Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Gennady Kuzmin at the Joint Briefing by Chairs of Subsidiary Bodies of the Security Council
Mr. President,
We assign great importance to regular meetings of Chairs of the three SC committees that are competent in countering terrorism. We share the positive assessments that you voiced when speaking about cooperation between these subsidiary bodies, i.a. regarding exchange of information, developing analytical documents, convening joint meetings and launching joint monitoring missions.
Specialized bodies of the Council face a challenging task to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances at the counter-terrorist front. Experts from UN subsidiary bodies agree that today ISIS, “Al-Qaida” and the affiliated organizations have stakes on extending their presence in States that were formerly considered rather favourable in terms of security. This given, it is very difficult to predict where an outbreak of terror will occur next.
In such conditions, the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) should spare no effort to control the implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council in all the key regions. We call upon States that are on the current list of the CTC assessment visits to be constructive when coordinating such visits with CTC leadership and its Executive Directorate (CTED).
We commend efforts made by the CTED to analyze emerging trends in the area of countering terrorism. We believe it necessary to continue studying interaction between terrorist organizations and international crime. Terrorists employ potential of criminal groups and enhance their capability to carry out subversive activities on a trans-national scale. In this regard, we believe efforts of Peruvian chairmanship to develop this topic in the Committee appear to be even more demanded.
In CTC, we traditionally call to pay increased attention to latest digital technologies, first of all to the problem of their illegal use by terrorists to radicalize and recruit new adepts. Resolutions 1624 and 2354 of the Security Council should remain fundamental for this work.
We call upon all States to thoroughly study the new requirements of the Security Council that are embedded in resolution 2462 on combatting diverse support for terrorists. In particular, the Council, acting in compliance with Chapter VII of the UN Charter, prescribed to all States to criminalize a whole range of offences, related to illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons. Checks of national legislations and law enforcement practices in this area are now part of the CTC competence.
At this point, let me warn our CTC colleagues and CTED experts against excessive preoccupation with secondary elements of CTC mandate. Attempts to add human rights issues to its agenda, substitute tasks of countering terrorism for a concept of preventing violent extremism distract States from meeting their primary obligations in this area.
Now let us turn to the bright side. I would like to avail of the opportunity and thank CTED Executive Director M.Coninsx for her input in promoting CTC’s cooperation with relevant organizations. We welcome the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between CTED and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. Should it be required, we are ready to assist in its implementation.
Mr. President,
Effective implementation of SC resolutions on anti-terrorist sanctions regime regarding ISIS and “Al-Qaida” is of principal importance. We commend the work of SC Committee 1267/1989/2253 that proved to be one of the most effective SC bodies on counter-terrorist track.
Given the growing presence of ISIS in Afghanistan and its prospects to expand to States of Central Asia, the priority task is to spread the anti-terrorist sanctions regime of the Security Council to individuals and organizations, affiliated with the Afghani “wing” of ISIS. Despite certain losses that these formations suffered in the North, they remain one of the key destabilizing factors in the country.
Activity of ISIS in Afghanistan is also maintained by foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) who have received combat experience in Syria and Iraq. There are many terrorist attacks carried out by suicide bombers, which proves that the group possesses human resources. In this regard, we underscore the need to keep focus on FTF problem, i.a. in the context of extending anti-terrorist sanctions lists.
We support effective work of the Monitoring Group; its reports are crucial for Committee’s functioning. We call Member States to maintain close interaction with experts. We expect that reports by the Monitoring Group will be most objective and will base only on information from verified sources.
We believe another important factor is country visits of the Monitoring Group. We anticipate that focus will be on countries that encounter manifestations of terrorism.
Mr. President,
Resolution 1540 of the Security Council is a key universal legally binding document in the area of non-proliferation of WMDs that prescribes to all countries to take effective steps in order to prevent non-State actors from getting hold of WMDs, their delivery systems, and any materials related to them. Countering proliferation of WMDs is one of Russia’s military and political priorities. Like other urgent issues, this is the question where we require joint coordinated actions by all States without exception.
We are interested in searching for shared positions with our partners in order to promote the non-proliferation agenda. This becomes even more urgent, because to our regret, problems in this area continue to escalate.
Generally, we are satisfied with how this resolution is implemented and we appreciate that the international community realizes its importance. We give a positive assessment to the efforts of Committee 1540 of the UN Security Council chaired by Indonesia and experts of this subsidiary body. We take notice of courses for national contact points, country visits for the purpose of developing national voluntary action plans, assistance to countries in need of it, lasting contacts with relevant international, regional and sub-regional organizations, etc. However, there is still much to be done in order to achieve the basic goal, which is total implementation of the resolution by all countries.
ISIS and other terrorist groups keep active in the Middle East region. They have mastered production technologies of chemical weapons, which they make active use of. In light of this, the importance of collective action to prevent the horrendous phenomenon of chemical terrorism is only increasing. Besides, we have to act promptly, especially given that as the situation in Syria is moving towards settlement, terrorists, i.a. those who have practical experience in the area of chemical weapons, will try to flee to third countries. In this regard, we remind of Russia’s initiative to devise and adopt a convention on countering acts of chemical and biological terrorism.
Thank you for your attention.
