UN HOLDS SECOND SYPOSIUM ON "VICTIMS OF TERRORISM'

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000317

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER UNGA
SUBJECT: UN HOLDS SECOND SYPOSIUM ON "VICTIMS OF TERRORISM'


1. Summary. Robert Orr, Chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism
Implementation Task Force and the UN Secretariat, chaired on
March 18 on behalf of the Secretary General the second
symposium on supporting victims of terrorism. Orr opened the
symposium by stating that its objective was to launch the
UN's report on supporting victims of terrorism and to have a
discussion on the way forward. Carrie Lemack of Families of
September 11 and Carla Khammar, a UN employee who was injured
in a terrorist attack in Algiers in 2007, also made remarks.
Several member states made statements including Spain,
Italy, Israel, Turkey, Colombia, Ecuador, the Czech Republic
on behalf of the European Union and USUN. General themes
included the need for the UN to find ways to fill gaps in
support to victims. Brian Davey of the Secretariat provided
details on how the UN might improve its capacity to address
victim's issues. Orr's proposals at the end of the symposium
included the possibility of creating a UN web portal on the
issue, the development of a UN mechanism to address victims
issues (upon the request of member states),and the creation
of a UN rapid response team. End Summary


2. After Orr gave an initial overview of the symposium's
objectives, a video was shown that included highlights from
the statements of presenters in the September - 2008 UN
victims symposium. The presenters in the video, including
victims, and family of victims, gave a human and personal
touch to the issue. Orr said the video would be available on
YouTube as of March 19. After the video, Orr presented the
UN's report on supporting victims of terrorism that includes
the following topics: giving victims a face and a voice and
legal status defending their legal rights, protecting
victims' dignity, providing medical and psycho-social support
and financial assistance to victims, and building solidarity
with victims of terrorism.


3. Brian Davey, Director of Medical Services in the UN's
Department of Resources Management, said that support
dedicated to assist victims and their families should be
improved within the Secretariat and at some point,
institutionalized. Although Davey said the envisioned
support cannot be more than the UN can provide, he said that
the UN needs to take on this task so that each individual
circumstance can be addressed. As examples of ways to begin,
Davey said that listening to victims and survivors is
critical. He said long-term medical support including trauma
counseling is also critical. Davey concluded by saying that
he is reviewing victims support issues from the past to
figure out how best to address them.


4. The member states that spoke all supported the UN's
initiative to enhance support to victims of terrorism.
Israel's Deputy PermRep said that he was impressed with the
video and that last September's conference had broken new
ground. He also said that Israel has shared in the human
force of suffering from the victim's perspective. The four
member states that contributed monetarily to the victims
symposium in September, Colombia, Italy, Spain and the UK,
all said that Orr's and the Secretariat's work on supporting
victims is extremely important and that it needs to continue.
Turkey's representative said that in the upcoming review
conference on the ICC, the issue of jurisdiction of terrorism
should be listed as one of the items to be discussed. USUN
delivered a short statement supporting the initiative by the
UN to support victims of terrorism including through the UN
Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
Wolff