Statement [Made on Behalf of the Security Council, at the 7316th Meeting, 19 Nov. 2014, in Connection with the Council's Consideration of the Item Entitled "Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts"]

S/PRST/2014/23View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Presidential Statement of the Security Council, under agenda item 31 Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, published in 2014.

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Counter-Terrorism International Security Sanctions Sanctions Compliance Terrorism Terrorism Financing

What’s in this document?

38 paragraphs

At the 7316th meeting of the Security Council, held on 19 November 2014, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement on behalf of the Council:

“The Security Council reaffirms that terrorism in all forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

“The Security Council emphasizes that the threat of terrorism is expanding and intensifying, affecting a greater number of Member States across most regions, due to, inter alia, global recruitment networks, the spread of violent extremist ideologies that can be conducive to terrorism, ease of movement of terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters and access to significant funding streams.

“The Security Council reiterates its grave concern about Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al Nusrah Front (ANF) and other terrorist entities associated with Al-Qaida and the negative impact of their presence, violent extremist ideology, and actions on the stability of Iraq, Syria and the region, including the devastating humanitarian impact on the civilian populations which has led to the displacement of millions of people, and about their acts of violence that foment sectarian tensions.

“The Security Council further expresses its concern that, according to reports, more than 15,000 foreign terrorist fighters from over 80 countries have travelled to join or fight for terrorist entities associated with Al-Qaida, including in Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, as well as several countries in the Maghreb and Sahel regions.

“The Security Council recalls its resolutions 1267 (1999), 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 2161 (2014) 2170 (2014), 2178 (2014), and underlines the importance of Members States taking urgent action to implement their obligations therein.

“The Security Council reaffirms its respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all States in accordance with the United Nations Charter.

“The Security Council reaffirms that Member States must ensure that any measures taken to counter terrorism comply with the UN Charter and all their other obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law, and international humanitarian law.

* Reissued for technical reasons on 4 December 2014.

“The Security Council recognizes that terrorism will not be defeated by military force, law enforcement measures, and intelligence operations alone, and underlines the need to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, as outlined in Pillar I of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/60/288), and reiterates the need to address the factors driving recruitment and radicalization to terrorism, and furthermore recognizes that a comprehensive approach to defeat terrorism is required involving national, regional, subregional and multilateral action.

“The Security Council recognizes the significant capacity and coordination challenges many Member States face in countering terrorism and violent extremism, and preventing terrorist financing, recruitment and all other forms of support to terrorist organizations; commends work under way by the Counter-Terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate (CTED) to identify capacity gaps,² and to facilitate technical assistance to strengthen the implementation of resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005) which supports compliance with 2178 (2014); encourages Member States to continue cooperating with the Counter-Terrorism Committee and CTED on the development of comprehensive and integrated national, subregional and regional counter-terrorism strategies; highlights the important role that Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) entities, including United Nations Centre for Counter Terrorism and United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, and other providers of capacity-building assistance should play in technical assistance delivery; and in this respect notes the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters to countries of origin, transit, destination, as well as States neighbouring zones of armed conflict in which foreign terrorist fighters are active.

²Preliminary analysis of the principal gaps in Member States’ capacities to implement Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005) that may hinder their abilities to stem the flow of foreign terrorist fighters pursuant to Security Council resolution 2178 (2014) (S/2014/807).

“The Security Council calls upon Member States to help build the capacity of other Member States where necessary and upon request, to address the threat posed by terrorism, and welcomes and encourages bilateral assistance by Member States to help build such national, subregional or regional capacity.

“The Security Council welcomes recent listings by the Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267/1989 of foreign terrorist fighters and recruiters, and urges Member States to identify and propose additional foreign terrorist fighters and those individuals who facilitate or finance their travel and subsequent activities for possible designation by the 1267/1989 Committee.

“The Security Council expresses its determination to consider listing pursuant to resolution 2161 (2014) individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida who are financing, arming, planning, or recruiting for them, or otherwise supporting their acts or activities, including through information and communications technologies, such as the Internet, social media, or any other means.

“The Security Council welcomes recent developments and initiatives at the international, regional and subregional levels to prevent and suppress the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon, notes the work of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), in particular its recent adoption of a comprehensive set of good practices to address the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon, and the establishment of its Working Group on Foreign Terrorist Fighters, and the work of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union, the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism and the Meeting of Heads of Special Services, Security Agencies and Law Enforcement Organizations.

