Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - INTERPOL

CTC conducts follow-up visit to Morocco

BMUSONI — Sat, 29 Jun 2019 21:18:00 +0000

On 28 June 2019, the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC)/ Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) concluded a second follow-up visit to Morocco. Morocco was the first country assessed by CTED on behalf of the CTC in 2005. Since then, CTED conducted follow-up visits in 2013 and now in 2019. The three-day visit was led by Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of CTED Michèle Coninsx who met with relevant ministers and governmental agencies including the President of the National Human Rights Council, the Secretary General of the General Directorate for Penitentiary Administration and Reintegration and the Attorney General.

Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx and the CTED delegation in Morocco.

With the excellent coordination and participation of Moroccan authorities, the delegation was able to engage on a full range of issues from legal and criminal justice to the financing of terrorism, border security and law enforcement, countering violent extremism, including matters relating to foreign terrorist fighters which gave the opportunity to further discuss the implementation of the Addendum to the Madrid Guiding Principles.

The team benefited from the expertise of representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). The delegation noted considerable progress since the 2013 follow-up visit, as well as identified. Areas where technical assistance would be useful to strengthen responses in compliance with international requirements. Meetings were also held with the international community, civil society and the UN Country Team.

The three-day visit, from 26 to 28 June, included on-site visits to Kénitra Prison, Rabat-Salé International Airport, and the Financial Intelligence Unit. The mission concluded with a debrief at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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PRESS RELEASE: INTERPOL and United Nations CTED enhance cooperation through formal agreement

BMUSONI — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 16:03:00 +0000

(LYON) An agreement between INTERPOL and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) will see enhanced cooperation between the two bodies in preventing and countering terrorism.

Signed by INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock and CTED Executive Director Jean-Paul Laborde on 21 July 2017, the accord is aimed at leveraging expertise and optimising resources to avoid duplication of effort in supporting Member States.

In addition to supporting the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on counter-terrorism, especially in law enforcement cooperation and border security, the two organizations will also develop a strategic joint action plan.

The agreement formalises the ongoing collaboration between INTERPOL and CTED, and will ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach for security issues related to preventing and countering terrorism.

CTED and INTERPOL will be working with the newly established UN Office of Counter-Terrorism.

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CTED, INTERPOL, and UNOCT host regional expert workshop on critical infrastructure

BMUSONI — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 09:45:00 +0000

At a regional expert workshop on the protection of critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks, participants raised several important challenges to effectively implement Security Council resolution 2341 (2017) related to this theme. These included domestic multi-stakeholder coordination, public/private partnerships, limited resources (especially in remote areas), and information-sharing. The question of privacy (and human rights, more broadly) was also discussed at great length.

Experts gathered in Singapore for first regional workshop on the protection of critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks.

Held at the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore on 15-17 January 2019, the workshop was organized by the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). It was attended by Government officials from the region, as well as experts from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), INTERPOL, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency.

Participants at the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore.

In addition to requiring Member States to protect critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks, Security Council resolution 2341 (2017) also encourages the Counter-Terrorism Committee, with the support of CTED and the Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Task Force, to continue to work together to facilitate the delivery of technical assistance and capacity-building to Member States and to raise awareness of the need to protect critical infrastructure from terrorist attacks, in particular by strengthening the dialogue between States and relevant international, regional and sub-regional organizations.

The workshop also served to promote a Compendium of Good Practices on the Protection of Critical Infrastructures Against Terrorist Attacks, which was developed under the guidance of CTED and formally launched in New York in 2018. The Government of Japan provided financial support for the workshop which aimed to raise awareness of and promote the implementation of Security Council resolution 2341 (2017) and relevant resolutions among Southeast Asian Member States.

A Flickr album of photos from the workshop is available here.

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CTED Executive Director stresses continued need for global judicial and law enforcement cooperation against ISIL – signs Joint Action Plan with INTERPOL

AKHVEDELID — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 06:11:00 +0000

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CTED Executive Director Coninsx addressing the participants.

At a conference in Washington, DC, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx stressed the continued need for global cooperation by judicial and law enforcement bodies to counter the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh).

“As many foreign terrorist fighters as there are, there are also numerous jurisdictions and legal frameworks that seek to address the issue,” she said.

The conference, on “Mobilizing Law Enforcement Efforts to Defeat ISIL,” was attended by 300 senior-level stakeholders and practitioners from a broad range of Member States and organizations. Aimed at justice and law enforcement officials engaged in counter-terrorism, the conference took place on 27 and 28 February 2018, and was organized by the U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with INTERPOL and the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ). A key objective of the event was to highlight the recently adopted Security Council resolution 2396 (2017), on returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), as well as related multilateral efforts, including those of the Global Counterterrorism Forum.

Ms. Coninsx, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), stressed the need to deal effectively with women and children who returned from conflict zones to their countries of origin or relocated to third countries. Returning or relocating women and children could be victims as well as perpetrators, she noted. There was also a need to address the whole lifecycle of FTFs, provide appropriate reintegration and rehabilitation programmes, and ensure that prisons did not become facilitators of radicalization.

