S/PV.8146 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2017/1076, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by France, Italy, Japan, Senegal, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and Uruguay. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote of the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2395 (2017). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting.

The Security Council and the international community have found common cause in our fight against terrorism, but we are continually reminded of how much more we have to do. In 2017, terrorists have targeted villagers in the Sahel and worshippers in the Sinai. Even here in the great global city of New York we have twice seen the dangers posed by self-radicalized individuals. But the world is adapting and we are getting better at fighting terrorism. In the Middle East, the coalition to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham has liberated almost all of the territory of the so-called Islamic State, and later today the Security Council will adopt a landmark draft resolution to give us new tools to counter the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters. Here at the United Nations this is been a remarkable year of change and reform. This year has seen some of the greatest changes to the United Nations counter- terrorism architecture in over a decade. Under the Secretary-General’s leadership, the United Nations has taken important first steps towards streamlining, elevating and focusing its counter-terrorism efforts with the establishment of the new United Nations Office of Counter-terrorism. To further those reform efforts, today the Security Council has adopted resolution 2395 (2017) to update and strengthen the mandate of the Counter- Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED). Established by the Security Council 13 years ago, CTED has grown to become a critical counter-terrorism body. In 2017, CTED again showed its great value: CTED experts visited more than 20 countries to assess their implementation of counter-terrorism resolutions, held many important briefings and open meetings and engaged outside experts from Governments, civil society, academia and the private sector. CTED now has new leadership. We warmly welcomed Ms. Michèle Coninsx and applaud her vision for a strong, dynamic CTED. The overarching goal of the resolution adopted today, which renews CTED’s mandate for another four years, was to strengthen CTED even further. Today more than ever before we need a CTED that is agile and able to respond to new threats. I would highlight three goals of today’s important resolution. First, resolution 2395 (2017) aims to help CTED focus squarely on its core mandate a visiting Member States to assess their implementation of counter- terrorism resolutions. We hope it will foster even better CTED assessment reports built around actionable recommendations to counter terrorism. If we strengthen CTED’s ability to carry out this core mandate, we can better ensure its recommendations are acted on throughout the United Nations system and beyond. Our second goal was to strengthen CTED’s role as an early-warning system for the Security Council and its Counter-Terrorism Committee. CTED can help the Counter-Terrorism Committee identify and assess cutting-edge counter-terrorism events, trends and threats. This requires broad engagement, and not just with Member States but also civil society, academia and the private sector. We must also look to media, cultural and religious leaders with an emphasis on women, youth and locally focused organizations. Thirdly, this resolution aims to establish firmly CTED’s place in the reformed United Nations counter- terrorism architecture. Our goal was to promote a close and cooperative relationship with the new United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism. For example, we want to see CTED’s assessments and recommendations directly inform the technical assistance and capacity- building efforts undertaken by other parts of the United Nations. In addition to advancing those goals, the resolution adopted today recognizes one of the greatest lessons we have learned in the fight against terrorism. After many years of experience, the international community has come to recognize that effective counter-terrorism strategies must be comprehensive and balanced strategies that prioritize all four pillars of the global United Nations counter-terrorism strategy. In practice, this means counter-terrorism efforts must be multifaceted, tailored to local conditions and take into account ethnic and religious minorities. Successful counter-terrorism efforts must simultaneously focus on strengthening criminal justice systems, tackling terrorist financing, bolstering civil aviation security and protecting soft targets and critical infrastructure. And just as terrorists target, exploit and recruit women, we must respond by integrating gender as a cross- cutting issue throughout our counter-terrorism efforts. That is why this mandate calls for CTED to integrate a gender perspective in its work and  — for the first time in a CTED mandate — focuses on the impact of terrorism on children. One of the most essential elements of a balanced counter-terrorism strategy is countering violent extremism. The prevention and countering violent extremism has now become a core component of effective counter-terrorism strategies worldwide. Today’s resolution acknowledges the importance of this preventative work. It also brings us closer to an all-of-UN counter-terrorism effort that includes critical prevention elements whenever and wherever appropriate. The United States is also encouraged that CTED’s mandate now reflects the reality that we will never defeat terrorism without respecting human rights. Heavy-handed counter-terrorism responses and repression are gifts to terrorists. Putting human rights at the core of our counter-terrorism efforts does not weaken our response to terrorism, it strengthens it. For this reason, we encourage CTED to ensure that respect for human rights is integrated throughout its work. We thank our colleagues at CTED and in the Council for their hard work and shared commitment in the struggle against terrorism.