“The Security Council takes note of the Communiqué of the African Union Peace and Security Council Summit on countering violent extremism and terrorism held in Nairobi on 2 September 2014, and calls on UN counter-terrorism entities, within existing mandates, and Member States to provide assistance and capacity-building towards Africa’s efforts to counter violent extremism and terrorism.

Travel and transit

“The Security Council urges Member States to improve bilateral, international, regional, and subregional cooperation, to prevent the travel of foreign terrorist fighters from or through their territories, including through increased sharing of information for the purpose of identifying foreign terrorist fighters, understanding patterns of travel by foreign terrorist fighters, and sharing practices in evidence-based traveller risk assessment and border screening, noting the need to address the challenges posed by evasive travel routes of foreign terrorist fighters.

“The Security Council reiterates, as called for in resolutions 2161 (2014) and 2178 (2014), its call on Member States to make use of the Interpol databases and to require that airlines under their jurisdiction provide advance passenger information to detect the departure from, entry into, or transit through their territories of individuals on the Al-Qaida sanctions list, and additionally encourages that they provide Passenger Name Records, where appropriate, to the appropriate national authorities, and requests CTED to report, within 180 days, to the Counter-Terrorism Committee on gaps in the use of advance passenger information, and make recommendations to expand the use of advance passenger information, including plans to facilitate the required capacity-building in this regard, working with the Al-Qaida Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team and relevant CTITF entities including International Civil Aviation Organization, as well as industry representatives such as the International Air Transport Association.

“The Security Council reiterates that the increasing threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters is part of the emerging issues, trends and developments related to resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005), and encourages the Counter-Terrorism Committee to hold Special Meetings in 2015 with the participation of Member States and relevant international and regional organizations to discuss ways to stem the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, and to prevent terrorists from exploiting the Internet and social media to recruit and incite terrorist acts, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, and in compliance with other obligations under international law; and in this regard notes the importance of the Committee holding meetings in affected regions on issues related to the mandate of the Committee.

“The Security Council calls on Member States to ensure, in conformity with international law, in particular international human rights law and international refugee law, that refugee status is not abused by the perpetrators, organizers or facilitators of terrorist acts, including by foreign terrorist fighters.

Countering terrorist narratives and violent extremism

“The Security Council expresses grave concern at the spread of violent extremist ideologies that underpin the terrorist narrative, and that foreign terrorist fighters are using their extremist ideologies to promote terrorism, and reiterates the need to counter violent extremism through effective national responses including by building community resilience, as well as through cooperation at the subregional, regional and international levels, with a strong role for the UN in supporting these efforts, and underscores the role education can play in countering terrorist narratives.

“The Security Council highlights the continued need to improve the visibility and effectiveness of the UN’s role in countering the spread of violent extremist ideologies that are conducive to terrorism, including through strategic communications, and underscores the need to enhance the efforts of the UN and its Member States to tackle this issue more effectively and for further steps in this regard.

“The Security Council encourages the sharing of national and regional experiences in countering violent extremism, and welcomes the efforts of the Counter-Terrorism Committee with the support of CTED to conduct dialogue with Member States and to hold open briefings on these issues to support efforts to counter incitement and violent extremism, and notes the need for sharing of experiences to address the threat posed by terrorists and foreign terrorist fighters, including on rehabilitation and reintegration.

“The Security Council notes that terrorism and violent extremism is impacting a growing number of conflict situations including in States that host UN field missions, and in this regard encourages information sharing, where relevant and appropriate, between Special Representatives of the Secretary General, Department of Political Affairs, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, CTED, the Al-Qaida Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, and other relevant CTITF entities, within existing mandates and resources.

“The Security Council recommends that UN regional offices located in regions that face terrorist threats to undertake regional information analysis and inter-mission information sharing on terrorism and violent extremism, within existing mandates and resources.

“The Security Council expresses concern over the increased use by terrorists and their supporters of communications technology for the purpose of radicalizing to terrorism, recruiting and inciting others to commit terrorist acts, including through the Internet, and financing and facilitating the travel and subsequent activities of foreign terrorist fighters.

“The Security Council urges Member States to act cooperatively to prevent terrorists from recruiting, to counter their violent extremist propaganda and incitement on the Internet and social media, including by developing effective counter narratives, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms and in compliance with obligations under international law, stresses the importance of cooperation with civil society and the private sector in this endeavour, and encourages relevant CTITF entities to support regional initiatives in this regard.

