S/PV.4607 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. The purpose of this meeting is to pay solemn tribute to the memory of the victims of the terrorist acts that struck the United States on this very day one year ago. On behalf of the members of the Security Council, I wish to thank all the Ministers and representatives present in this Chamber in expressing the international community’s solidarity with the people and the Government of the United States of America. I welcome the presence of the Secretary-General and invite him to take the floor.

I am happy that you are here, Mr. President, and that so many Foreign Ministers are also here in this Chamber to mark this solemn occasion with us. September eleventh is one of those cataclysmic events — like the assassination of John F. Kennedy — that will stay forever fresh and vivid in our memory. No matter how long each of us lives, we will remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news. Recalling that terrible, dark day, I wish to start by expressing my profound sympathy with the people of the United States, who suffered so grievously as a result of that terrible atrocity. I express my deepest condolences to the families of the thousands of men and women from more than 90 countries who were murdered that day and whose own lives have changed utterly. Together, they represented a United Nations of world citizens, coming together in one city to seek a better future for themselves and for their families. Their deaths diminish all mankind, and all mankind must come together to restore the sanctity of the values we hold dear — tolerance, pluralism, peace and respect for every human life. The United Nations was founded to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and today the nations are united to defend humanity from a new kind of warfare. We are all called upon to defeat an enemy that makes no distinction between the weak and the strong, the high or the low - an enemy who sees as a target the entire edifice of international cooperation to which the United Nations is dedicated. No body has a more central role to play in meeting this challenge than the Security Council. Over the last year, it has fulfilled this role with patience, creativity and determination, showing by its actions how essential it is to defeat terrorism by building the broadest possible international coalition. On the very day after the attacks, the General Assembly and the Security Council adopted strong resolutions condemning them and calling on all States to cooperate in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Subsequently, the Security Council adopted unanimously a far-reaching resolution aimed at targeting terrorists and those who harbour, aid or support them. Under that resolution, Member States are cooperating in a wide range of areas — from suppressing the financing of terrorism to providing early warning, cooperating in criminal investigations and exchanging information. The past year has also given us hope that terrorism can be defeated if the international community summons the will to unite in a broad coalition. As the work of the Council has shown, the United Nations remains uniquely positioned to serve as the forum for that coalition, and for the development of those steps that Governments must now take — separately and together — to combat terrorism on a global scale. The legitimacy that the United Nations conveys can ensure that the greatest number of States are able and willing to take the necessary and difficult steps — diplomatic, legal and political — that are needed to defeat terrorism. Today, one year after the attacks, the importance of global legitimacy in the fight against terrorism has only grown. I call on the Council to strive even harder to ensure that the struggle ahead wins the widest possible support. All humanity has a stake in this fight. The United Nations must ensure that it is fought in unison and won in a legitimate way.

I thank the Secretary-General for his important statement. I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Colin Powell, Secretary of State of the United States of America.

I thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting of the Security Council. We gather on this solemn anniversary as representatives of our own countries, and also as representatives of the international community. Together we honour the dead of 90 nations who were murdered on this day one year ago: men and women of every continent, culture and creed; of every region, race and religion. The full cycle of seasons has come and gone for the loved ones of the victims. Their grief is still fresh. For them, the past 12 months have been a chronicle of absences, a calendar filled with daily reminders of loss — missing faces, missing voices, missing embraces — absences as poignant and palpable as the twin towers missing from the New York skyline. On this day of remembrance, we extend to the family members all over the world our deepest condolences for their sorrow. Here in the United States, 11 September is seared deeply into our national consciousness. The attacks on our soil drew us closer as a people. They also drew us closer to people of kindness and good will across the globe. We will never forget the outpouring of sympathy and solidarity we received from throughout the international community. On behalf of President Bush and on behalf of the American people, I wish to express my country’s abiding gratitude to all those who reached out to us at our time of national trial. Amidst the fire and smoke, amidst the confusion and shock, some things became very clear to us in the United States, and to the entire international community. It was clear that the terrorists did not just strike America. They attacked the values of the civilized world that are enshrined in the United Nations Charter. It was clear that terrorism is a threat to international peace and security; and it was clear that all the world’s nations had to take concerted action if this menace was to be eradicated once and for all. And so, in defence of shared values and out of a sense of shared vulnerability, the world answered President Bush’s call for a great global coalition against terrorism. The Security Council, the General Assembly and every single regional and subregional organization represented at this world body condemned the attacks. Members of the United Nations made binding commitments to combat terrorism, and in the past 12 months much has been accomplished. Together we have taken decisive steps to weaken terrorism’s deadly grip on various parts of the globe, not least on Afghanistan. Coalition forces, led by the United Sates, have liberated the Afghan people from the dual tyranny of Al Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban. With the assistance of the international community, Afghanistan now has an interim governing authority, an agreed path to a representative Government. The world community is working with Afghanistan’s new leadership to meet the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, including the needs of millions of returning refugees and internally displaced persons. With the contribution of donor nations across the globe, the international community is helping the Afghan people begin the enormous task of recovery and reconstruction. For the first time in over two decades, the men and women of Afghanistan look to the future with hope. Elsewhere in the world the international community is making it harder by the day for terrorists to support their operations, acquire weapons of mass destruction, move about freely, find sanctuary, communicate and plot. Thanks to our combined efforts, every day somewhere in the world terrorists are being arrested, their cells are being broken up, their financial bloodlines are being severed, their plans are being disrupted and their attacks are being foiled. Indeed, the actions we have taken to date against terrorism have shown the power of our collective will. But from the beginning all of us recognized that our fight has to be more than a response to the particular events of 11 September. It is about eliminating terrorism as a global menace. We must be prepared for a long, hard effort measured in years, not in months. For our part, the people of the United States understand that, long after the void in New York City’s skyline has been filled by a fitting monument, long after it is possible to tell where the rebuilt walls of the Pentagon meet the old, long after nature has mended the gash in that Pennsylvania field, our country must still remain vigilant and resolute, not just for our own sake but for the well-being of people everywhere. Terrorism is antithetical to the better world for which we have worked since the United Nations was founded. We are all in this together. So, on behalf of President Bush and the American people, I solemnly recommit the United States to our common fight against terrorism. We join all other Members of the United Nations in the effort to build a world of peace, prosperity and freedom where terrorism cannot thrive.

I thank the Secretary of State of the United States of America for his important statement. After consultations among members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: “The Security Council meets today in remembrance and resolve. One year ago, infamous and horrifying acts of terrorism took almost 3,000 innocent lives. They included nationals of half the countries of the world. These attacks changed the way we see our world. Today, the Council honours those innocents killed and injured in the attacks of 11 September 2001. The Council expresses solidarity with their families. “New York is the home of the United Nations. The Security Council admires this city’s determination to forge ahead, to rebuild, not to give in to terrorism. The deaths and destruction of 11 September strengthen our common bonds and aspirations. The Council affirms that these attacks were an assault on global civilization and our common efforts to make the world a better and safer place. The world saw terrorists use civilian aircraft for mass murder. They struck at the ideals embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. The attacks challenged each Member to rise to the task of defeating terrorism, which has claimed victims in all corners of the world. “Following 11 September 2001, both the General Assembly and the Security Council reacted in outrage and condemnation. They demanded that those responsible for these crimes be brought to justice. The Council described such acts, like any acts of international terrorism, as threats to international peace and security. “The international community has responded to the atrocities of 11 September 2001 with unyielding determination. A broad coalition of states has taken action against the Taliban, Al- Qaida and their supporters. It did so in defence of common values and common security. Consistent with the high purposes of this institution and the provisions of the United Nations Charter the coalition continues to pursue those responsible. “The international community as a whole provides vital support as Afghans rebuild their country. The Council applauds the efforts of so many from every continent and corner of the world. And today, the Council also honours those who died in this common effort. “The Security Council gave substance to its determination to combat international terrorism with its historic resolution 1373 (2001). In it, we made the fight against terrorism a mandatory obligation of the international community, consistent with the United Nations Charter and international law. The Council’s Counter- Terrorism Committee promotes cooperation and works to achieve the effective implementation of resolution 1373 (2001). The Council has also established and oversees the worldwide sanctions regime against Al-Qaida and the Taliban. “The Security Council calls on all States and regional and subregional organizations to carry forward and build on their cooperation with the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the Committee established by resolution 1267 (1999) of the Security Council. “The threat is real, the challenge is enormous, and the fight against terrorism will be long. The Security Council will remain steadfast against the threat that endangers all that has been achieved, and all that remains to be achieved, to fulfil the principles and purposes of the United Nations for all people everywhere. “Now let us remember and reflect with a minute of silence.”

This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2002/25. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.