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COUNTER-TERRORISM
"We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, as it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security."
2005 World Summit Outcome
"Reaffirming that acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all its forms
and manifestations are activities aimed at the destruction of human rights,
fundamental freedoms and democracy, threatening territorial integrity, security of States and destabilizing legitimately constituted Governments, and that the international community should take the necessary steps
United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy
Global action against terrorismTerrorism has been of concern to the international community since 1937 when the League of Nations elaborated the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism. Subsequently, the United Nations and regional inter-governmental organizations have dealt with terrorism from a legal and political perspective. Since 1963, the international community has elaborated universal legal instruments related to the prevention and suppression of international terrorism, which constitute the universal legal regime against terrorism. In addition, the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council have adopted several resolutions pertaining to terrorism. In particular, and in response to the attacks of 11 September 2001, the Security Council adopted resolution 1373 (2001) on 28 September (2001) which declared that: " ...acts, methods and practices of terrorism are contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations ". It called upon Member States to "become parties as soon as possible to the relevant international conventions and protocols" and "to increase cooperation and fully implement the relevant international conventions and protocol". This resolution also established the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in the Security Council to monitor the implementation of the resolution by all States and increase the capability of States to fight terrorism, including bringing Member States to an acceptable level of compliance with the terrorism-related conventions and protocols. The CTC has since become the United Nations' leading body to promote collective action against international terrorism. In carrying out its functions, the Committee is supported by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) (See below " Working closely with CTC of the Security Council and CTED"). In the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, the Heads of State and Government mandated the General Assembly to develop a counter-terrorism strategy to promote comprehensive and coordinated responses to one of humanity's major threats. In April 2006, the Secretary-General issued recommendations for a global counter-terrorism strategy ( 60/825), which led to the unanimous adoption by the General Assembly, on 8 September 2006, of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy ( 60/288). The strategy marks the first time that countries around the world agree on a common strategic approach to fight terrorism. The strategy contains a plan of action: to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism; to prevent and combat terrorism; to take measures to build state capacity to fight terrorism; to strengthen the role of the United Nations in combating terrorism; and to ensure the respect of human rights while countering terrorism. The Role of UNODC in Terrorism Prevention
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has for many years been addressing issues pertaining to international terrorism and related international cooperation. In 2002, the General Assembly approved an expanded programme of activities for the Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) of UNODC. The expanded programme focuses on the provision of assistance to States, upon request, in the legal and related aspects of counter-terrorism, especially for ratifying and implementing the universal legal instruments against terrorism and for strengthening the capacity of the national criminal justice systems to apply the provisions of these instruments in compliance with the principles of rule of law. In addition, the Branch's programme of work entails the provision of substantive input on related counter-terrorism issues to intergovernmental bodies, especially the Crime Commission, the Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The Branch also provides specialized input on relevant counter-terrorism issues for the United Nations Secretariat wide initiatives and coordinates its activities with other entities and organizations. Since 2002, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice have reiterated the mandates of the Terrorism Prevention Branch in providing technical assistance to counter terrorism. The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 60/288 of 8 September 2006, makes extensive reference to the work of UNODC, particularly its Terrorism Prevention Branch. The Strategy encourages UNODC to enhance its technical assistance. It encourages Member States to resort to the technical assistance delivered by UNODC. UNODC possesses significant comparative advantages for delivering assistance in counter-terrorism. In particular, it combines a range of expertise in the related areas of crime prevention and criminal justice, rule of law, drug control, transnational organized crime, money laundering, corruption and related international cooperation in criminal matters with operational field-level capacity. In pursuance of its above mandates, the Terrorism Prevention Branch seeks to respond promptly and efficiently to requests from States for assistance in the legal and related aspects of countering terrorism. The objective of the technical assistance activities of the Terrorism Prevention Branch is to strengthen the legal regime against terrorism. The Branch does this by providing legal advice to States on becoming parties to the universal legal instruments relating to terrorism, by assisting States to incorporate their provisions into national penal codes, by providing training to criminal justice officials on the new laws and by providing other required assistance for strengthening the capacity of the national criminal justice system to implement effectively the legal regime against terrorism, in compliance with the principles of rule of law, and to participate effectively in international cooperation in criminal matters relating to terrorism. When requested, assistance is also provided in preparing the country reports to the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the Security Council. In response to the mandates contained in the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, UNODC and its Terrorism Prevention Branch seeks to:
UNODC's Technical Assistance ActivitiesUNODC's Global Project on Strengthening the Legal Regime against Terrorism provides the overall framework for delivering technical assistance to countries. It functions as a continuing 'rolling' project, with global, sub-regional and national components. It is regularly revised and up-dated to ensure continued relevance of all elements and integrate new initiatives in response to new requirements. The project's overall objective is to support Member States in achieving a functional universal legal regime against terrorism in accordance with the principles of the rule of law. The scope of assistance provided through this project has been broadening, in terms of its geographical reach, the number of States receiving assistance and the substantive content of the assistance provided. Increasingly more attention is being paid to implementation assistance, as more States ratify the universal instruments. Project activities address:
