Symposium Combating International Terrorism:
The Contribution of the United Nations"
3-4 June 2002
Vienna International Center
Dr. Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Vienna Symposium on the Contribution of the United Nations to Combating International Terrorism. The Austrian government attributes great importance to this Symposium on the contribution of the United Nations to combating international Terrorism. Judging from the list of illustrious participants, I recognize that our concerns are shared widely. I thank all of you for accepting the invitation of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention to come to Vienna and to explore how the United Nations can best coordinate efforts, secure complementarities and strive for possible synergies.
The suffering and destruction caused by the terrorist attacks from 11 September, terrible images globalized by live broadcasting, changed the perception of the world for many of us. As Secretary-General Kofi Annan wrote in the Op-ed page of The New York Times on 21 September 2001, " The terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11 aimed at one nation but wounded an entire world".
On a different occasion, the Secretary-General had noted, and I quote: "To defeat terrorism, we need a sustained effort and a broad strategy to unite all nations, and address all aspects of the scourge we face. The cause must be pursued by all the States of the world, working together and using different means - including political, legal diplomatic and financial means". End of quote. It was quickly accepted that combating international terrorism effectively required an integrated and multidisciplinary approach as well as effective cooperation.
Within weeks after the attacks of 11 September, the UN Security Council adopted its path-breaking Resolution 1373 and the debate on international terrorism dominated the General Assembly and penetrated the work of its main committees. At the General Assemblys debate on international terrorism, in which a record number of 154 member states participated, the United Nations received many requests for expanding its anti-terrorism activities. Numerous delegations also requested the implementation of the twelve anti-terrorism conventions and protocols. The issue of combating international terrorism, which had been very much contested ever since the establishment of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Measures to Eliminate Terrorism in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, suddenly commanded wide consensus.
It should be recalled here that before "911" the activities of the UN Secretariat in fighting terrorism were divided between two institutions: With the normative capacities, i.e. the assistance in the creation of international legal norms, based in the Office of Legal Affairs Codification Division and technical co-operation and research mandated to the Centre for International Crime Prevention (CICP) of the Vienna-based UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP). It is difficult to believe, yet true that the operational capacities of the United Nations in fighting terrorism were limited to two professional posts at the Terrorism Prevention Branch, which was integrated into the CICP only last August.
Efforts to address international terrorism within the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) have led to the adoption of the Vienna Action Plan, less than one week before "911". Its section VII focussed and further defined the mandate of the CICP. Measures recommended by the Vienna Action Plan, adopted in the meantime by the General Assembly, include assisting States with the implementation of existing legal instruments, raising awareness for the connection between international terrorism and transnational organized crime, maintaining databases and serving as a clearing-house for collecting and disseminating information. Measures for terrorism prevention as well as technical cooperation are subsumed under this Plan of Action.
The Vienna Action Plan and its five recommendations against international terrorism, suggesting measures by the CICP, was taken into account at the General Assembly debate in early October 2001. In his concluding statement, even the President of the General Assembly referred to it. Hence, the General Assembly debate took into consideration ongoing UN activities: the role of the Security Council and its Counter-Terrorism-Committee (CTC), the important diplomatic initiatives by the Secretary-General as well as the activities of the UN Secretariat, divided between the Office of Legal Affairs in the normative domain, and by the CICP and its Terrorism Prevention Branch operationally.
When Austria took the initiative to circulate an Aide-Memoire on "The United Nations and measures to counter terrorism", it appealed to make best use of existing UN-institutions. Utilizing the existing structures and building upon consensually adopted mandates would benefit the UN in its fight against terrorism in various ways. We suggested that the ODCCP had significant expertise in technical cooperation and advisory services in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice. Successful measures and techniques from there could be adapted to measures combating terrorism; by addressing the close link between terrorism and organized crime and illicit drugs, as noted by the Security-Council in its Resolution 1373, the ODCCP would maximize synergy-effects; no new institutions would have to be created and the ODCCP could easily adapt its capacities to meet the new role of the UN in its fight against terrorism; and, by relying on existing institutions, excessive new costs, bureaucratic structures and delays could be avoided.
Responding to the requests to assume an expanded role in the fight against international terrorism, the UN have embarked on analysing the relevant expertise available within the UN System and on the basis of its own capacities to meet the new challenges. We understand that the Secretary-General has been engaging also outside experts to offer advise and we are looking forward to his report to the General Assembly.
At its recent session, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice has confirmed, in several of its resolutions, that the CICP is mandated with a distinct role in the fight against terrorism. The results of the Crime Commission have, at the same time, highlighted the discrepancy between existing mandates, defined and focussed by the CICPs decision making body, and what has really been achieved. In fact, the gap between intended programs and results is quite dramatic and one has to ask whether the goals are realistic and how they could be achieved.
