(As delivered)

STATEMENT BY MR. KENZO OSHIMA
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF JAPAN
ON THREATS TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
CAUSED BY TERRORIST ACTS

18 January 2005

Mr. President,

I would like to thank Ambassador Denisov for today's presentation on the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the commendable work that has been done by the CTC under his leadership. Japan has been participating in the work of the CTC as an interested state. Now, as a member of the CTC from this month, we look forward to being able to more actively engage in the work of the CTC and enhance our cooperation in order to help the Committee to meet the expectations of the international community through upgrading the counter-terrorism efforts of Member States.

Mr. President,

My government supports the programme of work for the first quarter of this year as outlined by Ambassador Denisov. I would like to make a brief remark in three points regarding the work programme that we believe the CTC should be focusing particular attention on as we move forward.

First, Japan expects that the Fourth Special Meeting of the CTC with international, regional and subregional organizations, to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan at the end of the month, will be important in developing closer links between the CTC and those organizations. In this regard, Japan and my mission here thanks the government of Kazakhstan for hosting this important meeting. Japan will participate in this meeting, including by sending staff from my New York mission. I wish to stress that for the CTC to be able to facilitate full implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 and other relevant Security Council resolutions, enhanced dialogue and cooperation with the many counter-terrorism-related organizations at the international, regional and subregional level are critically important. It is also necessary to avoid the duplication of effort as well as gaps in the work done by such organizations covering a variety of areas of counter-terrorism activities.

In this connection, we hope that setting of best practices by the CTC in relation to financing of terrorism, as requested in Security Council resolution 1566 and mentioned in the latest programme of work, will be facilitated through the process of consultation with relevant organizations, some of which will be participating in the upcoming Special Meeting. My government considers it appropriate that the CTC begins developing best practices on measures related to financing of terrorism in the first instances, but then it should be able to gradually extend its work on best practices to other areas in counter-terrorism policy.

My second point, Mr. President, has to do with the importance of the CTC's visits to foreign states, as called for in Security Council resolution 1566. While we welcome the visit program, we realize also that there will be a limit to the number of states which the CTC and the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) will be able to manage to visit. That being the case, the foreign visits by the CTC and CTED should not concentrate only on the state visited, but should also inform and bring benefits to other states not visited through a sharing of information and experience gained, which may be useful in assisting these other states in their efforts to enhance their counter-terrorism capacity. In the same vein, we would expect that upon completion of a foreign visit, to the extent possible, the CTC share its findings, views and information on States' needs assessments with interested Member States.

Third, my government places high expectations on the analytical work that will be done by the CTED, when it becomes fully operational during the first quarter of this year. We hope that the new team of CTED experts will eventually be able to submit to the CTC its report in which it will present its comprehensive analyses, views and, where appropriate, some recommendations regarding technical assistance requirements of Member States. It should present its views regarding the regions and countries with respect to which the CTC should be intensifying its efforts, benefiting from consultations with experts from other relevant organizations.

Mr. President,

The international community has suffered untold tragedy and misery through an ever increasing number of acts of terror. The CTC must ensure that sacrifices made by the victims of terrorism, however tragic, are not in vain. It carries a heavy responsibility in that regard, and the international community expects it to continue to do its work with the unflinching determination to pursue the best practically attainable measures in order to prevent and work towards the elimination of the scourge of terrorism.

To that end, we expect that the CTC will continue to cooperate fully with other committees related to terrorism, such as the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee and the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540.

Finally, let me express my appreciation again to Ambassador Denisov for his unfailing strong leadership, and to the experts and secretariat members of the CTC, and also to Ambassador Rupérez, and his directorate staff, all for their commendable efforts. My government pledges its continued full support to the work done in this important Committee.

Thank you.

Related Information (Counter Terrorism)

Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Official Web Site