The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as the coordinator of the United Nations Organization of Islamic Cooperation Counter-Terrorism Working Group, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) group, has condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, regardless of the motives of the perpetrator, identity and place of perpetration, reaffirming that terrorism is constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law, in particular the right to life.
This is stated in a speech delivered by Counselor Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Atik, Charge d’Affaires of the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the United Nations at the ambassadorial level with Vladimir Voronkov, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism.
Al-Atiq stressed that terrorist acts threaten the territorial integrity and stability of states, as well as national, regional and international security, reaffirming the OIC group’s respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all UN member states in accordance with the Charter.
He expressed the group’s belief that a comprehensive approach must be taken to combat terrorism by addressing its root causes, including lack of sustained economic growth, lack of development, lack of social and economic opportunities, in addition to the illegal use of force and continued foreign aggression and occupation. , The aggravation of international conflicts and political marginalization, emphasizing the need to combat all terrorist groups and organizations, wherever they exist, without any discrimination.
He pointed to the need to distinguish between terrorism and the exercise by peoples of their legitimate right to resist foreign occupation, emphasizing that this distinction is provided for in international law and international humanitarian law, as well as in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, and in General Assembly resolution 46/51, which also supports this position.
He confirmed the emphasis of the OIC group on the need to implement the global strategy to combat terrorism in a balanced manner in all its aspects.
He stressed the importance of building the capacity of Member States to enable them to meet their various obligations under United Nations resolutions, pointing out that sufficient additional resources should be made available to United Nations entities and departments mandated to assist in building that capacity, and bilateral technical assistance and technology transfer should be strengthened.
Al-Ateeq explained that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation recognizes the important role of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Center, especially their role in building the capacity of Member States to counter and counter terrorism, noting its continued contribution to strengthening counter-terrorism efforts .
In terms of capacity building, Al-Atiq called on the relevant entities of the United Nations, within their current mandates, to increase cooperation, provide assistance and information, and build capacity at the request of interested Member States through the implementation of relevant international and regional instruments and protocols.
“This cooperation should be carried out at the request of the Member State concerned, including through the establishment of a South-South cooperation platform of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Center,” he added.
He stated that the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy was an ongoing work and an important document that should be regularly reviewed and updated.
He noted that it had become clear that the current structure of the United Nations against terrorism and the tools to counter it were no longer keeping up with the changing threats, especially those related to new threats arising from racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance carried out by nationalist extremists, far right and other groups and ideologies. These new threats present a major challenge to the international community today.
He said: “The group reaffirms that terrorism should not be associated with any religion, race, creed, values, culture or society. The experience of the past two decades shows that the current structure of the United Nations and the international structure for combating terrorism has led to the portrayal of Muslims in stereotypes. Preventing and countering violent extremism and terrorism over the past two decades has been largely based on so-called “violent Islamic extremism”.
He noted that this approach not only infringes on the fundamental rights of Muslim communities and Muslims in many parts of the world, but also provoked a wave of terrorist attacks against Muslims on the basis of Islamophobia, racism and xenophobia.
The Old Adviser welcomed the recognition by the Seventh Review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy of the dangers posed by new and emerging threats, such as the escalation of terrorist attacks motivated by xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance.
He explained that the Seventh Review requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations to develop, in consultation with Member States, a better understanding of the motives and goals represented by these groups on the global terrorist scene before the seventy-seventh session of the UN General Assembly.
Al-Atiq said: In response to a letter from Under-Secretary General Voronkov inviting Member States to submit written submissions regarding their respective assessments of the rise in terrorist attacks motivated by xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, the OIC team submitted a comprehensive written submission highlighting the seriousness of the threat Some recommendations are general.
He noted that, through the participation of the OIC, the group also made an important contribution, which led to the adoption by the General Assembly on March 15, 2022 of resolution 76/254 entitled “International Day against Islamophobia”, as well as resolution of the OIC No. 41/48-POL “Combat against terrorism and extremism”, published by the 48th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on March 22-23, 2022.
He pointed out that this ministerial decision of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation empowers the group to make joint efforts to counter the terrorist threat posed by individuals and groups based on racial, ethnic or ideological motives.
He expressed the hope that the views of the OIC group would be reflected in the next report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and that the report would also provide comprehensive recommendations that would chart a clear roadmap to address such terrorist threats.
He expressed his hope that the OIC team would continue to work with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism to achieve a balanced implementation of all four pillars of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.