Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee holds Special meeting to revise principles on foreign fighters

AKHVEDELID — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 18:38:00 +0000

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On 13 December 2018, The United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee held a Special meeting in New York on “Security Council resolution 2396 (2017): review of the Madrid Guiding Principles.” Adopted in 2015, the Madrid Guiding Principles consists of 35 practical tools to assist States in stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) to conflict zones.

Since these principles were adopted three years ago, the flow of FTFs to conflict zones has decreased. However, as FTFs are returning to their home countries, relocating to other States, or to different conflict zones, a number of different challenges arise, including former foreign fighters’ possible re-engagement in terrorist activities.

“Some FTFs may be returning or relocating together with family members who accompanied them to conflict zones, with families formed in the conflict zones, or with family members born in the conflict zones,” stated H.E. Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations, and Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

The CTC Special meeting was chaired by H.E. Meza-Cuadra of Peru.

“The flow of FTFs back to their home countries or to other countries is expected to increase in the coming years. The lethality of terrorist attacks has fallen, but the number of unsuccessful attacks has risen,” said Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED).

At the meeting, Member States, international and regional organizations, civil society, practitioners, and experts discussed ways in which the Madrid Guiding Principles could be updated to address these and other challenges.

Many foreign terrorist fighters evade detection because some States lack the necessary resources and capacity to track them. Some panelists therefore expressed the need for support to strengthen countries’ border management. Others stressed the importance of increased information-sharing and cooperation between various sectors of society, including military and police, in order to identify, investigate, and prosecute terrorist suspects. Also the need for biometric data to help identify FTFs was highlighted. Several panellists further stressed the need for full compliance with international legal obligations, especially the protection of human rights when collecting evidence and conducting risk assessments or appropriate targeting measures.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was represented by Assistant Secretary-General Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, Department of Political Affairs, whereas the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) was represented by Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov (via video message).

More photos from the Special meeting can be found at CTED’s Flickr account, available here.

A webcast recording of the first part of the meeting is available here, and of the second part here.

Statements:

Presentations:

Additional statements/presentations will be added shortly.

Front Page Article:

Conclusions, declaration, and guiding principles on stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters now available as Security Council document

BMUSONI — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 22:29:00 +0000

Following a special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee on stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), held in Madrid in 2015, a set of guiding principles for the implementation of Security Council resolution 2178 (2014) is now available as an official Security Council document (S/2015/939) in all six UN languages. Building on the norms and recommended practices of participating international and regional organizations and measures found effective by attending Member States, the 35 guiding principles are grouped together under the following rubrics: I. Detection of, intervention against and prevention of the incitement, recruitment, and facilitation of foreign terrorist fighters; II. Prevention of travel by foreign terrorist fighters, including through operational measures, the use of advance passenger information, and measures to strengthen border security; and III. Criminalization, prosecution, including prosecution strategies for returnees, international cooperation, and the rehabilitation and reintegration of returnees.

Also the Conclusions from Madrid are included in this document. According to these, the Committee welcomes the conclusions of the technical sessions preceding the special meeting, broadly organized along the same themes as the guiding principles. Finally, a Declaration of the meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and of the Interior was adopted on the same occasion. Reiterating their “condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, which constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security,” the Ministers called upon States to “propose creative ideas and new approaches for developing legal tools to counter terrorism further, including the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon, in line with obligations under international law.”

Front Page Article:

Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - Madrid

Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee holds Special meeting to revise principles on foreign fighters

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Conclusions, declaration, and guiding principles on stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters now available as Security Council document