Ambassador Greenstock, Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) briefed member states on 14 November on the work of the CTC.  The CTC had received 175 first reports from member states and 100 second round reports.

Ambassador Greenstock said the CTC had discussed the four proposals of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) for strengthening the CTC's interaction with the UN's human rights instruments.  There had been no agreement on the principle of appointing a human rights advisor, therefore the CTC would not seek advice at this stage on possible Terms of Reference for such a position.  The CTC would invite a representative of the Human Rights Committee to brief the CTC.  The CTC had noted the OHCHR's intention to prepare a factual note of concerns in the area of human rights and counter-terrorism.  Ambassador Greenstock also recalled that OHCHR was prepared to offer advice to member states who requested it; if States approached the CTC looking for advice in this area, the Technical Assistance Team (TAT) would direct them to the OHCHR.

The CTC had also considered a guidance note from its Experts on the requirements of 1373 with regard to the freezing of financial assets.  The CTC would not issue lists of terrorist groups.  But States had an obligation to freeze the assets of persons or entities that are not named as terrorists or terrorist organisations in lists approved by the Security Council.   The advice note would be posted on the website in due course.

The CTC had started discussions on the next set of priorities for States.  Stage "B" was likely to focus on strengthening executive machinery in the areas covered by 1373.

Ambassador Greenstock said work on reformatting the "Directory of Counter-Terrorism Information and Sources of Assistance" had been completed.  The new Directory was due to go-live by end-November.