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Statement At the Open Debate of the United Nations Security
Council on New York, 14 November 2007
I should like to preface Indonesia’s comments by expressing our words of thanks to the Chairmen of the 1267 Committee, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the 1540 Committee for their comprehensive briefings on their respective work. My delegation commends once again the quality of the work undertaken by the three terrorism related Committees. I also wish to use this opportunity to extend our appreciation for their initiative to deliver a joint statement of the Committees. We are of the view that such approach could reflect greater coordination among subsidiary bodies of the Security Council entrusted to deal with terrorism. With regard to the 1267 Committee, I would like to reassert Indonesia’s unwavering commitment to promote the effective implementation, legitimacy and credibility of the 1267 sanctions regime. We are fully committed to the joint efforts to improve the quality of the Consolidated List, particularly through enhancing its completeness and accuracy. My delegation has some concern about the fact that there have been mixed supports within Member States in implementing the sanctions regime. In line with observation made by the Monitoring Team of the 1267 Committee, my delegation identifies some underlying causes of this situation that should be adequately addressed by the Committee. We have noted a growing perception that the current procedure is not adequately “fair” and “clear”. The perception of unfairness in the application of targeted sanctions has also generated concerns in several countries. Moreover, the growing number of legal cases in national courts of member states questioning the conformity of the sanctions measures with human rights principles, will potentially pose significant challenges to the efficacy and credibility of the 1267 sanctions regime. My delegation is of the view that mainstreaming procedural fairness and asserting human rights principles in the work of the Committee will also strengthen the effectiveness of the implementation of the 1267 sanctions regime. Legitimacy and credibility of the sanctions regime will also depend, on large part, on its procedural fairness. We welcome the adoption of Resolution 1730, by which a “focal point” for receiving delisting requests from individuals has been established, as an achievement for the improvement of the sanctions procedure. However, my delegation maintains that the establishment of such a focal point has yet to meet the minimum standard required to ensure fair and clear procedure. In this regard, my delegation attaches great importance to basic elements of minimum standards as indicated in the letter of Secretary General to the President of Security Council dated 15 June 2006. On the issue of compliance, my delegation welcomes the commitment of the Committee to develop specific and general recommendations based on an analysis of what could be done to prevent the possible non-compliance, including by identifying the challenges and difficulties faced by States in implementing the sanctions. We should not lose sight of the fact that an overly imperious approach to ensure compliance could jeopardize the high level of cooperation that has been consistently shown by States. Now let me touch upon the briefing on the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC). My delegation underscores the role played by the CTC in creating and sustaining international momentum to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts. Cooperation, transparency, even-handedness, and consistency in approach shall always be guiding principles of the work of the CTC. Indonesia underlines the importance of thorough and consistent analysis by the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) of the implementation of Resolution 1373 by member states. Indonesia also ‘welcomes the adoption of Preliminary Implementation Assessments (PIA’s) as an effective tool to enhance the CTC’s ability to evaluate the implementation of the Resolution. On the quality of the PIA’s that have been discussed in CTC, we identify some areas of their content that should be further improved. With regard to the visits carried out by CTED, I would like to reiterate their significance, particularly, for promoting a better understanding of the progress of all States in meeting their obligations and for collecting information about their needs. With a view to promoting the credibility of the visits as one of the objective tools for assessing the implementation of Member States, we emphasize the need that CTED employs a balanced approach in proposing the visited States to the CTC. We believe that visiting developing and developed countries would also generate some positive impacts and benefits to the work of the CTC. Concerning the expiration of the mandate of the CTED on 31 December 2007 as provided by Resolution 1535, I should like to suggest that the Security Council start considering the matter at its earliest convenience. My delegation is ready to engage in a comprehensive evaluation of the work of the CTED in reinforcing the functions of the CTC. Turning to 1540 Committee, I would like to reassert Indonesia’s supports to the main tasks of the Committee, namely, promoting global capacity and raising international standards for implementing the resolution. In our view, the work of the Committee should be done within its mandate and be guided by the principles of cooperation, transparency and equal treatment. Indonesia will, as always, continue to actively support and participate in the work of the Committee. As for the issue of reporting of the implementation of the Resolution, we should acknowledge that the Resolution 1540 reporting requirements are perceived by some member states as too complicated and unsuitable to the capabilities for many developing countries. For developing countries with limited resources and many other equally pressing priorities, the increasing burden of reporting in its various forms can be overwhelming. This is a fact that should be adequately addressed by the Committee in considering any additional measure to achieve full implementation of the resolution. Finally, my delegations believes that a full implementation of Resolution 1267, 1373 and 1540 can be effectively carried out through continuous efforts, patience, dialogue, cooperation and assistance. In this regard, we underline the significance of outreach activities and technical assistance. These efforts have positive implications for the comprehensive implementation of the resolutions. As far as the provision of technical assistance is concerned, Indonesia stresses that it should be provided upon the request of a State in a way that respects sovereignty and national priorities. I shall now resume my responsibilities as President
of the Security Council.
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