"…the Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to the implementation of the
General Assembly's Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy,” Eshaq Al-e-Habib said
before the UN General Assembly on Agenda item 118: "the United Nations Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy” in New York on Tuesday.
"We stand ready to help Mr. Voronkov (the under-secretary-general of the United
Nations Counter-Terrorism Office) and his team in discharging their important
functions in pursuing the goal of ridding the world of terrorism and call on all
peace-loving Member States to fulfil their commitments in combating terrorism in
all its forms and manifestations,” he added.
Following is the full text of his statement:
Mr. President,
I would like to warmly thank the Permanent Representatives of Finland and Jordan
and their teams for their hard work in facilitating the negotiations on the text
of the sixth biennial review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism
Strategy. We commend the co-facilitators for restructuring the resolution in a
way that appears more accessible, understandable and visible to the actors
outside the UN system.
Also, I would like to congratulate the Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Guterres,
and the Under-Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Voronkov, for initiating the reform of
the OCT. In our view, reform is a constant and ongoing process, and we look
forward to Mr. Voronkov bringing forth more professionalism, efficiency,
impartiality, transparency, predictability and accountability to the OCT’s
activities.
We also welcome the finalization of the Global Counter Terrorism Coordination
Compact, a framework which aims to strengthen a common action approach to
coordination and coherence in the work of the United Nations system to prevent
and counter terrorism while at the same time strengthening support to Member
States.
Mr. President,
We acknowledge the progress made in this resolution, in particular its
provisions on Foreign Terrorist Fighters and countering financing of terrorism.
It also addresses the conditions conducive to terrorism and violent extremism,
including but not limited to prolonged unresolved conflicts, lack of the rule of
law, foreign occupation, oppression, poverty, ethnic, national and religious
discrimination, political exclusion, socioeconomic marginalization and lack of
good governance.
The resolution also stresses that when counter-terrorism efforts neglect the
rule of law, at the national and international levels, and violate international
law, including the Charter of the United Nations, international humanitarian law
and refugee law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, they not only betray the
values they seek to uphold, they may also further fuel violent extremism that
can be conducive to terrorism. It is unfortunate that manifest violations of
international law and neglect of the rule of law at the international level can
be witnessed in many cases in the world.
Moreover, the resolution recalls the Declaration and Program of Action on a
Culture of Peace, adopted by consensus in the 53th session of the GA, which
encompasses important principles, inter alia, realization of the right of all
peoples, including those living under colonial or foreign occupation for
self-determination and liberation. This principle has also been recognized in
the first additional protocol of the Geneva conventions. Therefore, Iran opposes
any attempt to equate the legitimate struggle of peoples under colonial or
foreign occupation for self-determination with terrorism. Such equation is
aimed at prolonging the occupation of the territories and oppression of their
people.
The Resolution also calls on the international community to take the necessary
steps to enhance cooperation to prevent and combat terrorism in a decisive,
unified, coordinated, inclusive and transparent manner. It implies that
selectivity or double standards and simply categorizing terrorism into good and
bad, based on - short-term political interests, or unilateral preparation of
lists accusing other States of so-called "sponsoring terrorism”, would not help
international community to uproot terrorism. By contrast, these unjustifiable,
illegal and unilateral actions would only undermine international trust and
cooperation in countering terrorism and therefore would be contrary to the GCTS
provisions and its spirit.
However, we regret that the resolution does not address some important issues.
An example is the ‘corporate responsibility of private companies’ in countering
terrorist narratives. It is crystal clear that the self-regulatory regime
offered by private companies to remove terrorist contents has proved to be
ineffective. There is an urgent need to develop a UN convention to regulate the
activities of private companies in the field of information technology,
including a focus on the broad spectrum of crimes committed with the use of ICTs.
This important notion does not appear in the resolution, and we regret it.
Mr. President,
For decades, a number of root causes and factors have led or contributed to the
spread of terrorism. Unlawful use of force against other States, foreign
aggression and occupation as well as foreign interference in internal affairs of
other States, are among such causes and factors, to name a few. Moreover,
violating IHL along with the excessive and disproportionate use of military
force in the name of countering terrorists, in most cases without the consent of
the country concerned, have created fertile ground for vicious cycles of
violence and terrorism. None of these conditions were reflected in the
resolution.
The other important issue which unfortunately is not addressed in the resolution
is the urgent need to improve the efficiency of the UNCCT and bring the Center
to the level of the other UN entities by adopting its terms of reference in the
GA.
Bearing in mind that mainstreaming transparency, inclusiveness and
accountability in all UN entities is an important prerequisite for their
efficiency, and while the Secretary-General in his reform agenda continuously
calls for the renewed spaces for Member States to guide system-wide actions and
bring greater transparency and accountability, the UNCCT Advisory Board members
continue to be appointed in an non-transparent manner; the Advisory Board
meetings continue to be held behind closed doors.
In an effort to improve transparency and accountability of the UNCCT, the
Islamic Republic of Iran, in the course of negotiations on the GCTS review
resolution, proposed that the members of the Advisory Board of the center would
be elected by the General Assembly and that all Member States who are not
members of the Advisory Board would be invited to participate in all of its
meetings as observers. The ultimate goal of this proposal was to enhance the
level of engagement of Member States in the work of the UNCCT and improve its
efficiency through bringing new ideas and thoughts to the advisory board as well
as mobilization for more resources. It is unfortunate that the resolution could
not address such an important issue. However, this proposal will remain on the
table for the consideration of the General Assembly. We consider this proposal
to be an integral element of the systemic reform in the OCT. It is the only
option to preserve the legitimacy, impartiality and sustainability of the UNCCT.
We would also like to request the Secretary-General to include in his report
under paragraph 83 of the resolution on the implementation of the GCTS by the UN
entities existing, the flaws in the OCT architecture and, particularly, the
UNCCT.
Mr. President,
Let me conclude by reiterating that the Islamic Republic of Iran remains
committed to the implementation of the General Assembly's Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy. We stand ready to help Mr. Voronkov and his team in
discharging their important functions in pursuing the goal of ridding the world
of terrorism and call on all peace-loving Member States to fulfil their
commitments in combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
I thank you, Mr. President.
Source: Tasnim