S/PV.5795 Security Council

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1787 (2007).

Panama would like to thank all who helped us in drafting this resolution and, in particular, the United States delegation. We are of the opinion that today’s decision to postpone the review of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate mandate is justified because of the recent appointment of the new Executive Director, Mr. Mike Smith. When it is time for us to review this matter, Panama will give its opinion on the substance of the renewal, but in the meantime, we feel that we have taken the appropriate decision.

We have just voted in favour of resolution 1787 (2007), particularly since our observations were taken into account. Naturally, we wish we had had a comprehensive resolution reflecting our comments and observations after the experience we have acquired during our almost two years of work in the Council. Since such a resolution will not be considered until March of next year, we would like now to offer some observations on the matter. It is notable that over the past four decades, and particularly after the events of 11 September 2001 and the adoption of resolution 1373 (2001), which established the Counter-Terrorism Committee, the Security Council has been dealing with terrorism without a clear definition of the term, making it difficult to know what we are up against in a sure and definitive way: the Security Council only describes certain acts as terrorist actions without possessing a definition of terrorism. It also fails to deal with the root causes of terrorist acts and of terrorism itself or at the least, to try to understand the minds and hearts of those involved in terrorist acts. The failure to deal with such vital issues has led to a vicious circle. Therefore, we would like to reiterate our call to the Security Council and the relevant Council committees to work to find a clear definition of this phenomenon and its root causes. Resolution 1373 (2001) establishes the Counter- Terrorism Committee in an open-ended manner, which raises the question of when the mandate of the Committee or that of its Executive Directorate will expire. When will the day come when we are confident that the purposes for which they were established have been accomplished and that all Member States, without exception, have fulfilled all of their commitments under resolution 1373 (2001)? However, and in spite of the progress achieved in the implementation of that resolution, we would like to draw attention to the wasted effort and resources and the lack of full coordination with the General Assembly or other bodies in achieving the objectives of that resolution. In the light of General Assembly resolution 60/288 of September 2006, on the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the appropriate joint mechanism to coordinate our human, technical and financial resources in the fight against terrorism would be the Secretariat’s Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, which brings together 24 entities, including the Executive Directorate. Therefore, we must seriously consider the future of the Executive Directorate and the possibility of annexing it to the Task Force, in order to further coordinate and develop our efforts and those of the United Nations in fighting terrorism. We clearly see a lack of accuracy and balance in the evaluation by the Committee and the Directorate of the efforts of Member States to implement resolution 1373 (2001) and an imbalance in the coordination of visits to countries of the South in comparison with countries of the North. We also see a particular focus on the technical assistance provided by countries of the North and a lack of attention to the extent to which they are committed to the rules and norms of international law and human rights law and the implementation of resolution 1373 (2001). There is also the issue of the objectivity and transparency that should always characterize the Committee and the Directorate. Nor have the Committee and the Directorate done enough for the implementation of resolution 1624 (2005), which focuses on incitement to terrorism and on the extreme importance of not distorting religions and cultures or their religious symbols. Resolution 1624 (2005) re-emphasizes international efforts to enhance dialogue and expand contacts among civilizations and stresses the importance of the audio and visual media in promoting understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence and in fostering an environment which is not conducive to incitement of terrorism and violence. We have called on the Counter- Terrorism Committee and the Executive Directorate to deal seriously with this issue, to no avail. However, we would like to reiterate our call on the Security Council to deal with this issue with complete transparency. Permit me finally to reiterate Qatar’s support for efforts by the Security Council and the international community to fight terrorism, in accordance with the norms and rules of international law, particularly human rights law and humanitarian law. We call on the Security Council to play its role and wish it every success in doing so. We hope that our observations will be taken into account when the Security Council considers a new draft resolution on the extension of the mandate of the Directorate.

I want to assure the representative of Qatar that we have taken note of what he has said. There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.