The Executive Director also recalled the measures to be implemented by Member States to strengthen their capacity to detect and identify FTFs. Derived from Council resolution 2396 (2017), those measures included the introduction of so-called Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) systems, responsible use of biometric data, protection of critical infrastructure and soft targets, preventing terrorist access to weapons and improvised explosive devices, and collecting evidence from the military.

Ms. Coninsx highlighted a number of related initiatives taken by CTED in cooperation with its key partners, and reaffirmed CTED’s commitment to cooperate and coordinate with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and other UN entities, as well as with relevant international and regional organizations. She also praised the good cooperation between CTED and UNOCT, led by Under-Secretary-General Mr. Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov.

On the margins of the conference, a Joint Action Plan was signed by the CTED Executive Director and Mr. Tim Morris, Executive Director of INTERPOL Police Services.

Executive Director of CTED Coninsx and Executive Director of INTERPOL Police Services Morris at the signing ceremony of the Joint Action Plan.

A follow-up to the existing Cooperation Arrangement, the Joint Action Plan sets out joint objectives and priorities for cooperation over the next two years. The Cooperation Arrangement and Action Plan are intended to leverage expertise, optimize resources, reduce duplication of effort, foster synergies, and maximize the value of deliverables to Member States.

Highlighting the already solid partnership between CTED and INTERPOL, the Executive Director stressed that CTED would make every effort to promote INTERPOL tools and the INTERPOL Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in its work.

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CTED visits INTERPOL headquarters

AKHVEDELID — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 06:18:00 +0000

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On 30 and 31 January 2018, CTED and INTERPOL held a two-day training session at INTERPOL Headquarters in Lyon (30-31 January) to familiarize INTERPOL experts with the provisions of the relevant Security Council resolutions on terrorism — especially their provisions on police cooperation. The training session also served to raise participants’ awareness of the purpose, objectives, and expected outcomes of the Committee’s assessment visits, as well as the nature of the Committee’s follow-up activities.

The training session was supported by an assessment-visit guidance manual, prepared by CTED, which addresses law enforcement and border-management issues in the context of the relevant Council resolutions on terrorism. INTERPOL plays a key role in the implementation of those resolutions, acting in close coordination with CTED.

Within the framework of the training session, CTED and INTERPOL also held consultations on forthcoming activities of mutual interest.

CTED and INTERPOL have established a close partnership in a number of key areas. INTERPOL experts regularly participate in the assessment visits, special meetings, and open briefings of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee. CTED actively promotes INTERPOL tools and encourages Member States to ensure connectivity to, and use of, the INTERPOL I-24/7 global police communications system, not only by National Central Bureaus, but also at frontline locations such as airports, border points, and immigration and customs offices.

In July 2017, CTED and INTERPOL signed a cooperation arrangement that provides a solid basis for future joint activities. Pursuant to the agreement, the two entities will identify concrete, shared objectives with a view to leveraging expertise, optimizing resources, reducing duplication of effort, fostering synergies, and maximizing the value of deliverables to Member States. The arrangement will also enable the two entities to address the technical assistance needs of priority States and regions in a more coordinated manner. Technical assistance is facilitated by CTED and delivered by INTERPOL.

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CTED welcomes Security Council resolution on denying terrorists access to weapons

BMUSONI — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 18:11:00 +0000

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New York, 2 August 2017

CTED at the United Nations Security Council, United Nations, New York, August 2, 2017. Photo courtesy of UN DPI/John Gillespie.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) today welcomed the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2370 (2017), which calls on UN Member States to take a range of measures to eliminate the supply of weapons to terrorists.

Addressing a briefing of the Council prior to the resolution’s adoption, Mr. Weixiong Chen, CTED Acting Executive Director, described both the briefing and the adoption of the resolution as “significant and necessary”.

Mr. Chen recalled the role of CTED to support the policy responses of the Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC) and the Council on a broad range of counter-terrorism issues.

With respect to denying terrorists access to weapons, CTED’s assessment and analysis of Member States’ counter-terrorism capacities had revealed a wide range of vulnerabilities and concerns.

They included poor stockpile management, as well as shortcomings in measures to monitor the production, control, sale, brokerage, export and import of small arms and light weapons.

Increased trafficking of weapons via the Internet was also a major concern.

Mr. Chen stressed that cooperation with other UN entities and international and regional organizations was essential to CTED’s work.

CTED participated in a range of initiatives aimed at strengthening Member States’ capacities to prevent terrorist access to weapons. It had recently signed a formal cooperation agreement with INTERPOL that would enable the two entities to deepen their cooperation in denying terrorists access to weapons.

Mr. Chen told the Council that the country visits conducted by CTED on behalf of the CTC remained a critical tool, which enabled CTED to assess Member States’ overall national counter-terrorism efforts and their specific achievements, strengths, weaknesses and technical assistance needs, as well as to identify and promote good practices and facilitate the delivery of technical assistance together with its implementing partners.

CTED monitors, promotes and facilitates Member States’ implementation of Council resolutions on terrorism through assessment; analysis; and the identification of trends, challenges, gaps and good practices.

