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Mr President,
I would like to congratulate you and the delegation of the United Kingdom for the excellent work of the Security Council done under your leadership this month. I would also like to congratulate the Permanent Representative of Uganda, and his team for successful Presidency of the Council during the month of October.
I would like to thank the Chairmen of the Al Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and 1540 Committee for their briefings today. We support the efforts of all three Committees in promoting greater transparency and dialogue with Member States concerning their respective areas of activities.
Mr President,
Pakistan strongly condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever, and for whatever purposes. Terrorism and extremism should not be associated with any religion, race, ethnicity, faith, value system, culture or society. No religious tradition or doctrine could be depicted as encouraging or inspiring acts of terrorism.
The international community needs to promote economic and social development as the means to arrest and eliminate extremism and terrorism. Socio-economic marginalization is among one of the conditions conducive to spread of terrorism. The promotion of socio-economic development in the regions, where extremism exists, should be a high priority for the international community.
Mr President,
I would like to underline that what is important is that countries should take action against terrorism and that they should be provided with the resources and the ability to do so. We should follow procedures but must not get caught up on procedures, processes and reporting requirements which must be secondary to the actual action on the ground that is taken by States. Pakistan has deployed 160,000 troops on its border with Afghanistan and has set up 822 border posts to interdict Al-Qaida/Taliban members. As a result of terrorist acts and our efforts to root out terrorism, the law enforcement officials’ death figure stands at 2549 with 7185 civilian casualties. Additionally, 6790 workers of law enforcement agencies and 15502 civilians have been injured as a result of terrorist acts.
We have also noted the report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism contained in document A/65/258. Mr. Martin Scheinin has raised many fundamental questions on the role of Security Council Committees in the area of counter terrorism. We have noted them carefully.
Mr President,
Pakistan has made considerable progress since the last report of CTED on countering the financing of terrorism. Pakistan has become a party to the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and has enacted a landmark Anti Money Laundering Bill. A Financial Monitoring Unit has been established in the State Bank of Pakistan to monitor suspicious financial transactions. Recently, 64 additional Bank accounts and Pak Rupees 750.8 million have been frozen.
Mr President,
The CTED organized a workshop for Pakistani parliamentarians in Islamabad in November 2009. These workshops and visits are helpful in human resource development. A large number of security personnel of Pakistan have sacrificed their lives in counter-terrorism operations. There is a need to enhance their capacity as well. We need counter-terrorist equipment including safety vests for the police officers, night vision equipment, wireless interceptors and monitors. So far, the narrative of capacity building could not include the most obvious requirements of States in concrete situations of counter terrorist operations. We trust the Counter Terrorism Committee and the CTED under its capable leadership would soon be able to deliver in this area.
Mr President,
The Al Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee and its Monitoring Team have a difficult task to perform. We have noted the efforts of the 1267 Sanctions Committee to bring clarity to its working methods and that the Committee has made an effort to improve its guidelines. We appreciate improvements in the information-gathering and flow of information between various actors and the introduction of time table for the de-listing procedure. We hope that the Committee would continue to bring greater transparency in its work.
We are of the view that much needs to be done to improve the revised procedures and meet the standards required to ensure a fair hearing for listing or de-listing individuals and entities. We welcome the appointment of the Ombudsperson under resolution 1904 as it does improve the compliance with one element of due process i.e., accessibility. The institution of Ombudsperson can earn credibility if it is mandated to make recommendations, if not decisions, to the Committee and its recommendations can lead to binding obligations for Member States.
We are not surprised that decisions of domestic and international courts and tribunals on the 1267 sanctions regime have garnered world- wide attention. The preventive nature of the sanctions makes the listings very simple and enforcement friendly. However, the legal community is more inclined to verifiable evidence which could be acceptable in a court of law. The questions of due process and effective remedy are at the heart of courts’ deliberations. We will have to consider exclusive sharing of the verifiable evidence with the Courts and fixation of a time limit for the effectiveness of a listing.
Mr President,
Pakistan was a member of the Security Council when resolution 1540 was adopted. We agreed that 1540 resolution was a timely measure to address the proliferation of WMDs and their means of delivery to non-state actors. We also identified a need to make its follow up mechanism more inclusive, transparent, and balanced in terms of responsibilities of State and the international cooperation available to them to achieve its objectives.
In the end, I would once again underscore the evolving nature of the counter-terrorism challenges we are facing and the usefulness of these briefings.
I thank you.