Security Council

7101^st Meeting (AM)

Security Council Adopts Resolution 2133 (2014), Calling upon States to Keep

Ransom Payments, Political Concessions from Benefiting Terrorist

The Security Council today called upon all Member States to prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or political concessions, and further, to secure the safe release of hostages.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2133 (2014), the Council reaffirmed resolution 1373 (2001) — the wide-ranging text it adopted following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States — in particular, its decisions that all States shall prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts, and refrain from providing support to any entities or persons involved, including by suppressing recruitment of members of terrorist groups and eliminating the supply of weapons to them.  All States should prohibit their nationals, or any persons or entities within their territories, from making funds, financial assets or economic resources available for the benefit of those involved in terrorist acts.

By the text adopted today, the Council called on States to cooperate closely in incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking by terrorists, reaffirming that all States should afford one another the “greatest measure of assistance” in connection with related criminal investigations or proceedings.  It also called on States to continue expert discussions on kidnapping for ransom by terrorists within the United Nations and other organizations, including the Global Counterterrorism Forum.

Also by the text, the Council called on States to encourage private sector partners to adopt or follow relevant guidelines for preventing and responding to terrorist kidnappings without paying ransom.  It encouraged the Counter-Terrorism Committee, established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001), to hold a special meeting, with the participation of Member States, as well as relevant international and regional organizations, to discuss measures for preventing kidnapping by terrorist groups for the purpose of raising funds or gaining political concessions.

Argentina’s representative, speaking after the resolution’s adoption, said extortion had begun to be seen within the United Nations as a possible form of financing for terrorist groups in order to establish a link between hostage-taking and terrorism, as outlined in the 1979 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages.  However, that complex phenomenon was not universal, he pointed out, adding that it was linked to specific geographic regions.  The resolution lacked legal specifications and definitions.

The response to kidnapping must take the specific circumstances of each incident into account, he emphasized, calling for measures to identify, freeze, seize or confiscate the funds or other assets that were the product of hostage-taking.  However, such measures should not undermine the possible payment of ransom for hostages.  Without establishing legal obligations, the resolution carried the symbolic value of reflecting the Council’s unanimity, he noted.  However, the dialogue should take place in the General Assembly, thereby guaranteeing the participation of all States with a view to reaching the necessary consensus.

The meeting began at 10:05 a.m. and ended at 10:10 a.m.

Resolution

The full text of resolution 2133 (2014) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Reaffirming 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 and further reaffirming the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts,

“Recalling all its relevant resolutions and presidential statements concerning threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts,

“Reiterating the obligation of Member States to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts,

“Recalling relevant international counter-terrorism instruments, including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention against the Taking of Hostages,

“Strongly condemning incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups for any purpose, including raising funds or gaining political concessions,

“Expressing concern at the increase in incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups with the aim of raising funds, or gaining political concessions, in particular the increase in kidnappings by Al-Qaida and its affiliated groups, and underscoring that the payment of ransoms to terrorists funds future kidnappings and hostage-takings which creates more victims and perpetuates the problem,

“Expressing 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 and, in this regard, noting the work of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), in particular its publication of several framework documents and good practices, including in the area of kidnapping for ransom, to complement the work of the relevant United Nations counter-terrorism entities,

“Recognizing the need to further strengthen efforts to support victims and those affected by incidents of kidnapping for ransom and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups and to give careful consideration to protecting the lives of hostages and those kidnapped, and reaffirming that States must ensure that any measures taken to counter terrorism comply with their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law, refugee law and international humanitarian law, as appropriate,

“Noting the decision of the Group of Eight Summit in Lough Erne to address the threat posed by kidnapping for ransom by terrorists and the preventive steps the international community can take in this regard and to encourage further expert discussion, including at the Roma Lyon group, to deepen understanding of this problem, and further noting that paragraph 225.6 of the Final Document of the sixteenth Summit of the Heads of State or Government of the Non-Aligned Movement condemned criminal incidences of hostage-taking with resultant demands for ransoms and/or other political concessions by terrorist groups,

“Expressing its commitment to support efforts to reduce terrorist groups’ access to funding and financial services through the ongoing work of UN counter-terrorism bodies and the Financial Action Task Force to improve anti-money-laundering and terrorist financing frameworks worldwide,

“Expressing concern at the increased use, in a globalized society, by terrorists and their supporters of new information and communication technologies, in particular the Internet, for the purposes of recruitment and incitement to commit terrorist acts, as well as for the financing, planning and preparation of their activities,

“Recalling its resolutions 1904 (2009), 1989 (2011) and 2083 (2012), which, inter alia, confirm that the requirements of operative paragraph 1(a) of these resolutions, also apply to the payment of ransoms to individuals, groups, undertakings or entities on the Al-Qaida Sanctions List,

“Reaffirming that acts, methods and practices of terrorism are contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations and that knowingly financing, planning and inciting terrorist acts are also contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations,

“1.   Reaffirms its resolution 1373 (2001) and in particular its decisions that all States shall prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts and refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, including by suppressing recruitment of members of terrorist groups and eliminating the supply of weapons to terrorists;

“2.   Further reaffirms its decision in resolution 1373 (2001) that all States shall prohibit their nationals or any persons and entities within their territories from making any funds, financial assets or economic resources or financial or other related services available, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of persons who commit or attempt to commit or facilitate or participate in the commission of terrorist acts, of entities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by such persons and of persons and entities acting on behalf of or at the direction of such persons;

“3.   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;

“4.   Calls upon all Member States to cooperate closely during incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups;

“5.   Reaffirms its decision in resolution 1373 (2001) that all States shall afford one another the greatest measure of assistance in connection with criminal investigations or criminal proceedings relating to the financing or support of terrorist acts;

“6.   Recognizes the need to continue expert discussions on kidnapping for ransom by terrorists, and calls upon Member States to continue such expert discussions within the United Nations and other relevant international and regional organizations, including the GCTF, on additional steps the international community could take to prevent kidnappings and to prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from using kidnapping to raise funds or gain political concessions;

“7.   Notes that ransom payments to terrorist groups are one of the sources of income which supports their recruitment efforts, strengthens their operational capability to organize and carry out terrorist attacks, and incentivizes future incidents of kidnapping for ransom;

“8.   Encourages the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001) to hold, with the assistance of appropriate expertise, a special meeting with the participation of Member States and relevant international and regional organizations to discuss measures to prevent incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups to raise funds or gain political concessions, and requests the CTC to report to the Council on the outcomes of this Meeting;

“9.   Recalls the adoption by the GCTF of the “Algiers Memorandum on Good Practices on Preventing and Denying the Benefits of Kidnapping for Ransom by Terrorists” and encourages CTED to take it into account, as appropriate, consistent with its mandate, including in its facilitation of capacity building to Member States;

“10.  Calls upon all Member States to encourage private sector partners to adopt or to follow relevant guidelines and good practices for preventing and responding to terrorist kidnappings without paying ransoms;

“11.  Calls upon all Member States to cooperate and engage in dialogue with all relevant UN counter-terrorism bodies, as appropriate, to improve their capacities to counter the financing of terrorism, including from ransoms;

“12.  Encourages the Monitoring Team of the 1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) and other relevant UN counter-terrorism bodies to cooperate closely when providing information on the measures taken by Member States on this issue and on relevant trends and developments in this area;

“13.  Decides to remain seized of this matter.”

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For information media • not an official record