The UN Security Council Takes Action Against Terrorism

Cross-posted by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

On September 12, 2001 the United Nation's Security Council got serious about terrorism. As word of the U.N.'s lightening quick action through adoption of Resolution 1368 which

Determined to combat by all means threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts,...

the world breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the full might and power of the United Nations was now on the trail of terrorism.

This riveting Resolution detailed the 9/11 tragedies:

Unequivocally condemns in the strongest terms the horrifying terrorist attacks which took place on 11 September 2001 in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania and regards such acts, like any act of international terrorism, as a threat to international peace and security;

as well as resolved that

"those responsible for aiding, supporting or harbouring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of these acts will be held accountable;..."

The Resolution ended with this powerful statement expressing the Security Council's acknowledgment of the urgency with which they would continue the pursuit of terrorists: [in their words]:

6. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Just knowing that the Security Council was remaining "seized" on the matter of terrorism brought even more comfort and aid, especially to the people of America who were so recently the target of radical Islam.

A few days after the 9/12/2001 Res. 1368, on September 28, 2001, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1373, which reaffirmed the earlier Resolution and also stated that the Security Council was

Deeply concerned by the increase, in various regions of the world, of acts of terrorism motivated by intolerance or extremism.

On this day, a Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) was formed and was tasked with overseeing and implementing Res. 1373. According to the UN:

The 15-member Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) was established at the same time to monitor implementation of the resolution. While the ultimate aim of the Committee is to increase the ability of States to fight terrorism, it is not a sanctions body nor does it maintain a list of terrorist organizations or individuals.

On March 20, 2008, a culmination of all the years of the difficult and taxing work of the Security Council has resulted in a very clear statement to those seeking to do harm to others through acts of terrorism.

The Iranian delegate, an august member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said it best:

"...a distinction ought to be made between the heinous acts of terror...on the one hand, and the internationally recognized and legally legitimate struggle of peoples deprived of their fundamental right of self determination, on the other."

What this means to you and to me, is that to this day, the U.N. Security Council has refused to "define" terrorism, and as a result has never "named" a terrorist , or a terrorist act.

Eye on the U.N. reports:

...the Chairman of the Working Group on terrorism from October 26, 2007 gives no hope that the OIC's [Organization of the Islamic Conference] stonewalling of a comprehensive convention against terrorism will come to an end anytime soon. The only thing that years of informal consultations have yielded is that everyone agrees on the need for further consultations.

A question might be: What goes on in an actual United Nations Security Council Meeting?
One example is seen at Eye on the UN's dedicated page to a list of documents distributed to members of the Council, by the UN's Palestinian representative.

Here is an example, and keep in mind that I have shown 4 here, but there are an additional 37 documents Glorifying Terrorism Via the UN - Suicide Killers as Martyrs:

3/4/2008
Glorifying terrorism via the UN. New UN document, distributed by the UN's Palestinian representative, once again refers to terrorists as "martyrs." Latest list of "martyrs" includes Ayman Abu Fayed, a senior member of the al-Quds Brigades (the Islamic Jihad's military wing). Other "martyrs" listed include Hamza Khalil al-Hayya - who commanded a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza - and at least five other Hamas militants, and 2 members of the terrorist group Popular Resistance Committees.
Click here to view this document in MS Word/PDF format


2/8/2008
Glorifying terrorism via the UN. New UN document, distributed by the UN's Palestinian representative, once again refers to terrorists as "martyrs." Latest list of "martyrs" includes Mohammad Fat'hi Sabarneh and Mahmoud Khalil Sabarneh, members of the Hamas's Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, a terrorist group which claimed responsibility for the attack on the yeshiva at Kfar Etzion on January 24, 2008. Also listed as "martyrs" are Ammar Zakarneh and Ahmad Abu Zaid, gunmen of the Islamic Jihad, who were killed in an exchange of fire.
Click here to view this document in MS Word/PDF format


12/28/2007
Glorifying terrorism via the UN. New UN document, distributed by the UN's Palestinian representative, once again refers to terrorists as "martyrs." Latest list of "martyrs" includes Mohammad Abdallah Abu Murshed, head of the PIJ's (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) terrorist operative wing, and Mu'tasem Sharif, member of the PA (Palestinian Authority) security forces and a suspect for smuggling weapons to Fatah's military wing, who was shooting at IDF soldiers when killed.
Click here to view this document in MS Word/PDF format

12/19/2007
Glorifying terrorism via the UN. New UN document, distributed by the UN's Palestinian representative, once again refers to terrorists as "martyrs." Latest list of "martyrs" includes chief members of the Jerusalem Battalions, an offshoot of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad which has been responsible for launching rocket attacks against Israel: commander general Majid al-Harazin, and senior weapon manufacturer Karim Marwan al-Dachduch. Other "martyrs" listed included senior members of the terrorist group Islamic Jihad, Hosam Abu Habl and Jihad Mustafa Dhaher.
Click here to view this document in MS Word/PDF format

While I have employed scarcasm here to make a point, the point is:

Since September 28, 2001 the CTC has never named a single terrorist, terrorist organization or state sponsor of terrorism.

Again, from Eye on the UN:

The five state sponsors of terrorism, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria write reports to the CTC about their compliance with Security Council Resolution 1373. In the absence of any UN definition of terrorism, all of these states readily proclaim they are engaged in a vigorous campaign to combat terrorism.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, 2005, laid out the five D's - his five point UN strategy to combat terrorism:

• Dissuading the disaffected from choosing terrorist tactics;
• Denying terrorists the means to carry out attacks;
• Deterring state support of terrorism;
• Developing state preventive capacity; and
• Defending human rights in the struggle against the scourge of terror.

Additionally, Annan said back in 2005

To implement these sweeping mandates, the Security Council created a special body, the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), with British ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock as its first chair. “Counterterrorism has now gone global,” said Greenstock, “with the UN at the center.”

In the March 20th, 2008 Security Council meeting, which created yet another Resolution, No. 1805, to RECALL the powerful and "sweeping" Res. 1373 and REORGANIZE the pitiful CTC.

This same Kofi Annan speech is listed on the UN's webpage as the "Fact Sheet: The UN's Contributions to Counterterrorism. You can see it all there, and be prepared to be reviled.



Technorati Tags: U.N., United Nations, U.N. Security Council, CTC, United Nations Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee, Kofi Annon,