Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at the Security Council Meeting on Countering the Financing of Terrorism

Mr. President,

We appreciate the efforts of the French side and of Mr. Le Drian personally for convening a meeting on countering the financing of terrorism. From the beginning of the year, the Security Council has been actively working on this topic. After discussing the pending threats in the framework of the Eighth report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL, and after the exchange of national practices at the Arria formula meeting chaired by France, the Council made the right decision to get down to concrete steps.

We reiterate our support for the resolution that has been adopted today and call upon all States to address it with full responsibility. This uneasy task can be fulfilled only given the active support and coordination of the UN, and  involvement of unique expert potential, effective FATF tools, as well as non-governmental mechanisms that aim at countering the financing of terrorism. In this regard, we express our gratitude to Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, Mr. Marshall Billingslea and Ms. Mercy Buku for a meaningful contribution to the discussion.

The cases of ISIS and Al-Qaida clearly show that the intensiveness of terrorist activities is critically dependent on the level of financing. Sufficient material resources allow terrorists to plot and carry out attacks, recruit new fighters, counteract law enforcement bodies. In order to identify the channels of financing on time, it is imperative to carefully assess risks. After we gave an impetus to it, identification of new models of ISIS support became a priority within FATF. In June, 2016, Russia initiated a regular study of ISIS-related financial flows. According to a new Security Council resolution, we call upon States to promptly join these FATF efforts, raise awareness about the study results and draw practical conclusions therefrom.  

Mr. President,

As we eliminate the extended network of terrorist syndicate in the Middle East, we disclose facts of financial support for Syrian and Iraqi terrorists, including support from entire States. The bank of unseemly behavior is quite broad – from so called ‘non-lethal’ aid deliveries to concealing  cooperation of companies with militants. As a result, the countries that use ‘double standards’ and politicize the counter-terrorist agenda, risk becoming a target for terrorists. We should think of it in advance.

Now it is sort of trendy in the UN to talk about prevention of terrorism and violent extremism. Some people even are naïve enough to think that promotion of tools of ‘soft power’ would suffice to prevent acts of terror. However, not every criminal can be re-educated, rehabilitated and re-integrated. All the more, it is unacceptable to juxtapose this work to criminal justice.

Everyone who is involved in terrorist activities, including its financing, should be held accountable. The Security Council qualifies any deals with terrorists as crimes, no matter if the money would be spent on organizing concrete terrorist attacks or on personal needs of radicals. Any attempts to ignore obligations in this area violate Security Council resolutions 1373, 2178, 2199, 2253, 2368, the decision we have just adopted and the FATF standards.

Mr. President,

May I express our appreciation to the French side and to the Council members, who constructively acted in support of the Russian proposal to include the issues of terrorists’ recharge with weapons to the scope of the resolution. As of today, the Council has improved its toolkit in this area.

We would like to highlight that the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons is a grave crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The demand to criminalize the whole range of acts related to this is contained in item 27 of the resolution. We call upon the SC CTC to pay close attention to it and estimate the level of States’ compliance with it. Same is valid for various measures of countering the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons in the framework of the Madrid principles on combatting the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters.

Of course, some States will need help in implementing the new measures of countering the financing of terrorism and cutting their access to weapons. We stand ready to provide diverse support for the efforts of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism on these priority tracks, and to become part of technical cooperation with partners at regional platforms and bilaterally.

Thank you for the attention. 

 

In response to the representative of Ukraine:

Mr. President,

I would like to comment on the statement by the distinguished representative of Ukraine, who once again told us the annoying tale about the “Russian aggression”. Among other things, he accused my country of violating the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. In this regard, let me remind, that in the court decision issued on April 19, 2017, in the framework of Ukraine’s case against Russia regarding the implementation of the aforementioned convention, the International Court of Justice stated that Ukraine’s claims were not plausible. As for the other issues that the distinguished delegate touched upon, I will not even comment on them, because they have nothing to do with our today’s meeting. It is regrettable, that Ukraine’s delegation continues to use the platform of the Security Council for propaganda purposes.

Thank you.