Counterterrorism Blog

Pre-occupied with the Middle East, Iran and North Korea, the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg apparently had less time to come up with a major new counter-terrorism initiative, as it has at the last 4 summits. Instead, the G8 focused on the need to strengthen the UN’s role in combating terrorism. Perhaps I am reading too much between the lines, but I got the distinct impression they are not that satisfied with what has happened in New York so far. Let me explain.

In paragraph 2 their statement notes that the G8 has long recognized “the key role of the UN in the global fight against terrorism,” and recalls their pledge to ”support the UN Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in a variety of ways to broaden its reach and enhance its effectiveness.” In paragraph 3 the statement emphasizes that “the UN is the sole organization with the stature and reach to achieve universal agreement on the condemnation of terrorism." It also calls “upon the Secretary-General to continue to use the unique international stature of his office to reinforce this point.” In paragraph 4 it proclaims that “a comprehensive response to the urgent threat of terrorism must be a core focus of the UN.” And in paragraph 5 it expresses concern that:

“Since 2001, the number of UN counter-terrorism-related programs has grown considerably with overlapping monitoring and capacity-building efforts. More should be done to integrate the disparate programs, and we specifically take note of the work initiated by the Secretary-General in this area. We pledge to work with the UN to ensure that each of its programs is results-focused and calibrated to maximize its impact and that subsidiary bodies and their staffs are streamlined and engage with each other and with other relevant international bodies with increased cooperation and systemic coherence.”

In paragraph 6 the statement tells the UN that it must “make the best use of limited resources by focusing on the most vulnerable States and identifying and meeting priority needs” and it specifically calls on the CTC to “to take those steps necessary to make their work more relevant and accessible to both the donor and recipient communities.” It also calls upon the UN to “engage proactively specialized organizations and agencies, with particular regard to ICAO, WCO, IMO, as well as relevant regional organizations and international financial institutions.”

The criticisms in paragraph 7 stand out for me as the most important element in the G8 statement, for it touches on the central problem of oversight and accountability. The G8 leaders say

“We observe that, too often states do not comply with their obligations under UN Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions. We call for the Council and its counter-terrorism bodies to redouble efforts to ensure universal compliance. We agree with the Secretary-General that there must be standards of accountability - against which the compliance efforts of each State can be measured with a view to ensure the implementation of the international counter-terrorism obligations. We encourage the UN to develop such concrete standards. Keeping in mind the primary responsibility of the member States to ensure implementation of their counter-terrorism obligations, we reaffirm our commitment to such implementation and call upon all States to meet their obligations.

Finally I must express my surprise that there is no reference in the G8 Statement to the so-called Comprehensive Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism, or of any other agreement on a “definition of terrorism.” The reader should recall that a Comprehensive Convention and a clear “Definition of Terrorism” were previously set by the G8 leaders as “high priority” items for last years’ UN General Assembly’s 60th Anniversary session. Such a definition is critical to the establishment of any standards of compliance and accountability (see my earlier blog).