Between October 2002 and December 2006, assistance was provided to some 125 countries through the project, of which more than 100 received direct assistance through country missions and consultations, and others received indirect assistance through 32 subregional and regional workshops and related activities organized under the project. Over 4,600 national officials haven been provided with substantial briefings or training on the ratification and implementation requirements. These workshops have provided opportunities for countries from the same region to compare progress, learn from each other and harmonize legislative efforts. The workshops have produced final documents focusing on the follow-up technical assistance needs of participating States with regard to the ratification and implementation of the universal anti-terrorism instruments. Specific national action plans have also been developed jointly with governments, and legislative drafting workshops have been organized to study the provisions of the instruments and to make recommendations to ministers regarding ratification, as well as implementation of the legislation, including the provisions of the universal legal instruments relating to terrorism, and the requirements of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001). UNODC staff have also provided assistance to States to complete reports to the Counter-Terrorism Committee in response to Security Council resolution 1373 (2001). The Office has also strategically placed terrorism prevention experts in a number of regions to support and follow up assistance activities. Technical Assistance Tools and Substantive PublicationsIn order to further assist Member States understand the provisions contained in the universal instruments, draft new legislation which complies with the requirements in the universal instruments, and enhance international cooperation to fight terrorism, UNODC has developed a number of technical assistance tools, such as the Legislative Guide to the universal anti-terrorism conventions and protocols, checklists for the universal anti-terrorism conventions and Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), and a Guide for the legislative incorporation and implementation of the universal anti-terrorism instruments (See technical assistance tools). Result and impact of technical assistance workMember States, with which TPB has conducted technical cooperation activities since 2002, undertook an estimated 353 new ratifications of the universal anti-terrorism instruments. Whereas in January 2003 when the global project started, only 26 countries had ratified all first 12 universal instruments, as of end December 2006, 85 countries have ratified all of them. In the same way, in January 2003, whereas 98 countries had ratified only 6 or less of the first 12 instruments, as of end December, that number has been brought down to 32. Some 35 countries have new or revised counter-terrorism legislation in different stages of adoption. The capacity of national criminal justice systems of some 100 countries has been strengthened to implement the legal regime against terrorism, through the training of some 4,600 criminal justice officials from these countries. Working closely with CTC of the Security Council and CTEDThe functions of establishing counter-terrorism policy and monitoring Member States' implementation are vested in the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of the Security Council. In carrying out its functions, the Committee is supported by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), which is entrusted, inter alia, with the functions of assessing Member States' implementation, identifying gaps in their implementation capacity, coordinating and facilitating availability of technical assistance to countries. CTED itself does not deliver technical assistance to countries. UNODC's function is to provide such technical assistance in the legal and related areas - it thus serves as one among the many key providers of specialized technical assistance to countries. These distinct functions of CTC/CTED and UNODC are fully complementary and mutually supportive:
In accordance with these distinct functions,
Synergy efforts and operational partnershipsWhere possible, activities draw on existing UNODC in-house expertise, such as that in Anti-Money Laundering, Organized Crime and Corruption, as well as in the Legal Advisory Section. The Branch pays special attention to maximize the impact of its work through operational partnerships and to avoid duplication of efforts. Technical assistance activities are undertaken in close partnership and cooperation with numerous international, regional and subregional organizations. The approach is to work with these organizations and, where relevant, support and complement their efforts, especially by providing specialized legal expertise and the advantages of relevant global perspectives and experiences. Organizations with which operational collaboration exists include the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the International Maritime Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the African Union, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Counter-Terrorism Action Group of the Group of Eight, the Economic Community of Central African States, the Economic Community of West African States, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), the International Organization of la Francophonie, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the League of Arab States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of American States , the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), in Eastern Africa, the Association of Regional Magistrates in Southern Africa (ARMSA) and the Terrorist Working Group of the European Union and the World Bank. Working with other United Nations entitiesIn addition to working closely with CTC/CTED mentioned above, UNODC, as being a key UN entity for delivering counter-terrorism legal and related technical assistance, actively participates in the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, thus ensuring that UNODC's counter-terrorism work is fully carried out in the broader context of and coordinated with the UN system-wide efforts. The Task Force, established by the Secretary-General in June 2005, is a coordinating and information-sharing body of an advisory nature and it serves as a forum to discuss strategic issues and develop policy recommendations. Chaired by the Office of the Secretary-General, it brings together 24 key actors of the UN system and its partners that can contribute to an effective coordinated fight against terrorism. The Branch also works in close coordination with the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Field orientationSpecial efforts are being made to achieve field-level presence and field input by assigning regional and subregional experts and by drawing on the operational capacities of UNODC's field offices. Technical assistance delivery by the Branch is assisted by regional experts assigned in South-East Asia and the Pacific, Central Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, West and Central Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Assignment of regional experts are foreseen for Southern Africa, Eastern Africa and the Pacific Island countries. These experts provide specialized national and subregional input and perspectives and facilitate effective follow-up to the activities of the Branch. This approach also helps to build up expertise on counter-terrorism issues at the subregional and field levels. Donor SupportTechnical assistance activities of the Branch are financed from voluntary contributions from donors, while core staff and operating resources are derived from the United Nations regular budget. The support of donor countries has been steadily increasing, reflecting growing confidence in effective programme delivery. As of January 2007, voluntary financial contributions for activities by the Terrorism Prevention Branch totalled some US$ 15.5 million. The generous contributions have been made by the following 18 countries:
Further imformation on Terrorism Prevention Branch workFor more details regarding TPB's activities, see the Report of the Secretary-General "Strengthening international cooperation and technical assistance in promoting the implementation of the universal conventions and protocols related to terrorism within the framework of the activities of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime" submitted to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its fifteenth session ( E/CN.15/2006/12, available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic), as well as in the Report of the Secretary-General on "Strengthening international cooperation and technical assistance in promoting the implementation of the universal conventions and protocols related to terrorism within the framework of the activities of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime" ( A/61/178).
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