Topic Guide for Special Conference

SPECIAL CONFERENCE
 AGENDA: Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts

“Missiles may kill terrorists, but good governance kills terrorism.”

305 Introduction Terrorism continues to threaten the entire international community, as barely a week passes without news reports of terrorist acts committed in different parts of the globe.306 It endangers innocent civilians, and no one is secure from this risk.307 Since 1934, terrorism has been discussed internationally, when the League of Nations wrote a document on terrorism; it was adopted in 1937, but was never ratified.308 As of 2015 the United Nations (UN) has not adopted a universal definition of terrorism, which limits the ability for Member States and the international community in creating a world free from terrorism.309 However, different definitions may be found in the documents of the Security Council (SC) and other UN bodies.310

SC resolution 1566 (2004) condemns:  "criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act, which constitute offences within the scope of and as defined in the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature."

Since 2001, the SC has taken greater measures to address the issue of terrorism and has encouraged Member States to suppress the methods and means to commit terrorist acts, criminalize terrorist activities, and to cooperate with one another in investigation process, detection and prosecution of terrorists.312 More recently, the issues of foreign terrorist fighters and youth extremism have become particularly challenging for the international community.313 The number of recruited fighters who have joined the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Qaida, and other groups has increased to over 25,000 individuals this year, and terrorist groups are actively recruiting young, disenfranchised people into their ranks via internet and particularly social media portals making the ability to inhibit these challenges difficult.314  International and Regional Framework Since 1963, the international community has created 18 universal legal instruments on counter-terrorism, including 14 initial documents and 4 substantive amendments. 315 These addressed the problem of terrorism and specific types of terroristic activities and their targets, such as civil aviation, maritime navigation, hostages, nuclear materials, platforms located on the continental shelf, and financing of terrorism.316 Since the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in New York, at least 10 of 16 conventions have been ratified or acceded to by two-thirds of Member States.317 The most recent legal instruments relating to anti-terrorism were adopted in 2010.318 These are: the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation (2010), which has not yet come into force  and the Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (2010).319 Both the Convention and the Protocol criminalize the usage of civil aviation as means to conduct terroristic attacks including placing an explosive device on an aircraft and authorizing the aircraft commander to take reasonable measures against an individual that poses a threat to the safety of the aircraft.

Since 2000, within the framework of the Ad Hoc Committee established pursuant to the General Assembly (GA) resolution on “measures to eliminate international terrorism,” Member States have worked towards a convention on international terrorism.321 This would supplement the existing framework and adhere to the guiding principles of international anti-terrorism conventions.322 The draft includes the criminalization of terrorist acts, prosecution or extradition for perpetrators, exclusion of the exceptions to such criminalization on various grounds from legislation, and calls on Member States to cooperate, exchange information, assist in the processes of investigation, and take all necessary measures to prevent terroristic acts.323 However, the convention has been delayed by the inability of Member States to agree upon a common definition of terrorism.324 While the proposed definition itself is not seen as controversial by Member States, the debate falters on two arguments: that this definition should include the use of armed forces against civilians by the state and that people under foreign occupation have a right to armed struggle against the oppressors, which means that any definition can not contradict this right.325 

United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy

In December 2004, the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change first stated the need for a global counter-terrorism strategy to target the factors that contribute to the outspread of international terrorism, reinforce the rule of law, and promote human rights.326 In his report on 27 April 2006, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented five pillars for the future common strategy, which includes deterring groups from resorting to terrorism, preventing terrorist groups from acquiring means to carry out terroristic attacks, have states refrain from supporting terrorist groups, strengthening the capacity of Member States to combat counter-terrorism, and defending human rights in relation to terrorism and counter-terrorism activities.327 On 8 September 2006 the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy was adopted.328 This global instrument provides a framework for both the UN system and Member States to strengthen capacity to prevent and combat terrorism, ensuring the respect to human rights and rule of law.329 It also reiterates that terrorism may be defeated only if the UN focuses on prevention rather than reaction to terrorist activities.330 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced his intention to present a comprehensive plan of action to prevent violent extremism to the GA in 2016.331 This plan will build upon the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy to establish a system-wide approach for addressing the root causes of terrorism, as well as recommending individual and collective action to counter the spread of extremism.