Financing

“The Security Council expresses its deep concern that oilfields and related infrastructure controlled by ISIL, ANF and potentially other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida, are generating a significant portion of the groups’ income, which support their recruitment efforts and strengthen their operational capability to organize and carry out terrorist attacks.

“The Security Council reaffirms that States are required by resolution 2161 (2014) to ensure that their nationals and those in their territory not make assets or economic resources, directly or indirectly, available to ISIL, ANF and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida; and notes that this obligation applies to the direct and indirect trade in oil and oil products.

“The Security Council encourages Member States to report to the 1267/1989 Committee seizures or transfers of oil that they have reason to believe originated from ISIL and ANF-controlled territory and seizures of oil refining and related material believed to be for transfer into ISIL and ANF-controlled territory; encourages the Committee to immediately consider designations of individuals and entities engaged in these activities; and expresses its intention to consider additional measures to disrupt this source of terrorism financing, including prohibitions on the transfer of oil, oil products and oil refining and related material to and from territory controlled by ISIL, the ANF and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida.

“The Security Council stresses that donations from individuals and entities have played a role in developing and sustaining ISIL and ANF, and that Member States have an obligation to ensure that such support is not made available to those terrorist groups and other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida by their nationals and persons within their territory, and urges Member States to address this directly through enhanced vigilance of the international financial system and by working with their non-profit and charitable organizations to ensure financial flows through charitable giving are not diverted to ISIL, ANF or any other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida.

“The Security Council expresses its concern that aircraft or other transport departing from territory controlled by ISIL and ANF could be used to transfer gold or other valuable items and economic resources for sale on international markets, or to transfer arms and materiel for use by ISIL and ANF, and notes that individuals or entities engaged in such activities may be eligible for listing by the 1267/1989 Committee; expresses its concern regarding reports that items of archaeological, historical, cultural, and religious importance are being illegally removed from territory controlled by ISIL and ANF which may be generating income for those groups, and calls upon Member States to take appropriate measures to prevent such illegal trade; and in this regard, reminds all states that they are required to ensure that no funds, financial assets or economic resources are made available, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of ISIL, ANF, and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida; and looks forward to thorough consideration by the Al-Qaida Committee of the relevant recommendations regarding new measures to disrupt such activities contained in the report on the Al-Qaida Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team report pursuant to resolution 2170, with a view to further disrupting the activities of those groups.

“The Security Council strongly condemns incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by ISIL, ANF and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida for any purpose, including with the aim of raising funds or gaining political concessions, notes with concern that ransoms paid to terrorists are used as one of the sources of funding for their activities, including further kidnappings, expresses its determination to prevent kidnapping and hostage taking committed by terrorist groups and to secure the safe release of hostages without ransom payments or political concessions, in accordance with applicable international law, calls upon all Member States to prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or from political concessions and to secure the safe release of hostages, and reaffirms the need for all Member States to cooperate closely during incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups.

“The Security Council highlights the relevance of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations in support of implementing resolutions 2170 (2014) and 2178 (2014), including its recommendation to States to implement cash declaration/disclosure systems for both incoming and outgoing transportation of currency, and other measures to address the threat that some foreign terrorist fighters and facilitators are acting as cash couriers for terrorist organizations.

“The Security Council expresses its concern regarding the connection, in some cases, between terrorism and transnational organized crime and illicit activities such as drugs, arms and human trafficking, and money laundering.

“The Security Council reiterates that States are required to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale, or transfer to ISIL, ANF and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida from their territories or by their nationals outside their territories, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned, and technical advice, assistance or training related to military activities, as well as its calls for States to find ways of intensifying and accelerating the exchange of operational information regarding traffic in arms, and to enhance coordination of efforts on national, subregional, regional and international levels.

“The Security Council further reminds all States of their obligation to ensure that any person who participates in the financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts is brought to justice and ensure that such terrorist acts are established as serious criminal offenses in domestic laws and regulations and that the punishment duly reflects the seriousness of such terrorist acts, and encourages CTED to provide guidance upon request.

“The Security Council stresses that the intolerance, violence, and hatred that ISIL, ANF and other groups associated with Al-Qaida espouse must be countered, and expresses its determination to defeat the threat to international peace and security posed by terrorism.”