NEW YORK CITY: Pakistan told an Arria formula meeting of the UN Security Council that it, most victimised by global terrorism, will continue to work closely with the international community to address the militancy threat and to reform the counter-terror regime to enhance its acceptability and effectiveness.
An Arria formula meeting is an informal meeting of members of the Security Council which must be convened by a member of the body in order for the meeting to take place. The format is named after Diego Arria, a Venezuelan diplomat and former president of the body.
In a written statement submitted to the 15-member body, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, underscored the need to address prolonged disputes, foreign occupations, and denial of the right to self-determination in order to deal with the root causes of militancy.
Kenya, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, sponsored the meeting — Overcoming Challenges in Situations of Armed Conflict and Counter-Terrorism Operations.
It is an informal consultation process that affords the Council the opportunity to hear out ambassadors in a confidential setting.
Akram deplored the attempts by aggressors, colonisers and occupiers to justify their suppression of legitimate struggles for self-determination and freedom by portraying the movements as “terrorism”.
“There is an increasing trend to use collective punishment against civilian populations as well as to ‘criminalise’ certain inalienable and fundamental human rights under the pretext of fighting terrorism in stark violation of international humanitarian law,” he said.
“Nowhere it was more apparent than in the attempts to incrementally displace the right to self-determination through counter-terrorism laws.
“The relevant UN resolutions clearly stipulate that the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, and is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations,” he said.
“History bears testimony to the undeniable reality that the suppression of the right of peoples to self-determination results inevitably in the perpetuation of violence and conflict.”
The ambassador further said the incumbent Security Council counter-terror sanctions regime required reforms to overcome its legal, humanitarian and human rights shortcomings, especially the regulatory landscape being developed under the umbrella of the Council through the adoption of Chapter-VII (enforcement) resolutions.
“Broad-brush use of countering financing of terrorism provisions has created immense difficulties for humanitarian actors and charitable organisations both in respect of their ability to deliver aid in a timely manner and in their efforts to obtain the necessary funds to carry out their activities in developing countries,” he said.
“Lack of clarity regarding the increasingly wide scope of these measures has made it difficult for banks operating in developing countries to ensure that they will not incur any liability for a particular transaction,” he said, adding while humanitarian exemptions exist, their application is opaque, arbitrary and often subject to politicisation.
“The use of coercive measures, including unilateral coercive measures, against states in the name of countering terrorism with little regard for their impact over the civilian populations, constitutes a serious humanitarian challenge,” he told the body.
“Such actions impact the developmental prospects of developing countries and have become an instrument in the hand of a few influential powers to achieve their wider political objectives,” Akram said.
He said it was therefore essential to address these issues so as to build on and implement the global counter-terrorism strategy.