Security Council

The SC did not focus on the issue of terrorism until the adoption of resolution 1373 (2001), which called upon Member States to become parties to these conventions and established the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) as a subsidiary body of the SC.333 Resolution 1373 criminalized financing of terrorism, called upon Member States to freeze all assets related to those involved in terrorist activities, to cease any sources of financial support for terrorists, cooperate with other states in fighting terrorism, and demanded that Member States implement specific measures aimed at strengthening their capacity to prevent terrorist activities.334  

In September 2005, resolution 1624 (2005) on incitement to commit acts of terrorism was adopted by the SC.335 The resolution required Member States to include the prohibition of incitement in their legislation and ensure the prosecution of those, "with respect to whom there is credible and relevant information giving serious reasons for considering that they have been guilty of such conduct."336 Finally, the most recent resolution on the agenda item of the “threat to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts” was adopted by the SC on 12 February 2015.337 In resolution 2199 (2015) the SC encouraged a number of financial measures to counter terrorism, such as assets freezing, closure of any sources of financing for terrorist organizations, condemned any trade relations with Al-Qaida associated groups and urged Member States take all necessary measures to prevent terrorists in Iraq and Syria from benefiting from oil, hostages, and antiques trade.338 To note, according to the provisions of this resolution, Member States have to report to Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee within 120 days of the implementation of the resolution.339

 Regional and sub-regional instruments

 Many legal frameworks for combating terrorism have been adopted by regional organizations.340 These documents include the organizations’ own definitions of terrorism, measures to prevent and combat terrorist crimes, legal basis of the issue, including the extradition of the criminals, and the framework for cooperation among Member States, such as information exchange.341 The Organization of American States was the first to adopt its regional Convention To Prevent And Punish The Acts Of Terrorism Taking The Form Of Crimes Against Persons And Related Extortion That Are Of International Significance (1971).342 It was followed by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism (1987), European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (1977) and Arab Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (1998).343 In 1999, the Convention of the Organization of the Islamic Conference on Combating International Terrorism (1999), Organisation of the African Unity Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism (1999), and Treaty on Cooperation among the States Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Combating Terrorism (1999) were all adopted.344

 Role of the International System

 In 1996, the UN General Assembly created the Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism, which works with the GA Sixth Committee on the international legal aspects of strengthening the efforts of Member States in countering terrorism.345 The body conducts biannual reviews of Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the most recent of which was introduced in June 2014.346 The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) provide technical assistance to the Member States.347 UNODC helps Member States with implementing legal frameworks on terrorism and terrorist financing, while CTITF implements the UN’s counter-terrorism efforts and provides support to all Member States.348 In October 1999 through resolution 1267 (1999) the SC established the Sanctions Committee and introduced the sanctions regime for individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaida and the Taliban.349 These sanctions included assets freeze, arm embargo and travel ban.350 In 201l, with resolutions 1988 (2011) and 1989 (2011), the SC separated Al-Qaeda and the Taliban sanctions list.351 After establishing the CTC, in 2004 the SC established the CTC Executive Directorate to facilitate technical assistance to Member States and monitor the implementation of Resolution 1373.352 Also in 2004, the SC established the 1540 Committee to monitor the implementation of resolution 1540.353  

The subject of human rights in the context of terrorism and counter-terrorism has been an issue since the establishment of the CTC in 2001 and from then has paid more attention to its human rights policy.354 Specifically, the Executive Directorate was mandated to liaise with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other human rights organizations in the context of counter-terrorism.355 In 2005, Member States affirmed their commitment to protect human rights in the process of the fight against international terrorism through the establishment of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.356 Among the tasks of the Special Rapporteur are identifying and exchanging best practices in countering terrorism with respect to human rights, maintaining dialogue with the governments on the possible areas of cooperation, and making specific recommendations on promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism.357 Through resolution 1566, the SC established a Working Group to recommend possible measures against individuals and groups involved in terrorist activities as well to discuss the creation of fund to assist the victims of terrorism.358 On 28 July 2015, the SC held its most recent debate on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts and issued a presidential statement in which it expressed its condemnation of all terroristic attacks and violations of international law by Boko Haram in West Africa and underlined the importance of sustained national and regional efforts to assist the conflict-affected population and provide it with all possible support.359

Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force

The CTITF was created by the Secretary-General in 2005 and approved by the GA through the Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy.360 In June 2013, the CTITF held a high-level “International Counter-Terrorism Focal Points Conference on Addressing Conditions Conducive to the Spread of Terrorism and Promoting Regional Cooperation,” which gathered experts and official representatives from more than 100 Member States and regional and international organizations.361 The participants of the Conference identified the key challenges, priorities and ways to successfully implement Pillar I of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy – addressing conditions conductive to the spread of terrorism - at the global, regional, and local levels.362 Participants expressed their support for socioeconomic development, conflict prevention and peaceful resolution, supporting victims of terrorism, and elaborating counter-radicalization programs.363 Attendees further reiterated the importance of regional and international cooperation among the Member States, and underlined that respect for human rights and liberties and countering extremism may not be considered mutually exclusive.364

                                                                

Role of the Regional Organizations

 In 2004 the African Union (AU) established the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) with the aim to accumulate information and analyses on terrorism, provide cooperation between AU Member States and expand the Counter-Terrorism capacity building programs for the region.365 The Director of ACSRT holds the position of AU Special Representative for Counter-Terrorism Cooperation.366 The position was established in 2010 to provide support to the AU in assessing the situation within Member States and identifying major steps to counter terrorism.367 Similarly, Counter-terrorism initiatives of the Organization of American States are mostly provided through the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE), created in 1999.368 With the help of CICTE American states have enhanced their cooperation in financial control against money laundering and financing of terrorism, and improved the quality of identification and travel documents control.369 The Council of Europe has also organized many international conferences related to terrorism on topics such as: preventing terrorist acts, bringing terrorists to justice, and protecting victims.370 Additionally, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe works actively on suppressing money-laundering and ensuring border security, while also assisting participating countries to elaborate and implement counter-terrorism measures that also follow human rights standards.371  

Foreign Terrorist Fighters

The threat to international peace and security caused by the foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) has become one of the most crucial issues to be addressed by the international community.372 Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, over 25,000 FTF from more than 80 Member States have joined ISIL and the Al-Nusra Front.373 For the first time, the SC addressed this issue by unanimously adopting resolution 2178 on 24 September 2014, defining FTF as “individuals who travel abroad to a State rather than their States of residence or nationality to engage in, undertake, plan, prepare, carry out or otherwise support terrorist activity or to provide or receive training to do so.” The SC also condemned violent extremism and reiterated the necessity to prevent travel and support for FTF.374 The resolution further demands that Member States amend their legislation to enable the prosecution of those travelling or attempting to travel for terrorism purposes.375 On 23 September 2014 the Global Counterterrorism Forum adopted the “Hague-Marrakech Memorandum on Good Practices for a More Effective Response to the FTF Phenomenon.”376 The document included good practices in four parts of the FTF issue: radicalization to violent extremism, recruitment and facilitation, travel and fighting, as well as return and reintegration.377 The memorandum was aimed at helping the governments elaborate their policies in regard to counter-terrorism.

On 29 May 2015 the SC held a meeting, to which for the first time the Ministers of the Interior were specifically invited, to discuss the first report of the CTC on the implementation of the SC resolution 2178 by states affected by the FTF problem.379 The first report underlined the necessity to enhance the information exchange among the states, which drew attention to the significant risks posed by returning terrorist fighters and discussed the issue of human rights in the context of countering terrorism.380 In a Presidential Statement, adopted at this meeting, the SC stressed the need for Member States to establish laws criminalizing recruitment, transportation and provision of FTF with weapons and financing; strengthen border management; and more effectively address radicalization particularly among youth.381 The Statement also urged the better cooperation, exchange of information, and use of terrorist database with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).382 The Secretary-General of INTERPOL, Mr. Jurgen Stock stressed the necessity of making more information available to personnel working directly at the border, particularly to the border screeners.383  

In resolution 2178, the SC also urged Member States to create new or strengthen the existing legal basis to address the flow of FTFs into Syria and Iraq.384 Member States have so far implemented their multi-dimensional responses to the threat posed by FTFs, thus already showing the potential of Resolution 2178 to bring major impact towards resolving this issue.385 Nevertheless, according to the report released by the CTC, the amount of FTFs continues to grow rapidly.386 In his statement Mr. Jean-Paul Laborde, Assistant Secretary-General of CTC Executive Directorate said that despite all the measures taken by Member States it is still easy for any person wishing to join terrorist groups to contact a recruiter unanimously.387 He underlined the importance of advance passenger aviation system to enhance border and aviation security and once again reiterated the importance terrorist financing issue.

