..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 24 June 2005
Press Release No: N/32/2005

UN Counter-Terrorism Body to Visit Thailand for a Five-day Onsite Dialogue

An Invitation to a Press Conference by the Executive Director of the UN’s Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) on Tuesday, 28 June 2005 at the UNCC, Bangkok

BANGKOK (united Nations Information Services)--The United Nations is continuing its practical, technical assistance work to strengthen state capacity in fighting terrorism. The Executive Director of the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) Javier Rupérez is leading a group of counter-terrorism experts on a five-day visit to Thailand from 27 June to 1 July 2005.

Onsite dialogue with Member States is a new phase in the work of the Organization’s main counter-terrorism body which was established last year by the Security Council as a special political mission. The Thailand visit is the fourth such visit following the mid-March trip to Morocco, to Kenya in early May and to Albania in early June.

The counter-terrorism team visiting Thailand includes experts from Interpol, the World Customs Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. During the visit, the work of the experts from those various organizations will also be coordinated by CTED as the body which has a central and vital role in the collective counter-terrorism efforts of the various organizations.

The purpose of country visits is to precisely monitor, on location and in practice, how Member States implement the obligations of Security Council resolution 1373 adopted in 2001, as well as to evaluate the nature and level of assistance that a particular country may need in order to fulfill those obligations. The resolution, which also established the Counter-Terrorism Committee, calls on countries to implement a number of measures to enhance their legal and institutional capacity to be in a better position to counter terrorist activities nationally, regionally and globally.

In the first phase of its work, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and its expert body, CTED, established in 2004, collected written reports from Member States on how the various anti-terrorism measures set out by resolution 1373 are being implemented. Countries have been required to submit such reports periodically. Those reports served as the basis of an active dialogue between the CTC/CTED and the respective Member State. The country visits are a follow-up of that dialogue in a more focused, practical manner with the national authorities that have the responsibility to implement the different aspects of resolution 1373. Therefore, such visits are conducted with the consent of the country and in full cooperation with its authorities.

Thailand has submitted four reports to the Committee – Reports submitted by the Member States to the Committee are accessible by the general public through the website of CTC (www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1373).

Following each visit the counter-terrorism experts compile a report based on their onsite observations, which may also include the assistance needs of the country. It is based on those needs and in full cooperation and consent with the respective Member State that the CTED then works with donor countries and international organizations to help meet those assistance needs.

Developing and strengthening State capacity to prevent terrorism is one of the five main elements of the United Nations comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy as proposed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his speech to a commemorative meeting in Madrid on 10 March 2005. This pillar of the strategy specifically calls for a strong implementation of resolution 1373 by Member States and calls on the CTED to assess country needs and develop a comprehensive approach to technical assistance. (The other four pillars of the strategy call for dissuading disaffected groups from choosing terrorism as a tactic to achieve their goals; denying terrorists the means to carry out their attacks; deterring States from supporting terrorists; and defending human rights in the struggle against terrorism.)

NOTE TO EDITORS

You or your representatives are cordially invited to attend a press conference by Mr. Javier Rupérez, Executive Director of the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) on Tuesday, 28 June 2005 at 2 pm in the Threatre, Ground floor of the United Nations Conference Centre, Rajadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok.

For further information please contact:

United Nations Information Services
UNESCAP
Tel: (662) 2881861-9; Fax: (662) 2881052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org
Email: lakep@un.org

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