UN/1267 SANCTIONS: UNODC BRIEFS COMMITTEE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000422 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2018 TAGS: ETTC PREL EFIN KTFN PTER UNSC SUBJECT: UN/1267 SANCTIONS: UNODC BRIEFS COMMITTEE IN FORMAL SESSION Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Molly Phee, for reasons 1.4 ( b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Jean-Paul Laborde, Chief of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),briefed the 1267 (al-Qaeda/Taliban) Sanctions Committee in a formal session on April 21 on cooperation between the UNODC and the Committee. When visiting countries to provide technical assistance, UNODC's Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) explains to governments the scope of the 1267 sanctions regime and works to strengthen domestic legal frameworks for implementing the regime. The TPB also exchanges information with the 1267 Monitoring Team on states, implementation of the sanctions and UNODC's findings on drugs and terrorism in Afghanistan. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) The 1267 (al-Qaeda/Taliban) Sanctions Committee met in a formal session on April 21 to hear a briefing from Jean-Paul Laborde, Chief of the Terrorism Prevention Branch and Deputy Director of the Division of Treaty Affairs for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). UNODC assists UN member states through technical assistance programs with ratifying and implementing international treaties and developing domestic legislation related to drugs, crime, and terrorism. According to Mr. Laborde, wherever possible, the UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) works to strengthen states' legislative and regulatory capacities specifically related to the 1267 regime. ¶3. (C) Mr. Laborde highlighted the two key areas of cooperation between the TPB and the 1267 Committee: first, in its meetings with member states the TPB clarifies the scope of the 1267 regime and states, attendant obligations (i.e., to enforce the travel ban assets freeze, and arms embargo those on the 1267 sanctions list),and disseminates information on the 1267 regime and copies of the sanctions list. (The TPB regularly organizes national technical assistance workshops and conducts bilateral meetings on combating money laundering and terrorism financing. In 2007 the TPB held workshops in Senegal and Botswana, and a workshop in Kenya is planned for 2008. ) ¶4. (C) Second, the TPB regularly exchanges information with the 1267 Monitoring Team -- the Committee's investigative body -- on its assessments of states' legal frameworks for dealing with terrorism, including their implementation of the 1267 regime. In assessing capacity needs, the TPB reviews states, reports to the 1267 Committee detailing the steps they have taken to implement the sanctions and the Monitoring Team's reports on its visits to member states. The TPB has also made itself available to states that request assistance in drafting their implementation reports to the 1267 Committee. The TPB also keeps the Team apprised of UNODC's work on the nexus between drug trafficking and al-Qaeda's and the Taliban's activities in Afghanistan. ¶5. (C) Following Mr. Laborde's briefing, Libya asked why the drug trade is flourishing in Afghanistan. Mr. Laborde responded that al-Qaeda and the Taliban have a symbiotic relationship with the drug traffickers; al-Qaeda and the Taliban protect them in return for funds. Laborde noted that drug production in Afghanistan is limited to the region facing the greatest threat from insurgents, and it is al-Qaeda's protection of the insurgent groups that prevents government intervention to covert production to alternative crops. Khalilzad