We are aware that by its mandate, contained in GA Res. 54/110, the Terrorism Prevention Branch is requested to enhance the capacities of the United Nations in the prevention of terrorism through research and technical cooperation. This is a huge task and definitely far too ambitious to be implemented by a unit consisting of two professionals. It is very obvious that even miracles performed would have fallen far short of the stated goals. This seems to provide a very telling example of how Member States recognized, on the one hand, the necessity for certain action and, on the other hand, lacked the political will to provide the resources to reach the stated goals.
In the aftermath of 11 September, the situation has changed quite suddenly. Huge amounts of money have been spent on efforts to uproot terrorist organizations and many states have clearly expressed their readiness to support complementary activities to combat and prevent terrorism. At the inter-sessional meeting of the Crime Commission, on 15 November, the EU has requested the CICP to develop a project proposal on providing technical assistance for the implementation of the existing legal instruments. This proposal has been circulated as "Strengthening the Legal Regime against Terrorism: Promotion of the Ratification, Approval and Acceptance of, and Accession to, as well as the Implementation of, the Universal Legal Instruments Related to the Prevention and Suppression of International Terrorism", offering a framework for the assistance to requesting Member States in ratifying and implementing anti-terrorist Conventions. Hence, implementation of this proposal will be an important contribution to finally put into action the CICPs mandate in combating and preventing international terrorism.
Consensus regarding the important role that the CICP has to play in promoting effective action to strengthen international cooperation and in providing technical assistance in preventing and combating terrorism is reflected in resolutions of the last Crime Commission. Nevertheless, the relevance of the ODCCP and its vast expertise for the fight against international terrorism has yet to be explored and defined. While the Security Council, in its resolution 1373 has referred to the close relationship between international terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering, we are looking forward to concrete steps on how the ODCCP can extend its fight against "uncivil society" to an effective contribution in preventing and combating international terrorism. It might be too early for the ODCCP to provide hard evidence on the links between terrorism and related crimes at this Vienna Symposium. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to learn how the fight against illicit drugs, corruption, money-laundering, organized crime, trafficking and smuggling of human beings and firearms, all issues on the agenda of the ODCCP, could have an impact on what is called the "enabling environment for terrorism".
Thus, it would be interesting to study, how the ODCCPs Global Programme Against Money Laundering can be used as an effective vehicle for helping to restrict the finances available to terrorists. How the ODCCP can, in cooperation with other UN bodies, such as the UNDP, contribute to improve governance, thus providing an enabling environment offering opportunities so that all people can act to improve the quality of their lives, thereby drying out the breeding grounds for political violence as well as terrorism. We would also be interested to learn how the ODCCP, as the main provider of technical assistance in drugs and crime control, can extend its scope and also provide technical assistance for combating terrorism. This could possibly be achieved through facilitating information sharing and adapting the UNDCP Computer Based Training programme in the fields of interdiction techniques at airports, aircraft search, searching of people, specialist training etc.
Consequently, the future role of the Terrorism Prevention Branch should be understood against the backdrop of other functions of ODCCP. Thus, opportunities for terrorist activities might be greatly reduced through more effective prevention and combating of organised crime, drugs trafficking, money laundering and corruption. The ODCCPs expertise in supporting ratification, implementation and implementation monitoring of several conventions on drugs control and criminal justice cooperation could also benefit existing conventions against terrorism. Technical assistance against terrorism could partly be integrated in the ODCCPs well-established technical assistance activities on preventive approaches and criminal justice-related approaches against drugs problems and organised crime and corruption, e.g. through institution building. Finally, it should be noted that the TOC convention also covers criminal activities committed by terrorist groups. After its entry into force, this convention will play a role in providing an effective framework for cooperation against terrorism, including the financing of terrorism.
While it seems quite obvious that expansion of anti-terrorism assistance ties in well with ODCCPs core mandate and expertise in other related areas, it is also self-understood that additional resources will have to be made available to enable the ODCCP to take on an enhanced role in combating and preventing terrorism. Therefore, declarations of good will need to be followed-up by real action in the form of conclusive pledges of additional funds.
The Austrian government has concluded that taking up a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to combating and preventing international terrorism cannot be delayed any longer. We are therefore ready to make available additional financial resources to the ODCCP, in the form of concrete projects, for the strengthening of its capacities against international terrorism to the amount of one million dollars.
We have already initiated consultations with the ODCCP to define ways to maximise the impact of the Austrian contribution to benefit primarily developing countries by supporting their efforts against the destructive consequences of terrorism, which, among other negative impacts, also impedes sustainable development. We also hope that this Austrian pledge will help to create a critical mass, necessary for the future well-functioning of the ODCCP as the UN center for the fight against uncivil society, including the combating of illicit drugs, organized crime and international terrorism.
That could produce real synergies and added value to the efforts of the international community.