 Youth and Extremism

The interest of extremist groups in youth has increased in the past decade, with the majority of FTFs being young males aged 15-25.389 On 23 April 2015, the SC held its first open debate on the role of youth in countering violent extremism and promoting peace.390 Factors leading to the radicalization of youth include unemployment, personal trauma, and unmet expectations of their future.391 This threat may be mitigated by push factors for youth radicalization such as strengthening public-private cooperation, educating youth, and supporting youth initiatives and organizations.392 During the briefing the Secretary-General claimed “the role of youth lies at the heart of international peace and security.”393 During the debate representatives of Member States also stressed attention on the necessity to target the issue of incitement to violent extremism and the use of the Internet by terrorist groups to recruit youth.394 Youth are recruited into joining such causes through different means, but it is most heavily done via the Internet.

Radicalized youth have been shown to be a major threat to international peace, stability, and development as they will abandon their education and derail the community’s development endeavors.396 In June 2015 a conference entitled “Youth and the Internet: Fighting Radicalization and Extremism” was held at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris.397 The role of the Internet in youth radicalization, the experiences of Member States, and research on the issue were all discussed in an attempt to understand the issue.398 UNESCO specifically presented its proposal for multidimensional pilot projects aimed at empowering youth and addressing the spread of extremism among youth online.399 Not only does this threaten international security, but it is also detrimental to the sustainability of development and the future of the world’s next generation.

Case Study: Capacity-Building in the Horn of Africa Region

 The Horn of Africa remains one of the most complex and problematic regions in the world. Countries within the region suffer from political instability, ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises.401 Moreover, since the attacks of 11 September 2001, the region has been considered a major source of terrorism.402 In order to address these issues, the Horn of Africa Region Capacity Building working group was established within the Global Counterterrorism Forum.403 The working group identifies the current counter-terrorism challenges, capacity gaps of the state and seeks for measures to address these gaps, involving financial resource, expertise, and mobilizing political will.404 For the Horn of Africa, the working group identified 5 major capacity-building directions, which are: “law enforcement, criminal justice and rule of law, border management, countering violent extremism [CVE], and countering terrorist financing.”405 During their most recent plenary session on 11-14 March 2014 the Working Group noted that countering violent extremism is strongly interconnected with development, and especially underlined the importance of stability in Somalia for security in the region.406 They also discussed the necessity to increase the amount of trainings for the growing number of law enforcement officers, judges, and prosecutors in frames of Anti-Money Laundering/ Countering the Financing of Terrorism.407 At the latest plenary meeting of the Working Group, INTERPOL shared its plans to expand the use of its databases through cooperation with the International Organization for Migration and combining their databases on one platform, with a pilot program in Tanzania and Djibouti.

Conclusion

 International terrorism and terrorist groups, such as ISIL, Al-Qaida, and their affiliates, pose a serious threat to international peace and security. The crimes committed by these groups continue to cause enormous human suffering around the globe. In order to combat terrorism and restore peace and security in the affected regions, Member States must address the issue considering all existing challenges, including the incitement of terrorism, recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters, radicalization of youth, and the financing of terrorist groups activities through trade. In 2001, Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed the necessity for the UN to change a “culture of reaction to a culture of prevention” as the only way to counter terrorism.409In the UN system, the SC plays the most important role in facilitating this change, but it also depends on the endeavors and resolve of all Member States on national, regional, sub-regional, and international levels, as well as their ability to reach consensus to achieve this. 

Further Research

While the issues pertaining to terrorism and counter-terrorism are complex, there are a few questions which delegates should consider as they continue their research. How can the international community ensure the respect of human rights while countering terrorism? How can the process of creating a universal terrorism definition be facilitated? Acting under its mandate, how can the SC address the issue of youth radicalization and its root causes, especially online recruitment? What else can Member States do to address the issue of terrorist groups financing? How can the Member States control the recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters from their states through direct contact with recruiters as well as via social media? How can capacity be increased among Member States for combatting terrorism?