Security Council Counter-terrorism Committee (SC CTC)

Transcription

1 Security Council Counter-terrorism Committee (SC CTC) Addressing the threat of foreign terrorist fighters Terrorist financing as a threat to international security The use of communication technologies by terrorist groups

2 Honorable delegates, it is with great honor that I get to welcome you all to the 2018 Change the World Model United Nations (CWMUN) in the Security Council Counter Terrorism Committee, my name is Nour and I will be your director for this round of the model. Many of you may not know me so let me introduce myself; I am a junior political science student at the British University in Egypt and this is my second time chairing for a CWMUN council and my first time in the security council. I have been participating in MUNs for 6 years now and this is my third time being here with CWMUN; for those of you who haven t been here with us before, I assure you that you will have the time of your lives and that this will be an experience you are unlikely to ever forget. This guide's main purpose is to provide you with an insight into committee topics and give the opportunity to efficiently research and discover your positions in regards of the topic, this year the theme is going to be tackling an issue that has been widespread for years beforehand but has become a harrowing issue these past couple of years: Terrorism, we will be discussing issues of foreign terrorist fighter threats, terror financing as a threat to national security, and terrorists using communication technology. The Guide will give you the stepping stones to understanding all three topics, as well provide you with an opportunity to discover your bloc positions and how certain states may react to such issues, as well as provide you with background information in regards of the council and some previous resolutions and solutions which are already available in the United Nation's (UN) databases. I hope you find this guide to be as useful as I saw it to be when I myself was a delegate, and I hope you can efficiently use the sources and the information that will be provided for you throughout this Background Guide to help you with writing your position papers as well as during the conference itself. Sincerely, Nour Hany Director of Security Council Counter Terrorism Committee CWMUN

3 Prior to delving deep into the topics, you are first going to be given a brief introduction to the committee and our previous roles of action and more; this is in order to ensure that you as delegates have a firm grasp on what course of action you should be taking in regards of topics, as well as major areas which are of interest to the Counter Terrorism Committee. Committee History: The counter terrorism committee (CTC) came into birth on September 28 th 2001 shortly after the September 11 th attacks took place in the United States, it was a result of the United Nations' (UN) security council (SC) resolution number 1373.it was not unexpected for such a decision to be taken especially after the gruesome attacks on the US, this resolution drew on ideas of cooperation against terrorism. This resolution called upon states to take the necessary measures which would ensure that terrorists would not have access to either finances, or the necessary resources to fund their acts; in addition to exchanging information in accordance with both domestic and international law on administrative and judicial matters to prevent the commission of terrorist acts; moreover, with these conditions and more taken into consideration and keeping in mind that terrorism was somewhat linked to transnational crimes, the SC decided to establish a Committee which would consist of all members of the council, to which they would all report to. The main task of this committee-which was later reaffirmed in the SC's resolution 1624 on September14 th was to combat terrorism in all its forms in whatever methods deemed necessary, and this entailed that all SC members would report to it on a regular basis, a joint taskforce would be established to investigate and halt any and all terrorist activities discovered, all states must also prohibit by law any and all forms of terrorist attacks or actions that may lead to terrorist attacks; these conditions were to be followed by all SC members, as well as member states of the UN without exceptions whatsoever, whether there are bilateral and\or multilateral agreements binding these states. As you may notice, the main concern for this committee is to address terrorism on an international level, emphasizing doctrines of peace and safety for all, and given that it was formed not too many days after the September 11 th attacks, this sets a theme as to what the direction of the committee and its navigations are. Our aims are as follows: -Ensuring the safety of citizens of all UN member states; -Limiting the channels through which terrorists may receive funding; -Restricting resources which may facilitate terror attacks; -Attempting to monitor weapons' distribution and channels of movement; -Denying services and permissions to anyone suspected of terrorist behavior; 3

