Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08USUNNEWYORK469
2008-05-27 23:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USUN New York
Cable title:  

UN COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY - WORKING GROUPS

Tags:  PTER USUN PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0469/01 1482318
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 272318Z MAY 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4333
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000469 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER USUN PREL
SUBJECT: UN COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY - WORKING GROUPS
BRIEF MEMBER STATES

REF: A. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/FANCHER)--05/23/08

B. USUN 347

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000469

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER USUN PREL
SUBJECT: UN COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY - WORKING GROUPS
BRIEF MEMBER STATES

REF: A. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/FANCHER)--05/23/08

B. USUN 347


1. (U) BEGIN SUMMARY: Calls for the UN Counter-Terrorism
Task Force (CTITF) Working Groups to involve Member States in
their activities and statements of support for the UN Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/60/288) dominated comments
at a briefing on the CTITF's activities on May 21. Member
States also looked forward to the General Assembly's review
of the Strategy on September 5, while several delegations
called for the Secretary-General to ensure that the CTITF has
more resources. Some Non-Aligned Movement countries
complained that the CTITF was not adequately focusing on the
root causes of terrorism and argued that the lack of an
agreed definition of terrorism would complicate the CTITF's
work concerning victims of terrorism. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Robert Orr, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy
Coordination and Strategic Planning and Chair of the CTITF,
and the heads of the CTITF's Working Groups briefed all UN
Members on their activities at a session hosted by the
President of the General Assembly on May 21. The CTITF has
nine Working Groups on: (1) Preventing and Resolving
Conflicts; (2) Addressing Radicalization and Extremism that
Lead to Terrorism, (3) Supporting and Highlighting Victims of
Terrorism, (4) Preventing and Responding to WMD Attacks, (5)
Tackling the Financing of Terrorism, (6) Countering the Use
of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes, (7) Facilitating the
Integrated Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism
Strategy, (8) Strengthening the Protection of Vulnerable
Targets, and (9) Protecting Human Rights while Countering
Terrorism. In their presentations Working Group members drew
from a handout summarizing their activities (ref A).
Supplementing that information, the head of the Working Group
on Protecting Human Rights While Countering Terrorism,
Ngonlardje Mbaidjol of the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced that the Working Group had
completed a fact sheet and planned to develop a tool for
Member States concerning the human rights impact of targeted
sanctions.


3. (U) Many States expressed appreciation for the briefing
but said the Working Groups should involve Member States more
closely in their work and provide greater transparency on

their activities. Pakistan, for instance, called for a new
oversight mechanism to promote States' ownership of the
Strategy. Bob Orr responded by encouraging States' input and
said the Secretary-General would provide more information on
the Working Group's activities in his report for the General
Assembly's review of the Strategy.


4. (U) Several Non-Aligned Movement countries criticized the
Working Groups for not adequately addressing all aspects of
the Strategy, with Qatar, Syria, Iran, and Venezuela arguing
that the CTITF should have a Working Group devoted to the
root causes of terrorism, such as foreign occupation. "State
terrorism" was also identified as an issue which must be
addressed. Orr explained that the Working Group on
Radicalization was formed to consider some of the issues
relating to conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism
and said it had been one of the most active Working Groups,
but many NAM states then questioned the Working Group's
activities, including how it would define "radicalization."
Egypt, for example, cautioned that the Working Group should
not limit itself to considering one religion, region, or
cultural group. Qatar also said the Working Groups had not
taken adequate account of legal protections in the context of
terrorism and cited the activities of the Security Council's
sanctions committees, unlawful killings of suspected
terrorists, and prison conditions as areas needing closer
scrutiny. Orr responded that, given the scope of the
Strategy, the CTITF could not establish Task Forces on all of
its aspects. Instead, the CTITF's Working Groups reflect the
areas of the Strategy that enjoy active support from all
regions and focus on the issues on which the UN could make a
contribution.


5. (U) The EU, Turkey, and Switzerland called on the
Secretary-General to "institutionalize" the CTITF as called
for in the GA Strategy resolution and ensure that it has the
resources and staff it needs. Venezuela said the fact that
the Working Groups are funded voluntarily gives donor States
undo influence over their activities. Orr said the CTITF is
working to promote coherence across the UN system but argued
that the CTITF needs limited additional resources to be more
effective. Comment: The resolution calls for the office to
be set up "within existing resources." End Comment.


6. (U) Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran expressed misgivings about
the activities of the CTITF's Working Group on Supporting and
Highlighting the Victims of Terrorism, including the
Secretary-General's plans to convene a symposium on victims


of terrorism on September 2-3. They argued that the absence
of an agreed definition of terrorism would make it difficult
to identify victims of terrorism and could lead to "political
manipulation." They questioned whether the CTITF would
invite victims to the symposium and under what criteria,
whether States could bring victims, and whether States would
be limited in the number of victims they could bring.


7. (SBU) Comment: Thursday's briefing was well attended and
the large number of Member States asking questions and making
comments suggested strong interest in the CTITF's activities
and the Strategy. Time ran out before Orr could answer all
of Member States' questions, so Orr will provide a follow-on
briefing on May 29. On the margins of the briefing, several
delegations told USUN they feared that Cuba, Venezuela, Iran,
Qatar, Syria, or other NAM delegations might attempt to
reopen the Strategy when the General Assembly reviews its
implementation in September or disrupt the
Secretary-General's symposium on victims of terrorism. USUN
will continue to work with other delegations and with Bob Orr
to ensure that the review stays focused on implementation.
USUN will also seek to learn more about the Working Group on
Protecting Human Rights's proposed paper on targeted
sanctions and to ensure that it is consistent with U.S.
policy toward the Security Council's sanctions committees.
End Comment.
Wolff