Alþjóðleg hryðjuverk

Föstudaginn 7. október ávarpaði Hjálmar W. Hannesson, sendiherra, fastafulltrúi Íslands hjá Sameinuðu þjóðunum, 6. nefnd allsherjarþings S.þ., sem fjallar um þjóðréttarmálefni (á ensku).

Í ræðunni voru hryðjuverk fordæmd og rík áhersla lögð á að þjóðir heims stæðu saman til varnar alþjóðlegum hryðjuverkum. Ísland hefði lagt sitt af mörkum með þátttöku í alþjóðlegu samstarfi á þessu sviði, m.a. með undirritun alþjóðlegra sáttmála gegn hryðjuverkum, og skoraði á allar aðrar þjóðir að gera slíkt hið sama. Tekið var fram að Ísland teldi mikilvægt að ná sátt um skilgreiningu á hugtakinu hryðjuverk og tekið var undir yfirlýsingu leiðtogafundar S.þ. í september þar sem lýst var nauðsyn þess að gerður yrði allsherjarsamningur gegn alþjóðlegum hryðjuverkum.

Statement

by

Ambassador Hjálmar W. Hannesson

Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations

UN General Assembly Sixth Committee

Measures to eliminate international terrorism

7 October 2005

Mr. Chairman

I would like to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of the Sixth Committee. Congratulations also go to other members of the Bureau on their election and I would like to reassure you of my delegation´s full cooperation and support.

Allow me, at the outset, to thank the Secretary General for his emphasis on the fight against international terrorism, which without a doubt is one of the greatest threats to public security in the world today.

The fight against terrorism is of fundamental importance to every nation today, since it has a global reach and threatens peace and security everywhere as well as having a negative impact on development. All states, large and small, are affected by terrorist threats.

Mr. Chairman,

Terrorism is a crime against the human values which the UN stands for. Such crimes must never be tolerated or excused.

Neither does it matter why terrorists strike, as there is no such thing as “justifiable terrorism.” Any potentially just cause which terrorists may claim to be fighting for is only harmed by the hideousness of the means by which they choose to advance them.

And it does not matter who the terrorists are or the scale of the terrorist act, all forms of terrorism must be fought against and all terrorist acts condemned. But in order to do so the nations of the world must agree upon a generally acceptable definition of the term “terrorism,” for without a consensus of what constitutes terrorism, nations cannot unite against it.

In light of this, it is imperative that all States, as well as regional and international organizations, cooperate to eliminate terrorism. The United Nations play a key role in that regard today. The UN has been at the forefront in the battle against terrorism and continues that work, as the Report of the Secretary General, “Measures to eliminate international terrorism,” contained in document A/60/228 from 12 August 2005, well describes. Important milestones have already been put in place, among which is Resolution 1373 (2001), based on Chapter VII of the UN Charter, requiring States to create the necessary legislative and administrative framework to deal with various aspects of terrorism, especially terrorist financing.

Mr. Chairman,

The establishment of international conventions to counter terrorist acts is also fundamental in this regard. Important examples are the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings (New York, 15 December 1997), the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (New York, 9 December 1999) and now the new International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (New York, 13 April 2005) which several states, including Iceland, have already signed. The existence of such international legal instruments creates the framework for co-operation of nations in the field of preventing terrorism. It should be kept in mind, that in order to maximize the effect of these instruments, all nations must become parties to them. Iceland has ratified and actively implements the twelve UN Conventions and Protocols on terrorism as well as the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, and urges States that have not yet ratified these instruments to do so as soon as possible.

Iceland continues to work with the Counter Terrorism Committee, its Executive Directorate and the Al-Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Committee. In the work of the First Committee of the General Assembly, Iceland has consistently supported measures aiming at preventing terrorist groups from obtaining weapons of mass destruction. During the debates in the Third Committee, Iceland has repeatedly voiced the view that in the fight against terrorism, international agreements on human rights and humanitarian law must be upheld.

In the Sixth Committee, and its Ad Hoc Committee, Iceland supported the work on the international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism. We further underline the importance of concluding the work on the draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism, or as heads of state and government urged us to do in the Summit Declaration in September; to ,,…make every effort to reach an agreement on and conclude a comprehensive convention on international terrorism during the sixtieth session of the General Assembly.”

As I have described, Iceland has participated in the work of international counter-terrorism fora. The Icelandic Government has also been reorganizing responses to potential terrorism in Iceland, i.a. by strengthening a Special Police Unit to deal among other issues with acts of terrorism. Plans have also been put in place to respond to terrorist threats in the Icelandic Air Space, which is among the biggest in the world, and a constant legislative review is in progress to keep legislation in harmony with the most recent views in this field.

Mr. Chairman,

No chain is stronger than its weakest link. States must keep in mind that without the support of other countries there is no chain of defense against international terrorism. But in order to become a functional link in that chain, every state must also realize that the same alertness and preparedness is needed at home as in the international arena. Iceland fully supports all measures taken by the United Nations to meet that end.

Thank you Mr./Madame/Chairman/Chair