At the outset, I would like to thank the delegation of the United States for having facilitated the process of consultation on resolution 2395 (2017), which we just adopted. Egypt has chaired the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) for the past two years, which has convinced us of the important and sensitive role played by the Committee and its Executive Directorate (CTED). In that regard, Egypt keenly and actively engaged in the consultations on the draft resolution and worked to integrate the lessons we learned as Chair of the Committee. The delegation of Egypt endeavoured to ensure the draft resolution included a clear reference to the established legal principle regarding extradition and persecution. As a compromise, that principle is referred to implicitly in the resolution since it was rejected by some Member States despite the fact that it is important on the ground, especially in the field of counter- terrorism and that the CTC has taken it into account in its assessments in various countries. Furthermore, throughout the consultations, Egypt stressed the need for CTED to continue its key function, which is to assess States’ compliance with their obligations under resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005) and 2178 (2014) and other relevant Security Council resolutions. CTED should also facilitate technical assistance processes designed to help countries to honour their commitments in this area. Resolution 2395 (2017) includes paragraphs that stress the importance of this issue. In that context, Egypt endeavoured to stress the importance of providing financial resources and technical assistance to States so that they can honour their commitments under Security Council resolutions, and the resolution already contains language on that. We also endeavoured to ensure that the resolution included language on providing financial and human resources, pursuant to the relevant Council resolutions, both to CTED, so that it can fulfil its key functions in the area of assessment, and to entities under CTED. However, that did not succeed because some States have refused to provide CTED with additional resources at this stage, something we deplore because it has the potential to affect CTED’s work. We hope that this situation will be remedied in future. Resolution 2395 (2017) also includes a number of paragraphs on the need to address terrorist rhetoric, in accordance with Security Council resolution 2354 (2017). This is one of the most important aspects of counter-terrorism efforts because it is linked to the issue of addressing ideologies and discourse used by terrorist groups to attract recruits and influence young people and individuals in general. Accordingly, we urge the CTC and CTED to continue to pay close attention to this matter and to effectively implement the comprehensive international framework to counter terrorist narratives (S/2017/375, annex). Last but not least, we stress the imperative of promoting coordination between CTED and the CTC, on the one hand, and CTED and the Office of Counter- Terrorism, on the other, especially with regard to implementing the recommendations to be made after the assessment visits. That requires States to supply relevant information to United Nations entities engaged in providing counter-terrorism technical assistance. In that regard, we stress the importance of respecting the sovereignty and will of States, and that such information should not be provided if there is a relevant objection by a concerned State. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parties involved, in particular Member States, the Security Council, CTED and all its members, and the Secretariat for the support they have given Egypt’s chairship of the CTC over the past two years. We stress that Egypt will continue to honour its commitment to being at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to counter terrorism. We will respect international law, the rule of law and human rights.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and its Executive Directorate (CTED) have unique experience and authority in the area of counter-terrorism. Their job is to ensure the effective monitoring of the implementation of the Security Council’s decisions on counter-terrorism. My delegation supported the Council’s adoption today of resolution 2395 (2017), on the review and extension of CTED’s mandate. We are pleased that the document reflects the outcomes of the September briefing of the Council (S/PV.8059) ahead the review, organized at the initiative of the delegations of Russia and Ethiopia, and supports the proposals we presented during the preparations for it and at the meeting itself. First and foremost, this is about improving CTED’s mechanisms for interacting with States when assessing their counter-terrorism potential. It is vital to ensure that the independent expert monitoring of the implementation of Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005) and 2178 (2014) remains a key function of the Directorate, as is affirmed in the text adopted today. It is also essential to focus on the States that are most vulnerable to the threat of terrorism. In many cases, the monitoring documents are an important indicator of States’ needs for technical assistance, the provision of which is one of the key functions of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism. That is why the review resolution outlines the parameters for cooperation between CTED and the Office of Counter- Terrorism. For our part, we will be ready to provide the necessary support for the implementation of their joint programmes. With the adoption of a highly specialized Security Council resolution on various aspects of counter- terrorism, the demands on States and the corresponding volume of work for the Committee have significantly increased. In the circumstances, there it will be essential to set clear priorities, including where the development of thematic subjects that accord with CTED is concerned. In that regard, we note the emphasis that the resolution puts on priority tasks related to countering terrorist propaganda, combating the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, cutting off financial and arms support to terrorists and developing cooperation in the area of criminal law. In conclusion, we would like to express the hope that the work of CTED, on the basis of this renewed mandate and under its new Executive Director, will be effective and fruitful in the coming period.

There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers.