Discorso pronunciato dall’Ambasciatore Inigo Lambertini, Vice Rappresentante Permanente dell’Italia presso le Nazioni Unite, al Joint Briefing al Consiglio di Sicurezza da parte del Comitato Anti Terrorismo, del Comitato CdS ex Risoluzioni 1267 (1999) 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) riguardanti ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida e individui ed entita’ associate e del Comitato CdS ex Risoluzione 1540 (2004) —
Thank you Mr. President,
Let me at the outset commend Ambassadors Aboulatta, Llorenty and Umarov for their insightful briefings and for the leadership of the Committees they respectively chair.
Mr. President,
Terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) continue to pose serious threats to international peace and security. These threats are constantly evolving and recent, alarming developments, including the use of chemical weapons in Syria by State and non-State actors, have demonstrated the tangible, concrete challenge that the international community is facing.
1540 Committee and its Group of Experts are linked to the UN’s broad counter-terrorism Committees and their work. Paragraph 27 of resolution 2325 (2016) underscores this linkage and complementarity and reiterates the need to enhance ongoing cooperation among the 1540 Committee, the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001), including through information sharing, coordination on visits to States, technical assistance and other issues of relevance to all three committees.
Terrorist individuals and entities are benefiting from rapid advances in science, technology and international commerce for proliferation purposes. This phenomenon demonstrates how the abuse of emerging scientific innovations can facilitate the spread of illicit proliferation activities, particularly through the illegal transfer of sensitive technology and illicit financial transactions. These shortfalls enable terrorist entities and transnational criminal networks to obtain access to weapons of mass destruction and make it harder for States to put in place effective controls to prevent proliferation activities.
Since no country is immune to the terrorist threat today, it remains imperative for Member States to take the necessary steps to effectively implement the most relevant resolutions and to put in place long-term prevention efforts, in compliance with their obligations under international law, including human rights law. In this regard, Italy recognizes the relevance of the ongoing work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate, in particular, their efforts to assist Member States to achieve full implementation of Security Council resolutions on terrorism and to identify important issues, trends, and developments.
Acknowledging the ability demonstrated by terrorist individuals and entities to easily adapt to changing circumstances, including the capability to misuse the internet and social media to spread their hateful message, recruit sympathizers, raise and move funds, CTED and the Swiss non-governmental organization ICT4Peace launched a joint project on private sector engagement in responding to terrorists’ use of information and communications technologies. We encourage CTED to further pursue work on private sector engagement in responding to terrorists’ use of information and communications technologies. Furthermore, we welcome the recent adoption by the CTC of the proposal for a “Comprehensive International Framework” aimed at countering the ways terrorists use their narratives to encourage, motivate and recruit others to commit terrorist acts, that was submitted last month to the Security Council for its consideration.
Mr. President,
The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) and its sanctions regime remain crucial tools in the international community’s efforts to detect and disrupt the activities put in place by terrorist individuals, groups and undertakings. We strongly support the work of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, in particular, its regular reports focused on the evolution of the threat posed by ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and their affiliates, as well as, its trip reports aimed at assessing the current threat posed by these entities in a specific country. In this regard, we are looking forward to cooperating with the Monitoring Team in its visit to Italy in the second half of the year. Acknowledging the importance of the delisting mechanism, we also want to pay tribute to the relevant role played by the Office of the Ombudsperson and her efforts to guarantee due process and transparency in undertaking her functions.
UNSCR 1540 (2004) and the second comprehensive review on the status of its implementation remain central pillars of the international non-proliferation architecture and have become even more important in the current context characterized by acute and diffuse threats, in which the distinction between international and internal security is blurred. Full implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) is still a goal to be achieved and a long-term task that requires continuous efforts at the national, regional and international levels, sustained and intensified support from the Security Council and direct interaction with States and relevant organizations.
In this regard, and it is my final point, we welcome all the outreach activities conducted by the 1540 Committee and its strong engagement in providing capacity-building assistance and encouragement to those States that need it to implement their obligations. Considering tools currently available in countering proliferation of WMD, we think that particular attention should be paid to the field of biological weapons. Similarly, an enhanced protection of critical infrastructure relevant to the non-proliferation of WMDs from the increasing risk of cyberattacks is today much needed.
Thank you.
