21 January 2003 00:00
STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY MR. IGOR S. IVANOV, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, AT THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING (NEW YORK, 20 JANUARY 2003)
123-20-01-2003
Distinguished Mr. President,
Distinguished Mr. Secretary General,
Dear colleagues,
Today the UN Security Council is discussing an issue of paramount importance – how to further intensify and increase the efficiency of cooperation in combating terrorism. This is a very timely development. The new wave of terrorist acts which shook the world at the end of last year reaffirmed with an alarming clarity that the world community continues to face a strong and ruthless enemy. Today this enemy poses the major threat to international security and foundations of the modern world order. This is exactly why the UN Security Council must further intensify its active involvement in addressing the urgent problem of fighting terrorism.
The multidimensional strategy to combat international terrorism, developed under the UN auspices and defined in the Security Council resolutions, has already proven its efficiency when an extremely dangerous hotbed of terrorism in Afghanistan was basically eliminated by a joint effort.
That development should be further strengthened. The successful outcome will largely depend on the preserved unity of a wide anti-terrorist coalition, which should continue to be based on the solid foundation of the UN Charter and the international law. It is critically important to refrain from such unilateral steps which could endanger the unity of the antiterrorist coalition. In this context we stand for the political settlement of the situation with Iraq in strict compliance with the Security Council resolutions, including resolution 1441, which was adopted by the SC unanimously.
All of us should realize that we are only at the beginning of a difficult path. Terrorism is far from being crushed, it has a considerable financial and human potential and is preparing for delivering new blows in various parts of the world. It is also alarming that terrorists are seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction. We cannot allow such a catastrophe to happen. The regimes of non-proliferation of such weapons should be further strengthened.
The recent brazen terrorist acts in Russia, Indonesia and Kenya and their almost daily occurrence in the Middle East evidently prove the need for a comprehensive approach to combating terrorism at the national, regional and global levels.
The insidious "sophistication" of terrorists should be opposed with united, thoroughly calculated and decisive action by the international community. A common understanding must prevail, including at the level of the UN Security Council, that there can be no justification of the actions of terrorists. And we ourselves should act in this regard accordingly: the criminals should face punishment for what they have done.
However, equally decisive measures should be taken against the terrorist accomplices. Those who give refuge, finance or in any way assist criminal gangs willingly or unwillingly become criminals themselves. With the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 this basic logic of criminal law has become an international imperative.
This task could be actively pursued by the UN Security Council Counterterrorism Committee, which since its establishment has earned its high reputation due to its dynamic, unbiased and transparent work. It is important that this Committee not only assist Member States in improving their anti-terrorist laws, but also examine how those laws are applied in accordance with today's requirements.
There are good prospects for the cooperation between the Committee and international and regional organizations. Russia will continue to actively contribute to the CTC activities on this track, including through promoting working contacts between the Committee and the anti-terrorist mechanisms of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Broadly speaking, it is necessary to further strengthen the anti-terrorist international legal framework, in the first place by making the existing anti-terrorist conventions universal. Russia is a strong advocate of an expeditious solution of that task. On December 27, 2002 the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism came into force for our country. Work is under way on the ratification by Russia of the last of the named conventions; i.e. the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection.
At the same time we are greatly disappointed with the slowdown in the work on the drafts Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. The inability to overcome political and ideological differences runs counter to the interests of the entire international community and questions its ability to act effectively and responsibly in complex situations. The time has come to move beyond differences for the sake of common goals of eliminating the terrorist threat and finalizing the work on these important documents as soon as possible.
It is perfectly clear that terrorism is a gross violation of human rights and freedoms including the fundamental right to life. That is why the task of establishing the human right to the protection from terrorism is on our agenda. We believe in the need to implement as soon as possible the well-known Russian initiative to work out under the UN auspices a Code on protecting human rights against terrorism.
It is no less evident that complete eradication of terrorism is only possible if its fertile ground is eliminated, in particular, regional conflicts, organized crime, drug trafficking, illegal arms trade, and uneven socio-economic development.
Let me remind you that the General Assembly unanimously adopted Russian draft resolution entitled "Responding to global threats and challenges". We believe that it is an indication that the world community has come to understand the UN leading role in establishing a comprehensive approach to neutralizing terrorist and other dangerous threats to international security. Guided by this decision, we should now start to jointly build a global system of countering new challenges and threats, on the basis of the United Nations.
For Russia, the strengthening of international solidarity in the fight against terrorism is not a tribute to political rhetorics. President V. Putin said that our country virtually lives in a state of war declared by international terrorism. The large-scale terrorist acts committed last year in Kaspiysk, Moscow and Grozny, the terrorist "Chechen trace" in a number of European and Muslim countries leave no doubt that the Chechen terrorism is an integral component of the world terrorist infrastructure including Al-Qaeda. We have considerable and indisputable evidence to prove that.
Russia has highly appreciated the solidarity of the international community with our country in the aftermath of the Chechen terrorist attacks. However, it is important not to limit ourselves to solidarity alone. It is necessary to learn the main lesson that all those engaged in terrorist activities should be duly punished no matter where they are. It is a duty of every state not to let them escape justice. There should be no "double standards" here because otherwise victory will not belong to us, but to terrorists and their accomplices.
Mr. President,
There is still a lot to be done to root out the evil of terrorism. However, this goal is achievable if we work together. As for Russia, it will remain in the forefront of the international community’s fight against terrorism.
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