UN Counter-Terrorism Handbook -- Form Over Substance

By Victor Comras

Following up on a recommendation contained in last year’s UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the UN has put together a new on-line “counter-terrorism” handbook which is meant to help guide countries wishing to assess UN counter-terrorism support services. As the UN Counter-Terrorism Handbook Site states:

This site has been created to provide Member States with current and relevant information on the United Nations' and its entities' work and resources contributing to countering terrorism. A number of different search functions are provided to help you better determine and access the information you need….The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Online Handbook is an initiative that arose from the call of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy … to “ensure overall coordination and coherence in the counter-terrorism efforts of the United Nations system. Combining information from the { 22-member Counter-Terrorism Implementation} Task Force, the Online Handbook provides Member States, UN country teams, and relevant institutions with information available {from} United Nations counter-terrorism related resources.

While this new "handbook" represents more form than substance, it certainly makes it a lot easier to access and identify what's actually going on within the the 22 different UN agencies, offices and committees that touch on some aspect of counter-terrorism. Unfortunately, when it comes to substance, the information and data now available is quite paltry.

The most useful information is contained on the Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee’s new website. One has access, there, to the Consolidated List of designated individuals and entities associated with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. There is also a link to UNSC Resolution 1735 (2006) which, like previous resolutions, places a clear obligation on all countries to cut off their funding, to freeze their assets, to stop their international travel and to keep arms, explosives and other military equipment out of their hands. Unfortunately, there appears little the committee can do to hold countries failing in these responsibilities accountable.

The new Al Qaeda and Taliban Committee Website also provides separate direct links to the reports issued by the Committee’s Monitoring Team and the previous Independent Monitoring Group. The Monitoring Team reports provide a useful overview of the systemic problems and issues associated with implementing the required measures against al Qaeda and the Taliban. But, they lack the punch, and the “name and shame” accountability that was associated with the more independent Monitoring Group’s reports.

Another useful item now available via the handbook is a just issued “Best Practices in Combating Terrorism” pamphlet just published by Interpol. The pamphlet provides a basic review of Interpol services that can be enlisted by any country to assist in combating terrorism. This includes some very basic services such as helping countries disseminate information and post “look outs” for known and suspected terrorists, including those already designated by the UN Al Qaeda Committee.

The UN Counter-Terrorism Committee has also been given a website facelift. This site provides a useful jumping off spot for researching the various UN offerings with regard to counter-terrorism technical assistance and capacity building. One can also research the various country submitted reports concerning their national counter-terrorism laws and strategies.

While there is still little new substance-wise, the greater transparancy into UN Counter-Terrorism activities may serve as a catalyst to spur on these UN groups to greater, and more effective activities.

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