES/1963 | This resolution extended the mandate of the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Executive Directorate (CTED) until 31 December 2013, with an interim review to be conducted by 30 June 2012 and an updated global implementation survey of resolution 1373 to be completed by 30 June 2011. The resolution encouraged CTED to focus increased attention on resolution 1624 (2005) and to produce a report on that resolution’s implementation by 31 December 2011 |
| Security Council Meeting Record | |
| 10 May 2013 S/PV.6964 | This was the semi-annual briefing by the chairs of its counterterrorism-related committees. |
| Security Council Letters | |
| 2 August 2013 S/2013/467 | This letter included the 14th report of the Monitoring Team |
| 31 July 2013 S/2013/452 | This letter included the sixth report of the Ombudsperson. |
| 17 June 2013 S/2013/364 | This letter informed the Council of the Secretary-General’s intention to appoint Jean-Paul Laborde (France) as Executive Director of CTED. |
| 31 May 2013 S/2013/327 | This was the latest programme of work of the 1540 Committee. |
