United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 is a counter-terrorism measure adopted September 28 2001 following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.The resolution was adopted at the unanimity of the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, and is therefore binding on all UN member states. It marks a shift in international law, as the latter was presumed to be valid only if the concerned state had voluntarily signed the international treaty; whereas here the Security Council imposed the resolution to all member states. According to the press release, the "meeting, which began at 10:50 p.m., adjourned at 10:53 p.m." and thus lasted three minutes . There is no meeting record , and although the United States is credited of the initiative, it is not known who really was at its initiative.

Aims of the resolution

The resolution aimed to place barriers on the movement, organization and fund-raising activities of terrorist groups. UN member states were encouraged to share their intelligence on terrorist groups in order to assist in combating international terrorism. The resolution also calls on all states to adjust their national laws so that they can ratify all of the existing International conventions on terrorism. It stated that all States "should also ensure that terrorist acts are established as serious criminal offences in domestic laws and regulations and that the seriousness of such acts is duly reflected in sentences served.".

The resolution established the Security Council's Counter Terrorism Committee [CTC]to monitor state compliance with is provisions.

It also aimed at restricting immigration law, stating that "before granting refugee status, all States should take appropriate measures to ensure that the asylum seekers had not planned, facilitated or participated in terrorist acts. Further, States should ensure that refugee status was not abused by the perpetrators, organizers or facilitators of terrorist acts, and that claims of political motivation were not recognized as grounds for refusing requests for the extradition of alleged terrorists."

However, the resolution failed to define 'Terrorism', and the working group initially only added Al-Qaida and the Taliban regime of Afghanistan on the sanctions list. This also entailed the danger that authoritarian regimes could label even non-violent activities as terrorist acts, hurting thus basic human rights.

Resolution 1456 (2003)

The absence of any specific reference to human rights considerations was remedied in part by Resolution 1456 (2003) which declared that "States must ensure that any measure taken to combat terrorism comply with all their obligations under international law, and should adopt such measures in accordance with international law, in particular international human rights, refugee, and humanitarian law."

Resolution 1566

UN Security Council Resolution 1566 picked up loose ends from 1373 by actually spelling out what the Security Council sees as terrorism:

"criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act."

Although this definition has operative effect for the purposes of Security Council action, it does not represent a definition of "terrorism" which binds all states in international law. That is a task which would could only be achieved by way of agreeing to an international treaty under the auspices of the UN General Assembly. Negotiations towards agreeing to such are ongoing, and a Comprehensive Convention exists in draft form, however agreement to its exact terms, most particularly the definition of "terrorism", remains elusive.

Resolution 1566 also called for the creation of a working group that will expand the list of terrorist entities under sanction beyond the Taliban and Al-Qaida.

National implementation

Most states complied with the resolution, with varying willingness (Mexico and Venezuela being quite reluctant, especially concerning the freezing of assets of persons or groups whom they had no evidence of involvement in terrorism), but only a few of them did so by explicitly refering to the UN resolution.

Russia was one of the exception to this rule: President of Russia Vladimir Putin translated the resolution in Russian and enacted as law by the 10 January, 2002 Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No 6 On Measures Towards the Implementation of the UN Security .

CTC 2008 report

Recommandations of the Counter Terrorism Committee 2008 report included:

• to "Promote inter-agency coordination and the exchange of counter-terrorism information at the national, regional and international levels";
• to "Encourage States to establish dedicated and permanent counter-terrorism units, with the assistance of experts seconded from various specialized institutions, in areas such as criminal law, counter-financing of terrorism and border control";
• to "Encourage greater cooperation with INTERPOL and increased utilization of its resources and databases, such as red notices and watch lists" (Interpol created in 2002 the Interpol Terrorism Watch List).

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373

• UN Counter Terrorism Committee
• UN press release on adopted resolution
• Text of Resolution 1456 (2003)
• GA Press Notice on Draft Comprehensive Convention