Kofi Annan Proposes Comprehensive UN Strategy To Combat Terrorism

By Victor Comras

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has finally produced the recommendations he promised at last year’s Madrid Conference for a Comprehensive United Nation’s Counter Terrorism Strategy with emphasis on strengthening the UN’s capacity to combat terrorism. His Address to the General Assembly and his 32 page report to the UN General Assembly May 2nd, deserve close study. But, it is more a blueprint of what needs to be done than a plan on how what needs to be done can be accomplished. There are a number of critical elements in the report, that, if implemented by the UN and the international community in general, would truly constitute important steps in countering terrorism. And motivating the United Nations to improve the way in which it implements its own role is an important first step.

Much of the report deals with the role the UN should address in combating the elements that foster terrorism. It tracks the “dissuasion, denial, deterrence, development of State capacity and defence of human rights” strategy outlined by the Secretary General at the Madrid conference. It hits all the basics, including enhancing international action to counter extremist ideologies, promote tolerance, address the root causes of terrorism, enhance peacekeeping, treat and resolve local conflicts, and keep weapons, especially manpads and WMD, out of the hands of terrorists. Yet, it falls short when it comes to the institutional reforms necessary to adequately monitor what countries are doing to implement and enforce these measures.

With this report the Secretary General draws attention to the need for enhanced coordination and cooperation, and the development of new synergies, by and between the different UN offices and agencies dealing with terrorism related issues. He should be applauded for establishing, on his own, a new Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force to bring together key UN and other International partners to improve coordination and information sharing, and to develop many of the ideas contained in his report.

Also on the positive side, the Secretary General now follows through on his pledge to support a clear, unequival definition of terrorism. A definition that has been held up by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) as it seeks to implant loopholes that would excuse the terrorist acts of organizations such as Hamas and Hizbollah ( see my earlier blog on this topic). The Report makes it clear that the UN must “reinforce the inexcusability and unacceptability of terrorism…” The UN, it says, “must make absolutely clear that no cause, no matter how just, can excuse terrorism. This includes the legitimate struggle of peoples for self determination.” The report calls on the Security Council, The General Assembly, regional organizations and the heads of states and government to steadfastly condemn all such acts of terrorism. This also means moving ahead with the adoption of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism, which will send a strong signal of international unity and strengthen the moral authority of the United Nations.

The Secretary General also draws needed attention to the increased use of the internet by terrorist groups to recruit and build support for their activities. He calls for greater coordinated actions to respond to this challenge, while preserving the integrity of the internet. He correctly places great importance on States acting to effectively criminalize recruitment for terrorism and iincitement to terrorist acts. Member States are already required to report to the Counter-Terrorism Committee on the steps they are taking to implement such measures, but, the report recognizes that considerable additional action is still necessary to deal with these problems. The UN should play a greater role in this issue.

The Secretary General's Report also places great emphasis on the work being conducted by the Security Council’s Counter Terrorism Committee and the role it should play in bolstering member state capabilities to combat terrorism. He also recognizes the importance of the al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee and the UN financial sanctions system. The UN needs to ensure effective action against terrorist financing, he says, and more must be done to improve the accountability and transparency of these sanction regimes. Yet, his recommendations fall short on recommending new steps or mechanisms to improve UN enforcement or oversight. They are limited to calling for closer cooperation with and between other interested organizations and international financial institutions. Both Committees will likely continue to be hampered by the same diplomatic, political, and bureaucratic forces that hold sway today. I refer the reader to my previous blog and Congressional Testimony on the need to establish an independent counter-terrorism oversight group that would be insulated from these pressures.

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