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CTC holds open briefing on the work of CTED with Member States of South and South-East Asia pursuant to Security Council resolution 2395 (2017)

CTED/Vijai Singh

“The linkages between the Taliban, Al-Qaida, and terrorist entities proscribed by the Security Council, such as Lashkar e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, are a further source of concern. And therefore, serious concern remains that Afghanistan may become a safe haven for Al da and a number of terrorist groups in the region,” stated H.E. Mr. T. S. Tirumurti, Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, in his opening remarks to the Committee’s open briefing on the work of CTED with Member States of South and South-East Asia pursuant to Security Council resolution 2395 (2017). 

Held on 14 February 2022 in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, United Nations Headquarters in New York, the open briefing featured presentations by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC/TPB), and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT).

Since the adoption of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), the Member States of South and South-East Asia have made significant progress in strengthening their counter-terrorism capacities. Specific measures introduced have focused on counter-terrorism legislation, countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), law enforcement and border controls (including maritime and aviation security, immigration, and intelligence-sharing), as well as on international, regional, and subregional cooperation.

During the introductory panel on "United Nations dialogue with Member States of South and South-East Asia", moderated by Mr. Weixiong Chen, CTED Acting Executive Director, CTED briefed participants on terrorism threats and Member States’ efforts to counter them in South and South-East Asia, based on the recently updated Global Survey of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and other relevant resolutions by Member States (S/2021/972).

“From Colombo to Kabul, Jolo to Surabaya, suicide bombers have attacked hotels and places of worship. Those attacks have increasingly featured women as perpetrators, often operating alongside family members. There are indications that this may become a growing trend”, said Elizabeth Joyce, CTED Chief of Section, Americas and Asia Pacific. 

Mr. Márcio Derenne, Deputy Special Representative of INTERPOL to the United Nations, noted that there had been “a decrease in terrorist actors’ and foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs)’ mobility and activity in the region. He noted that there had been a “significant increase in terrorist digital activity” and that “terrorist actors had been exploiting wives, relatives and orphans of dead terrorist fighters as logistical and financial support facilitators.”

Acting on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, CTED has conducted assessment visits to several States of South Asia and to all States of South-East Asia. These visits have enabled CTED to identify strengths, effective practices, and progress made by States in implementing the relevant Council resolutions and related international standards. They have also provided an opportunity for the Committee to identify remaining challenges and areas in which the visited States might benefit from receiving technical assistance.

Mr. Muhammad Rafiuddin Shah, Chief of Service, Political Affairs of UNOCT, stated that “UNOCT continues to draw on the advice and assessment of the Directorate in identifying beneficiary countries and their technical assistance needs. This methodology has been instrumental in tailoring our capacity-building assistance to Member States in South and South-East Asia”.

Mr. Masood Karimipour, Chief of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of UNODC, said that “CTED assessments inform the development of some of our CT programming and in turn, we have been able to work with Member States in responding to CTED’s recommendations”.

One example of UNODC & CTED’s joint programming and tool development is the Data Disclosure Framework. 

The second panel, on "Progress achieved, challenges, needs and ways forward", was moderated by H.E. Mr. T. S. Tirumurti and featured statements from representatives of invited Member States of South and South-East Asia. 

Mr. Rajesh Parihar, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, expressed concern at the use of information and communications technologies (ICT), drones, and other technologies for terrorist purposes and exploitation of non-profit organizations for terrorist-financing purposes. 

Acting on the Committee’s behalf, CTED conducted a comprehensive visit to the Philippines in 2006. A first follow-up visit was conducted in 2014, and a second in 2019. CTED identified 62 recommendations for the Philippines. In May 2021, the Philippines briefed the Counter-Terrorism Committee on a range of steps taken by the Philippines to implement the Committee’s visit recommendations pursuant to the requirements of the relevant Council resolutions, as well as eight priority areas of technical assistance needs.

During the open briefing, Undersecretary Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan, Executive Director, Anti-Terrorism Council Programme Management Center of the Philippines, said that, since the CTED visit in 2019, the Philippines had introduced the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and the Republic Act 11521 of 2021, and had developed and adopted the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy. CTED is also working with the Philippines Government on  facilitating capacity-building under the Ministry of Justice and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

In October 2019, CTED conducted its first visit to Maldives. During the open briefing, Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Naeem, Director of the National Counter Terrorism Centre of Maldives, stated that his country had conducted a baseline study on radicalization, which provided a comprehensive picture of the threat environment across the Maldives and a broader anatomy of the narratives used to spread the extremist ideology.

In February 2020, the Under-Secretary-General of UNOCT and the CTED Executive Director conducted a joint-high-level visit to Indonesia to help promote effective implementation of the 62 recommendations included in the Committee’s report on its 2019 follow-up visit. During the open briefing, Mr. Andhika Chrisnayudhanto, Deputy for International Cooperation, National Counter-Terrorism Agency, stated that Indonesia had recently adopted Presidential Regulation Number 7 of 2021 on the National Action Plan on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism that Leads to Terrorism.

The Committee and CTED will continue to assess progress achieved and remaining gaps in implementing the relevant Security Council resolutions and international standards; facilitate technical assistance delivery in accordance with the Committee’s visit recommendations and the requests of Member States; and identify emerging issues and trends in both subregions. 

 

The concept note is available here. 

The agenda is available here. 

A summary of the meeting is available here.

The webcast is available here.

 

Remarks and presentations shared by invited speakers:

Opening session

Session I: Introductory panel on United Nations dialogue with Member States of South and South-East Asia

Session II: Progress achieved, challenges, needs and ways forward

Closing session