The Security Council has repeatedly stressed the importance of preventing terrorists’ access to weapons, including in its resolutions 1373 (2001), 2178 (2014), 2195 (2014), 2220 (2015), 2253 (2015), 2309 (2016), 2322 (2016) and 2341 (2017).

The Council briefing was held under the agenda item “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”. Representatives of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, UNODC and INTERPOL also attended.

Under the Presidency of Egypt, the CTC, with the support of CTED, arranged an open experts’ briefing on a similar topic in May 2017 to pave the way for the discussion and adoption of Council resolution 2370 (2017).

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Open briefing of the Counter-Terrorism Committee on #NoWeapons4Terrorists

BMUSONI — Thu, 18 May 2017 17:19:00 +0000

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The Security Council has repeatedly stressed the importance of preventing terrorists from accessing weapons. Its resolution 1373 (2001) requires States to refrain from providing any form of support to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, including by eliminating the supply of weapons to terrorists.

However, because of the constantly evolving nature of the operational terrorist environment, denying terrorists access to weapons is a complex and multifaceted challenge.

On 17 May 2017, the Counter-Terrorism Committee held an open briefing at which participants discussed current and emerging threats, trends and developments relating to preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons in accordance with the relevant Council resolutions and identified gaps in Member States’ efforts to implement measures to eliminate the supply of weapons to terrorists.

The open briefing consisted of three panel sessions.

The first session, entitled “Addressing the evolution of the threat posed by terrorists’ acquisition of weapons and how to strengthen prevention of such illegal activities”, included presentations by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).

The second session, entitled “Updating Member States on the most significant gaps and challenges in protecting military surplus, implementing proper storage, and accountability, as well as on the increasing use of IEDs and associated components”, included presentations by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UNMAS, and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).

The final session, entitled “Highlighting new risks and trends in international arms trafficking through the Internet and across borders, as well as the need to implement proper international arms control standards and use existing tools and resources”, included presentations by RAND Europe’s Defence, Security and Infrastructure Group; the International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS) Inter-Agency Support Unit; and the Special Representative of the International Police Organization (INTERPOL) to the United Nations.

H.E. Mr. Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations, urged Member States to incorporate the outcomes of the discussions into their efforts to prevent terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters, from accessing and using weapons, and to strengthen their judicial and border control capacities and their investigation of arms trafficking networks in order to address the increasing links between cross-border crime and terrorism.

The presentation of Mr. Jean-Philippe Morange, Senior Legal Officer, Counter–Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), is available here.

The remarks of Mr. Ivor Fung, Officer-in-Charge, Conventional Arms Branch, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), is available here.

The presentation of Ms. Simonetta Grassi, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global Firearms Programme, is available here.

The audio presentation of Mr. Himayu Shiotani, Programme Lead, Conventional Arms Programme, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), is available here.

The presentation of Dr. Giacomo Persi Paoli, Research Leader, RAND Europe’s Defence, Security and Infrastructure Group, is available here.

The presentation of Mr. Patrick Mc Carthy, Ph.D., International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS) Inter-Agency Support Unit, is available here.

The presentation of Mr. Emmanuel Roux, Special Representative of INTERPOL to the United Nations, is available here.

The Chair’s summary is available here.

A webcast recording of the entire open briefing can be found here.

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The presentation of Mr. Jean-Philippe Morange, Senior Legal Officer, Counter–Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), is available here.

/securitycouncil/ctc/sites/www.un.org.securitycouncil.ctc/files/jp-morange-presentation-salw-open-briefing-cted-2017-session-i-1.pdf

The remarks of Mr. Ivor Fung, Officer-in-Charge, Conventional Arms Branch, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), is available here.

/securitycouncil/ctc/sites/www.un.org.securitycouncil.ctc/files/2017-05-11-statement-to-ctc-open-brief-on-preventing-weapons-to-terrorists.pdf

The presentation of Ms. Simonetta Grassi, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global Firearms Programme, is available here.

/securitycouncil/ctc/sites/www.un.org.securitycouncil.ctc/files/simonetta-unodc-at-cted_may2017v2.pdf

The audio presentation of Mr. Himayu Shiotani, Programme Lead, Conventional Arms Programme, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), is available here.

/securitycouncil/ctc/file/22478

The presentation of Dr. Giacomo Persi Paoli, Research Leader, RAND Europe’s Defence, Security and Infrastructure Group, is available here.

/securitycouncil/ctc/sites/www.un.org.securitycouncil.ctc/files/giacomo-paoli-17052017_briefing-to-ms_gpp.pdf

The presentation of Mr. Patrick Mc Carthy, Ph.D., International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS) Inter-Agency Support Unit, is available here.

/securitycouncil/ctc/sites/www.un.org.securitycouncil.ctc/files/isacs-ctc-presentation.pdf

The presentation of Mr. Emmanuel Roux, Special Representative of INTERPOL to the United Nations, is available here.

/securitycouncil/ctc/sites/www.un.org.securitycouncil.ctc/files/ctc-firearms-programme-presentation-emmanuel-roux-interpol.pdf

The Chair’s summary is available here.

/securitycouncil/ctc/sites/www.un.org.securitycouncil.ctc/files/20170526-weapons-briefing-chair-summary.pdf

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