Human rights key for combating terrorism

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Thursday in New York that countering the global threat of terrorism will require greater attention to human rights.

The U.N. Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute held a conference Thursday to discuss the ongoing fight against extremism and the U.N. Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the international community to "refocus attention on human rights" as a central way to combat terrorism around the world, the United Nations reported.

Ban said respecting human rights is part of the basis for the fight against terrorism. Assistant Secretary-General Robert Orr, who chairs the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, echoed Ban's remarks, saying the refocusing on human rights is central to the U.N. counter-terrorism strategy.

Orr also praised President Barack Obama for his executive order closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center, signed Thursday, saying it is important for the United States to be a leader in human rights.

"When a major government like the United States takes the kind of moves that are currently announced by (Obama), that shows a leadership by doing that we at the United Nations both recognize and applaud," Orr said in a statement.