On Thursday, 4 November 2021, PAM was invited to attend and address the special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1373 in the wake of 9-11 attacks and the establishment of the Committee.
The meeting gathered global counterterrorism stakeholders and partners, including UN officials, diplomats, and representatives of international and regional organizations, civil society and academia.
PAM Permanent Observer to the UN in New York, Amb. Qazi Shaukat Fareed, reflected on the Assembly’s longstanding partnership with the Security Council, and noted that the core of the joint strategy has focused on creating operational synergies at the legislative level, this to ensure that Security Council resolutions are effectively implemented in national legal frameworks.
The event included three interactive sessions, which provided an opportunity for the Security Council’s counterterrorism partners to reflect on the work of the Committee and its Executive Directorate (CTED) over the past 20 years. It also afforded the chance to take stock of the current terrorist threat and plan out the way forward.
PAM and CTED have already successfully worked jointly on many issues, including terrorist recidivism, electronic evidence, money laundering, API PNR implementation and many other issues that absolutely require effective legislative measures.
Amb. Fareed briefed the Council on the Assembly’s position on the issue of ISIL survivors in North East Syria. He stressed that “at PAM, we understand that apart from being a humanitarian catastrophe, battlefield detention of terrorists, and their families, is not sustainable, and if left unaddressed, will manifest itself as the next generation of the terrorist threat.”
He stressed to the Security Council that PAM shall continue to promote practical ways for countries to take responsibility for their nationals, including by utilizing the new UN Global Framework for repatriation of third country nationals from Syria and Iraq, which was developed in consultations with PAM.
He concluded by stating that the situations in the Sahel and Afghanistan, and the crime-terrorism nexus, are high on the PAM agenda at its Bureau meeting in Rome in November, where PAM will fine-tune its counterterrorism strategy for the coming months, in which the UN is a reference and a key partner.