UNITED NATIONS, May 2 (UPI) -- Acting on a request from heads of state at last September's summit, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has presented to the U.N. General Assembly recommendations for an international counter-terrorism plan.
The request to submit proposals to strengthen capacity of the U.N. system to assist states in combating terrorism and enhance coordination of U.N. activities was made in the "Outcome Document" of the 2005 World Summit. Annan's 32-page report was delivered Tuesday.
The document also called on the 191-member assembly to develop "without delay" elements he had identified for such coordination "with a view to adopting and implementing a strategy to promote comprehensive, coordinated and consistent responses, at the national, regional and international level, to counter terrorism."
"Uniting against terrorism: Recommendations for a global counter-terrorism strategy," was his response to the request delivered to the assembly, in person.
"These recommendations stem from a fundamental conviction which we all share, that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, is unacceptable and can never be justified," he told the assembly.
"Uniting around that conviction is the basis for what I hope will be a collective global effort to fight terrorism -- an effort bringing together governments, the United Nations and other international organizations, civil society and the private sector -- each using their comparative advantage to supplement the others' efforts."
The report contained no proposal for defining "terrorism," something which has long eluded the world body.
The secretary-general said he built his recommendations on the "Five Ds" he first outlined in Madrid last year. They are, dissuading people from resorting to terrorism or supporting it; denying terrorists the means to carry out an attack, deterring states from supporting terrorism, developing a state's capacity to defeat terrorism and defending human rights.
"I believe all five are interlinked conditions crucial to the success of any strategy against terrorism," he said. "To succeed, we will need to make progress on all these fronts."
As for dissuading, he also advised states to drive a wedge between terrorists and their potential constituencies.
Annan called for a global campaign of governments, the United Nations, civil society and the private sector carrying the message that terrorism is unacceptable in any form, and that "there are far better and more effective ways for those with genuine grievances to seek redress."
He said, "One of the clearest and most powerful ways we can do that is by refocusing our attention on the victims," pointing out it was time to not only look at the human rights of suspected terrorists but also of victims.
"It is high time we took serious and concerted steps to build international solidarity with them, respecting their dignity as well as expressing our compassion," the secretary-general said.
"Denying terrorists the means to carry out an attack means denying them access both to conventional weapons and to weapons of mass destruction," which would require innovative thinking.
This would prove especially true with such a threat as bioterrorism, and the growing use of information technology, explained a senior U.N. official in a briefing to reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York.
He said the Internet should be made into "a weapon in our hands, and not in theirs."
Deterrence from supporting terrorism must be rooted in the international rule of law to create a solid legal basis for common actions and holding states accountable "for their performance in meeting their obligations. This work is intimately linked with the need to develop state capacity to defeat terrorism."
Annan said the proposed strategy elaborates on steps to build state capacity.
"The U.N. system has a vital contribution to make in all the relevant areas from promoting the rule of law and effective criminal justice systems to ensuring countries have the means to counter the financing of terrorism; from strengthening capacity to prevent nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological materials from falling into the hands of terrorists, to improving the ability of countries to provide assistance and support for victims and their families," he said.
"Defending human rights runs like a scarlet thread through the report," the secretary-general said. "It is a prerequisite to every aspect of any effective counter-terrorism strategy. It is the bond that brings the different components together. That means the human rights of all -- of the victims of terrorism, of those suspected of terrorism, of those affected by the consequences of terrorism."
He called on member states to ensure that any measures taken to combat terrorism comply with their obligations under international law, "in particular human rights law, refugee law and international humanitarian law. Any strategy that compromises human rights will play right into the hands of the terrorists."
