SiNUS 2010 » UNSC Counter-Terrorism Committee

UNSC Counter-Terrorism Committee

Open agenda: crisis situations in Asia

The UN Security Council created the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) through its Resolution 1373, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks performed in September 11, 2001. The United Nations had already addressed terrorism-related questions in various conventions – such as the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism – and via the General Assembly Sixth Committee, its Legal Committee. Never before, however, had an organ full-fledged prerogatives to act under the UN Charter’s Chapter VII in order to combat terrorism. Although such kind of menace had already motivated serious concerns among the international community, the creation of the CTC follows a post-9/11 interpretation of terrorism as a major threat to world peace.

Under the sign of the Chapter VII, the Counter-Terrorism Committee is allowed to determine the existence of threats to peace and to take effective and necessary decisions to solve any sort of terror situation. At a glance, the CTC may provide measures which, if approved, may impose the severance of diplomatic relations, the creation of economic blockades, or other non-military actions that would initially combat the supporting of terrorist activities. If those measures prove to be inadequate or not sufficiently stern, the CTC may also adopt resolutions that determine military actions such as the establishment of peacekeeping operations. These prerogatives strongly empower the CTC as one of the chief UN bodies in the fight against terrorism.

Actually, terrorism cannot be utterly understood without a comprehensive understanding of Asia and its importance. As the largest and most populous continent in the world and as the cradle of growing and complex societies, Asia has been the ground of countless issues and threats to peace regarding terrorism. Not only is the Asian continent where many terrorist organizations maintain most of their terrorist cells but it also is a place where several terrorist attacks have been performed. In this sense, the purpose of CTC shall be the discussion of an open agenda (which will exclude the Middle East) in a crisis committee that will require proficiency and faultlessness of representatives in dealing with distinct crisis situations. The representatives of the CTC should look forward to achieving resolutions capable of answering any kind of terrorist hindrances to peace and of stimulating stabilization processes inside the Asian continent.

The fight against terrorism represents a primary challenge to the international community. The atmosphere of fear and anguish that surrounds terrorist attacks is not compatible with a culture of peace and freedom. It is not easy to find a balance between ostensive security measures and substantive individual liberties; official, governmental mechanisms usually point to the first asset while personal desires push for the second. The CTC shall pursue an approach that encompasses the protection of human rights, bold responses to crisis situations and a legitimate international framework to deal with terrorists. As far as it succeeds in such efforts, the CTC will collaborate to a freer and safer world.

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