76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
UN Security Council meeting on three Security Council subsidiary bodies (1267/1989/2253, 1540 and 1373 Committee)
Statement by DPR Andre Lipand
December 2, New York
Thank you Mister President.
Estonia thanks Ambassador Cherif, Ambassador Heimerback and Ambassador de la Fuente Ramírez for their briefings and for the excellent chairmanship of their respective committees. Your leadership has been crucial in guiding the committees’ work through the difficulties posed by the pandemic as well as the austerity measures.
We would also like to commend the good, and critically important work of the expert groups – the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, the Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate and the Group of Experts of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540. Together the committees and their expert bodies remain essential components of counter-terrorism and non-proliferation efforts.
Mister President,
Global terrorist threats persist and evolve and continue to spread violence. Robust implementation of sanctions measures is one of the key elements in combatting terrorism. In this regard, standards of due process and human rights need to be respected for sanctions regimes to remain effective. We reiterate our firm position that all counter-terrorism measures must be carried out in accordance with international law, including human rights law, and international humanitarian law. Counter-terrorism measures cannot be used as justification for human rights violations.
Estonia reiterates its full support to the work of the Ombudsperson and regrets the difficult decision of the Ombudsperson to resign. Estonia hopes that a new Ombudsperson will be appointed shortly and that the status and conditions of service of his Office are reviewed to guarantee the independence and full functioning of the Office.
We welcome that the Council has recognised the different impact of terrorism on the human rights of women and girls and their frequent targeting by terrorist groups. This includes sexual and gender-based violence used as a tactic of terrorism. The recognition of the importance of women’s leadership and participation is key in developing strategies to counter terrorism.
Mr President,
The past year has seen the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Council’s adoption of resolution 1373 and the establishment of the Counter-Terrorism Committee. The CTC held a special meeting and adopted an outcome document where all Security Council members reaffirmed their commitment to address terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and to work in an open manner with all stakeholders to achieve effective results in implementing Security Council resolutions. As we are in the process of negotiating the mandate renewal of CTED, we hope that we can keep this commitment and consensus in mind.
We appreciate that despite the roadblocks set by the pandemic, the CTC has managed to find consensus on the working methods pro tempore, which allowed CTC hybrid visits to member states. As of today, there have been 13 virtual visits in total, including to Estonia. We hope that the Committee will have a chance soon to take stock regarding the temporary working methods and to analyse the lessons learned. We find that the hybrid component is an efficient way to discuss less sensitive agenda items. From our point of view, virtual dialogues could be here to stay and we encourage keeping them in CTC´s toolbox also post-pandemic times. It allows the Security Council and the Committee to be more flexible and efficient in its work.
Mister President,
The Security Council resolution 1540 remains one of the key instruments in addressing the emerging threats from weapons of mass destruction. The use of chemical weapons in recent years in Syria, the United Kingdom and the Russia Federation shows that these threats have been growing and remain acute.
We fully support the 1540 Committee’s assistance and outreach efforts to ensure that States have put in place appropriate measures to prevent nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological weapons to fall into the hands of non-State actors, including terrorists. We welcome the Committee and its group of experts’ active cooperation with regional and international organisations as well as with the private sector and civil society.
We hope that the 1540 Committee can finalise its comprehensive review soon and by renewing its mandate also takes into account the threats posed by malicious use of new technologies.
To conclude, we welcome the Council’s efforts to enhance cooperation among the 1540 Committee, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee. Multilateral and multi-stakeholder engagement is essential in preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism.
I thank you.