CHAIRMEN OF THE 1267, 1373, AND 1540 COMMITTEES

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000542 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREF PREL SUBJECT: CHAIRMEN OF THE 1267, 1373, AND 1540 COMMITTEES BRIEF THE SECURITY COUNCIL REF: SECSTATE 1411922 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Chairs of the UN Security Council,s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC),1267 (Al-Qaida/Taliban) Sanctions Committee, and 1540 Committee (nonproliferation) briefed the Council in a public/open meeting on May 26. The Chairs described their committee,s accomplishments over the last six months and outlined their future plans. Following the briefings all Council members and Switzerland, Brazil, Australia, Qatar, New Zealand, Syria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Norway, Morocco, Israel, Argentina, Venezuela, Pakistan, and Liechtenstein made statements. Common themes included a call for the 1267 Committee to engage in a dialogue with interested states on how to ensure that fair and clear procedures exist for placing individuals and entities on the Consolidated List and for removing them, and the notion that security (counter-terrorism) and human rights are not mutually exclusive. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo delivered the U.S. statement drawing from the points included in reftel. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Although Cuba and Venezuela raised the issue of Luis Posada-Carriles, they used softer language compared to previous meetings. Venezuela said that the Bolivarian Government reiterates its request for the United States to extradite Posada to Venezuela so that he can be prosecuted for his crimes. Cuba also called for the United States to extradite Posada to Venezuela and said that the way the United States has addressed the case is a clear and flagrant violation of resolution 1373. (statements faxed to IO). USUN responded and conveyed the point in reftel that the United States sought and obtained a criminal indictment in U.S. federal court charging Posada with violations of our immigration laws in April 2009. In rebuttal, Cuba said that instead of charging Posada for violating immigrations laws, the United States should charge him for violating terrorism laws. Cuba also said that if the new U.S. Government is truly committed to countering terrorism, it now has the opportunity to act and to move along the path of cooperation rather than confrontation. ¶3. (SBU) Austrian Permrep and Chairman of the 1267 Committee, Thomas Mayr-Harting, reported that almost ten years after the adoption of resolution 1267, the threat posed by Al-Qaida and the Taliban continues, especially in South Asia. He referred to the Committee,s revised guidelines for its work and said that two new sections that include reviewing the Committee,s Consolidated List of individuals and entities subject to sanctions measures and one on exemptions from the travel ban, have been critical to the Committee,s work. Mayr-Harting said that the 1267 sanctions regime currently faces serious challenges including a growing number of cases before national and regional courts filed by listed individuals and entities. He concluded that the review process is an important step towards improving due process and strengthening the regime. ¶4. (SBU) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, French Deputy Permrep and Acting Chairman of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373, known as the Counter-Terrorism Committee, focused on the increased number assessment visits the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) has made over the last six months. Lacroix said that in addition to comprehensive visits, which analyze all aspects of implementation of resolution 1373, CTED,s organizational plan envisaged a more flexible approach by allowing shorter visits focused on one or two particular aspects of the counter-terrorism regime of the state concerned. In addition, the plan established the basis for regional visits that examined areas of good practices as well as vulnerabilities. ¶5. (SBU) Costa Rican Permrep and Chairman of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540, Jorge Urbina, stressed that the 1540 Committee,s main focus during the last six months was to adopt the Committee,s annual Program of Work and to facilitate outreach activities, assistance and cooperation with relevant organizations. Urbina said that the Program of Work will strengthen the Committee,s role of facilitating technical assistance for implementation of resolution 1540 by further developing its function of matching offers and requests for assistance. Urbina said the establishment of four working groups will streamline assistance requests as well as focus on national implementation and monitoring, cooperation with international organizations and bodies including the CTC and 1267 Committees, and transparency and outreach. RICE