UN COUNTER-TERRORISM BODY CONTINUES COUNTRY VISITS WITH TRIP TO UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA 13-17 FEBRUARY

UN COUNTER-TERRORISM BODY CONTINUES COUNTRY VISITS WITH TRIP

TO UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA 13-17 FEBRUARY

NEW YORK, 10 February (CTED) -- An 11-person expert team, led by the main United Nations counter-terrorism body, is travelling to the United Republic of Tanzania for a weeklong visit to continue the Security Council’s practical, technical assistance work to strengthen the ability of countries to fight terrorism.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), Javier Rupérez, is leading the delegation, which will be in the country from 13 to 17 February.

The team includes experts from Interpol, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Maritime Organization, the African Union and the European Commission.  For the first time, the delegation will also include an expert from the United Nations Security Council Committee on Al-Qaida and the Taliban (1267 Committee), as part of an effort by the Council’s subsidiary bodies to work in closer harmony.

The purpose of country visits is to precisely assess, on location and in practice, how Member States implement the obligations of Security Council resolution 1373 adopted in 2001, as well as to evaluate the nature and level of assistance that a particular country may need, in order to fulfil those obligations.

The resolution -- which also established the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) -- calls on countries to implement a number of measures to enhance their legal and institutional capacity, to be in a better position to counter terrorist activities nationally, regionally and globally.

On-site dialogue with Member States is a new phase of work, which CTED began last year with its first country visit to Morocco in mid-March, followed by trips to Kenya, Albania, Thailand and Algeria.  The United Republic of Tanzania visit is first to come in the context of CTED becoming fully staffed and operational, at the end of last year.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee and its expert body, CTED, which was established in 2004, have been collecting written reports from Member States on how the various anti-terrorism measures set out by resolution 1373 are being implemented.  Those periodic reports have served as the basis of an active dialogue between the CTC/CTED and the respective Member State.  The country visits are a follow-up to that dialogue, in a more focused, practical manner, with the national authorities that have the responsibility to implement the different aspects of resolution 1373. Such visits are conducted with the consent of the country, and in full cooperation with its authorities.

The United Republic of Tanzania has submitted three reports to the Committee -- all of which are accessible to the general public through the CTC website (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1373/).

Following each visit, the counter-terrorism experts compile a report based on their observations, which may also include the assistance needs of the country.  It is based on those needs, and in full cooperation and consent with the respective Member State, that CTED then works with donor countries and international organizations to help meet those assistance requirements.

Background

Security Council resolution 1373, adopted on 28 September 2001, calls on Member States to: deny all forms of financial support for terrorist groups; suppress the provision of safe haven, sustenance or support for terrorists; share information with other Governments on any groups practicing or planning terrorist acts; cooperate with other Governments in the investigation, detection, arrest and prosecution of those involved in such acts; criminalize active and passive assistance for terrorism in domestic laws and bring violators of these laws to justice; and become party, as soon as possible, to the relevant international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.

The resolution established the Counter-Terrorism Committee, comprising of all 15 members of the Security Council, to monitor implementation of the resolution.  The monitoring work was further enhanced when the Security Council established a Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) on 26 March 2004 (resolution 1535), to assist the CTC.  The Executive Directorate is working to strengthen coordination and collaboration among Governments and national, regional and international bodies.  CTED is expected to help the CTC broker technical assistance for those Member States that have insufficient capacity to meet their obligations.  Resolution 1535, and subsequent resolutions of the Security Council on the subject, such as Resolution 1566 (2004), have specifically recognized the importance of conducting country visits.

In order to assess the compliance of Member States with the obligations of resolution 1373, the CTED experts, during country visits, focus their attention on various counter-terrorism areas. Those areas may include:

-- anti-terrorism legislation (offences, penalties, competence of the courts, criminal procedure, special investigation measures, legislation on weapons, explosives and dangerous substances, and legislation on asylum and immigration);

-- measures against assets used for criminal purposes (anti-money-laundering legislation, legislation against the financing of terrorism, supervision of the non-financial sector, structures for oversight of the financial system, and mechanisms for the freezing, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of crime, as well as of funds intended to finance terrorist acts);

-- effectiveness of law enforcement services (counter-terrorism machinery, coordination of services, early warning system, and methods for combating and preventing criminal activities linked to terrorism);

-- international cooperation (machinery for international cooperation in criminal matters, status of ratification of anti-terrorism conventions, modalities and effectiveness of judicial cooperation, modalities and effectiveness of police cooperation, and modalities of cooperation with regional and international organizations); and

-- territorial control (control of trans-border movements of persons, control of cargo, mechanisms for issuance and control of identity and travel documents, and methods for the prevention and detection of forgery and fraud).

For more information on the work of the CTC/CTED (including the periodic reports of the United Republic of Tanzania), you can visit the Committee’s website http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1373/; or contact Mitch Hsieh, CTED Public Information Officer, tel: +1-212-457-1712 or e-mail: hsieh@un.org; or Janos Tisovszky of the UN Department of Public Information, tel: +1-917-367-2068 or e-mail: tisovszky@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record