UN officials stress need for coordinated anti-terrorism effort in Central Asia

Vigilance and measures that have tightened security in Central Asia have helped keep the threat of terrorism at bay, but extremists, criminal groups and instability in the wider area mean that the region is still vulnerable, the United Nations top official for Central Asia said at a counter-terrorism meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, today.

Speaking at the opening of the First Expert Meeting of the Project on Implementing the UN Global Counter Terrorism-Strategy in Central Asia, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), Miroslav Jenca, said that it is crucial that countries in the region recognize the conditions that could lead terrorism.

“These include both external factors, such as instability in Afghanistan, and the nexus between transnational criminality and terrorism, as well as internal factors that have to do with ensuring social inclusion, sustainable development, inter-cultural, inter-religious and inter-ethnic harmony, tolerance and respect,” Mr. Jenca said.

The gathering is the first in a series of counter-terrorism expert meetings held at regional levels. Under the auspices of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting is part of a joint initiative of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task-Force (CTITF) and the European Union working with the UNRCCA to assist Central Asian countries to strengthen their efforts to fight terrorism.

The meeting is also the first time that experts from the Central Asian region and beyond will come together to focus on two aspects of the UN's Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, namely, ways to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism and how to ensure respect for human rights for all in the fight against terrorism.

Addressing the meeting’s opening, the CTITF Chairman, Jean-Paul Laborde, said the counter-terrorism project for Central Asia is a demonstration by the international community of a desire to change from a piecemeal approach to preventing terrorism to a more strategic and holistic one.

“This initiative will include every aspect of counter-terrorism – organized crime linkages, preventing conflict, improved border management, protecting human rights, promoting dialogue and conducting trainings,” Mr. Laborde said, adding that the initiative was also a sign of the trust and confidence the CTITF has in assisting in the implementation of the UN counter-terrorism strategy through a regional approach.

The new scheme for Central Asia aims to help Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan establish a regional counter-terrorism plan in line with the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

That Global Strategy, unanimously adopted by the General Assembly in 2006, focuses on four key pillars of action: tackling the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism; preventing and combating terrorism; building State capacity and bolstering the role of the UN; and ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law against the backdrop of the fight against terrorism.

Further expert meetings will be held in the region next year looking at other parts of the UN's Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The meetings will lead to the drawing up of a joint action plan implementing the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia, which is expected to be adopted during a regional ministerial conference to be held in 2011.