Security Council Statement Calls upon States, International Bodies to Deny Terrorists Benefits of Transnational Organized Crime

The Security Council today strongly encouraged Member States as well as relevant regional, subregional and international organizations to enhance cooperation and strategies to prevent terrorists from benefiting from transnational organized crime.

Issuing presidential statement S/PRST/2018/9, presented by Council President Joanna Wronecka (Poland), the body also strongly encouraged States to secure their borders against, investigate and prosecute terrorists and criminals working with them, including by strengthening national, regional and global systems to collect, analyse and exchange information.

Noting that the nature and scope of links between terrorism and transnational organized crime varied by context, the Council encouraged the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to continue including that issue in relevant reporting requirements and research programmes, and urged States, as a matter of priority, to consider ratifying, acceding to and implementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and protocols thereto, among other such instruments.

Further, the Council reaffirmed that Member States must ensure that any measures taken to counter terrorism must comply with all their obligations under international law, and encouraged them, as well as international, regional and subregional organizations, to support initiatives to address links between terrorism and transnational organized crime.

In that context, the Council called on Member States to prevent terrorists from benefiting from the financial proceeds of transnational organized crime, and to prevent the movement of terrorists by effective national border controls and controls on issuance of identity papers and travel documents.

The meeting began at 10:03 a.m. and ended at 10:05 a.m.

Presidential Statement

The full text of presidential statement S/PRST/2018/9 reads as follows:

“The Security Council recalls the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirms its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

“The Security Council further recalls its noted concern about the close connection between international terrorism and transnational organized crime, and, in this regard, strongly encourages Member States and relevant regional, subregional, and international organizations, as appropriate, to enhance cooperation and strategies to prevent terrorists from benefiting from transnational organized crime, and to build the capacity to secure their borders against and investigate and prosecute such terrorists and transnational organized criminals working with them, including through the strengthening of national, regional, and global systems to collect, analyse and exchange information, including law enforcement and intelligence information.

“The Security Council notes that the nature and scope of the linkages between terrorism and transnational organized crime vary by context, and, in this regard, encourages Member States, as well as international, regional, subregional organizations and fora to continue conducting research to better understand the nature and scope of the links that may exist between terrorists and transnational organized criminals, and further encourages the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to continue including this issue in its relevant existing reporting requirements and research programmes, including its World Drug Report, and the Counterterrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) to leverage its Global Research Network in this regard.

“The Security Council urges as a matter of priority that Member States consider, as appropriate, ratifying, acceding to, and implementing the international counterterrorism and transnational organized crime conventions and protocols as soon as possible, including the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of 2000 and the Protocols thereto, as well as the UN Convention Against Corruption of 2003, and reminds Member States of their obligation to fully implement requirements under Security Council resolutions relating to international terrorism and transnational organized crime and reiterates its support for the balanced implementation of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy.

“The Security Council reaffirms that terrorism poses a threat to international peace and security and that countering this threat requires collective efforts on national, regional and international levels on the basis of respect for international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and further reaffirms its commitment to sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, and stresses that Member States have the primary responsibility in countering terrorist acts and violent extremism conducive to terrorism.

“The Security Council further reaffirms that Member States must ensure that any measures taken to counter terrorism must comply with all their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, underscores that respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law are complementary and mutually reinforcing with effective counter-terrorism measures and are an essential part of a successful counter-terrorism effort, and notes the importance of respect for the rule of law so as to effectively prevent and combat terrorism, and further notes that failure to comply with these and other international obligations, including under the Charter of the United Nations, is one of the factors contributing to increased radicalization to violence and fosters a sense of impunity.

“The Security Council encourages Member States and international, regional and subregional organizations and fora to enhance knowledge of and support initiatives to address, in the design and implementation of global, regional and national counter-terrorism strategies, the linkages between terrorism and transnational organized crime, including in accordance with resolution 2242 (2015), where relevant.

“The Security Council recalls its previous relevant resolutions and statements of its President which underscore the importance of developing effective partnerships between the United Nations and regional, subregional organizations and fora, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant statutes of the regional and subregional organizations.

“The Security Council underscores the value, in this regard, of strong coordination and cooperation between CTED and the United Nations Office of Counterterrorism (UNOCT), and recognizes the important role and expertise of the UNODC, as well as of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), other relevant UN entities, and INTERPOL.

“The Security Council calls on Member States to prevent terrorists from benefiting from the financial proceeds of transnational organized crime and gaining support from transnational organized criminal groups, and, in this respect, recalls Member States’ obligations to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism for any purpose, invites the CTED, as well as UNODC, to enhance cooperation with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF-style regional bodies, and encourages FATF to continue its efforts to prioritize countering the financing of terrorism.  The Security Council welcomes all initiatives aimed at strengthening international efforts against the financing of terrorism, including the conference held in Paris on 25 and 26 April 2018.

“The Security Council further calls on Member States to prevent the movement of terrorists by effective national border controls and controls on issuance of identity papers and travel documents, and through measures for preventing counterfeiting, forgery or fraudulent use of identity papers and travel documents, and encourages Member States to fully utilize all existing tools, databases, and instruments developed by international and regional organizations, such as the UNODC, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), INTERPOL and the WCO, to strengthen international cooperation and responses to the threat posed by terrorism and transnational organized crime, and, in that regard, also recalls its decisions that Member States shall require airlines operating in their territories to provide advance passenger information (API) to the appropriate national authorities, in accordance with domestic law and international obligations, and develop the capability to collect, process and analyze, in furtherance of ICAO standards and recommended practices, passenger name record (PNR) data.

“The Security Council encourages the United Nations, as well as regional and subregional organizations to continue their endeavours in assisting Member States in their capacity-building and in sharing effective practices to prevent and combat terrorism that may benefit from transnational organized crime.

“The Security Council recalls resolutions 2331 (2016) and 2388 (2017) which recognized the connection between terrorism, sexual violence and transnational organized criminal activities, in particular trafficking in persons.

“The Security Council welcomes the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s upcoming open briefing on the nexus between international terrorism and transnational organized crime, and further requests the Counter-Terrorism Committee, the Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015), and the Committee pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) to hold a special joint meeting within 12 months on addressing the issue of the nexus between international terrorism and transnational organized crime.”