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Report of the Policy Working Group on the United Nations and Terrorism

III. Denial

A. Counter-Terrorism Committee

31. The Counter-Terrorism Committee, a committee of the whole of the Security Council established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001), is unique, both in the breadth of its mandate and in the innovative work. It has been compared to the various sanctions committees created by the Security Council because, like those committees, it monitors the implementation by States of Council resolutions. However, the character and scope of the Committee's mandate and working methods represent an important innovation and open new possibilities for inter-State cooperation.

32. In its unanimous adoption of resolution 1373 (2001) on 28 September 2001, the Security Council for the first time imposed measures not against a State, its leaders, nationals or commodities, but against acts of terrorism throughout the world and the terrorists themselves. It is one of the most expansive resolutions in the history of the Council, with a focus on ensuring that any person who participates in the financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts, or who supports terrorist acts, is brought to justice, and that such acts are established as serious criminal offences in domestic law and regulation with punishments that duly reflect their seriousness. The Council called upon States to submit to the Counter-Terrorism Committee reports on their implementation of the resolution. The Committee has established subcommittees to review those reports, with the assistance of experts in relevant fields, and it conducts each review in partnership with the State that submitted the report. That partnership may lead the Committee, United Nations agencies and/or certain other States to provide a substantial degree of technical assistance and cooperation to facilitate the implementation of resolution 1373 (2001).

33. The Counter-Terrorism Committee should be at the centre of United Nations activities related to terrorism, with the United Nations system as a whole providing it with the necessary assistance. In order to allow the Committee to make use of the various resources available in the United Nations system and to create a veritable network on terrorism issues, it may become necessary to consider strengthening the support that the Committee receives from the Secretariat.

B. Weapons of mass destruction, other weapons and weapons technology

34. There is no reliable assessment of the quantity and quality of weapons, dual-use and related materials, devices and technologies in the possession of groups and individuals associated with terrorism. It is clear, however, that as long as stockpiles of any kinds of weapons-related materials, devices or technologies exist, terrorists may seek to obtain them.

35. Historical experience indicates that, in most cases, terrorists are more likely to continue to use conventional techniques that are technically undemanding and not dangerous for them to handle. Of course, the latter point does not apply to individuals and groups that are willing to risk or give their lives when carrying out terrorist attacks. In the light of the 11 September attacks on the United States, it has become tragically clear that the calculated use of civilian technologies, such as commercial airplanes as weapons against civilian targets, is a possible terrorist technique. Since 11 September, there is a greater probability of imitation and inventiveness in the planning and execution of terrorist attacks.

36. The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated that he considers the theft of a nuclear weapon and terrorists possessing the means and competence to manufacture and detonate a nuclear explosive relatively unlikely. The deliberate exposure to nuclear material leading to harmful effects on people, property and environment is a more plausible option. A "dirty bomb" scenario, in which radioactive material is dispersed by a conventional explosive, can be included as part of this option. Numerous difficulties remain, however, in defining the nuclear terrorist threat, given the hundreds of confirmed cases of nuclear smuggling (some involving small amounts of weapon-usable materials), as well as significant uncertainties about the status of such materials in States that are known to possess nuclear weapons. While the weaponization and use of large quantities of chemical and biological agents is regarded as unlikely because of the sophisticated scientific and technological requirements for their production, the recent anthrax scare in the aftermath of 11 September has shown that small-scale operations using these agents could cause societal disruption and have economic consequences, in addition to the human cost and psychological effects.

37. Terrorists continue to make extensive use of small arms, light weapons and explosives for a variety of terrorist acts. Small arms and light weapons are relatively inexpensive, extremely durable and easy to carry and conceal. As previously stated, networks and strong operational links among terrorists, drug traffickers and arms brokers make it easier to transfer this category of weapons across borders. Diversions from governmental depots and illicit production are major sources of the illicit trade in these weapons. The Programme of Actionc adopted in 2001 by the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects observed that such trafficking fuels organized crime and terrorism. The Programme of Action urges States and appropriate international or regional organizations to provide assistance to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons linked to drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and terrorism. The Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition,d which supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, offers an instrument against illicit trafficking which involves organized criminal groups as defined by its parent Convention.

C. Prevention and resolution of armed conflicts

38. Terrorism is often related to armed conflict. While the prevention and resolution of armed conflict should not primarily be conceived of as anti-terrorist activities, they can assist such activities by narrowing the space in which terrorists operate. The United Nations has a long history of working to prevent and resolve armed conflict. In his report on the prevention of armed conflict (A/55/985-S/2001/574 and Corr.1), submitted in 2001 to the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Secretary-General placed the prevention of armed conflict firmly within the Charter-mandated scope of the Organization's activities. The Secretary-General set forth a plan for enhancing the capacity of the United Nations to assist States in preventing conflict and engaging in peace-building activities in post-conflict societies that involved two types of strategies - operational prevention and structural prevention. Operational prevention refers to immediate measures taken in the context of imminent or actual crisis, and structural prevention comprises longer-term measures to remove the causes of conflict.

39. Operational prevention is relevant because any measures that alleviate crises and prevent armed conflicts from developing or expanding could lower the likelihood that terrorist acts related to such conflicts would occur. While there is not necessarily a direct cause and effective relationship between armed conflict and terrorism, containing a crisis, and showing evidence of progress towards resolving the issues underlying it, may lessen support among aggrieved communities for the terrorist groups that purport to represent them.

40. In paragraph 99 of the above-mentioned report, the Secretary-General provided the following definition of developmental assistance aimed at structural prevention: "It can ... facilitate the creation of opportunities and the political, economic and social spaces within which indigenous actors can identify, develop and use the resources necessary to build a peaceful, equitable and just society". If such efforts assist societies to resolve conflict peacefully within the rule of law, grievances that might have been expressed through terrorist acts are more likely to be addressed through political, legal and social means. In addition, effective structural prevention measures would strengthen the capacities of States to avoid the type of protracted armed conflict that weakened Afghanistan and enabled the rise within its territory of transnational terrorist networks.

41. The Policy Working Group believes that preventive action, especially measures to strengthen the capacity of States, can help to create inhospitable environments for terrorism. Anti-terrorist concerns should not drive preventive activities. However, in particular conflicts in which terrorism has been prevalent, the United Nations system should, in its development of preventive and peace-building programmes, be mindful of including measures, such as those set forth in the recommendations contained in section V below, that reduce the space for terrorist activities and increase the capability of States to address terrorist threats.