Human rights at heart of UN strategy to oppose terrorism, officials stress

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today joined other senior United Nations officials in urging States to refocus attention on human rights in the fight against terrorism, at the opening of a meeting exploring innovative ways to combat the global scourge.

In a message to the one-day conference hosted by the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), the Secretary-General underscored the boost counter-terrorism received in 2006 when the General Assembly unanimously adopted the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

“It identifies four pillars for action: addressing conditions that are conducive to terrorism; preventing and combating terrorism; building the capacity of States; and ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law as the fundamental basis for the fight against terrorism.” said Mr. Ban.

“It is safe to say that human rights is clearly at the centre of the global counter-terrorism strategy at the UN,” said Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning and Chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force.

“When a major Government like the United States takes the kind of moves that are currently announced by the President of the US that shows a leadership by doing, that we at the UN both recognize and applaud,” Mr. Orr said in response to questions from the media about President Barack Obama’s decision to close the detention facility in Guantánamo Bay.

The Secretary-General noted that the global security agenda had broadened to encompass climate change, global health and disarmament as well as counter-terrorism.

“These issues affect people in all countries, and we need common action by all to resolve them,” added Mr. Ban in the message delivered on his behalf by his Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Safety and Security, David Veness.

UNCRI Director, Sandro Calvani, and Mr. Orr also briefed the press at UN Headquarters on the recent activities of its Security Governance/Counter-Terrorism Laboratory established in May.

They announced two new partnerships, which were launched at today’s conference, one with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on assisting cities in developing strategies for improving urban security, and the other with the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation promoting activities through dialogue.

The UNICRI Laboratory develops initiatives to combat emerging security threats by involving a broad cross-section of civil society, local and regional governments and the private sector as well as security and law enforcement agencies.

Its activities focus on radicalization, urban security, the protection of vulnerable targets, security during major events and the prevention of illicit trafficking of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) material as well as in precious metals and stones.