4 -Condemning the harboring of terrorists under any circumstances; -Guaranteeing the safety of refugees and migrants from terrorism-especially in war torn states. The committee despite being newly established, at first seemed to be operating rather efficiently and with vigor that could not go unnoticed. This was due to the fact that the resolution which resulted in the creation of the CTC clearly stated that all member states of the UN were to abide by its clauses as they were legally binding within the international community-this was due to the binding nature of the UN as an organization,particularly after the second world war and the failure of the league of nations due to discrepancies in applying agreed upon policies, making the UN more than insistent on ensuring their agreed upon treaties and resolutions are abided by; to ensure safety of all. However, it is noticeable that during our current days nothing is capable of standing in the face of terrorism, and this goes back to the fact that most terrorist organizations are no longer domestically based, they have begun to spread across borders and transnationally in an uncontrolled way. Prior to delving deeper into this topic, I would first like you to understand the concept behind the word terrorism, its literal translation according to the Webster Dictionary is '' the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion'', meaning that individuals who are supporters of terrorism strike fear into the hearts and minds of people as a method to achieve certain goals or objectives, which the people already fail to agree upon. It is against the consent of people, and considered to be a breach of human rights and freedom of thought and Ideology. Therefore, terrorism is not only condemned by the CTC, but by the entire UN community and the UN as a bodywhich is exactly why the CTC was established. However, the problem here as mentioned earlier is the fact that terrorism is spreading across borders, and with rising conflict across the world it is becoming somewhat difficult to control movement of individuals with terrorist inclinations, as well as the flow of financial support provided to keep the terrorist organizations going. This is not only due to rising conflicts and civil wars, but also due to the shortage of manpower available under the control of the UN to ensure that all states abide by these clauses, as we can see in patterns across the globe, states are becoming heavily occupied with issues and crisis within their borders to the extent that they pay little attention to what other states may need. Past resolutions adopted by the committee are ones not only regarding terrorism, but they also target the aspect of human trafficking and humanitarian support of terror-stricken countries, and they are operative on quite efficient levels. During this committee session for the CWMUN 2018 conference, we will be targeting three main issues pertaining terrorism, we will address all aspects provided by the international community, we will discuss the issues in depth and by the end of the conference we will hopefully be able to compile resolutions that will limit the influence of terrorism and keep it at a minimum. There will be three topics on the agenda to be discussed, they will be as follows: -The threats of foreign terrorist fighters- particularly in Syria; 4

5 -Terrorist Financing as a threat to national security; -The Use of communication technologies by terrorist groups. I. Threats of Foreign Terrorist Fighters Prior to delving deep into this topic and discussing its repercussions and possible solutions for it, one must first discuss what is the meaning of it, how this category of terrorists emerged, as well as all necessary information to have an efficient grasp over the topic. According to CTC(2014) foreign terrorist fighters are identified as individuals who move across borders from one state to the other-no matter the distance travelled-in order to work in affiliation with a certain group which entices terror and uses brutal methods of coercion in order to force individuals to do their bidding, not only that but they are also identified as any individuals who leave their country of origin or their state of nationality in order to participate in terrorist training for future purposes. They are considered to be one of the most dangerous types of terrorists, and this will be discussed further as we move on. Foreign terrorist fighters like any other individuals have deep rooted incentives that push them towards committing certain acts and acting in certain patterns, and according to Said&Barret (2017) almost 49% of individuals identified as foreign terrorist fighters were youth with ages ranging from This formed a suspicious pattern to be looked upon due to their noticeably young age: after investigation and deeper insight it was revealed that almost all of these youth were encouraged to join terrorist groups after joining Islam. Moreover, after further investigation it was clear that the style of Islam which they followed was not the moderate type of Islam, but the radical form which depended on ideas and thoughts of alienation of all others who are different, even if they too were Muslims-simply because of the fact that they did not embrace the same ideology as them. These extremist ideologies depended mainly on individuals who were spreading it and the fact that they use methods of extreme brainwashing in order to ensure that the foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) abide to their principles. For the receiving states it is extremely dangerous to have FTFs on their lands, and this is due to the difficulty in tracking them and the difficulty in keeping them monitored, especially in disaster-stricken regions. Another problem that increases the risk they pose is the fact that they are unaware of the proper teachings of Islam and this in turn leads to gaps of knowledge within their minds that are filled with radical islamist ideas. It is often noticeable in some of the numbers gathered by (Said &Barret, 2017) that these individuals either come from families which are already considered to be conservative. 5

6 In many cases they have a criminal background and had spent relatively long amounts of time in prison and that they more or less found their ''salvation'' in a form of Islam which ensures the purification of the world from all those who go against the teachings of Allah. Moreover, they often join the route of terrorism due to a shortage of financial comings, meaning that they are most likely to be suffering from issues which are related to finances: their money is little and not nearly enough to satisfy even their most basic needs. This often results in them being targets of other terrorists who are on higher grounds or they can be attracted into their ranks after being offered sufficient sums of money (Said &Barret, 2017). As stated earlier this form of terrorists is considered to be dangerous both to the sending country as well as the receiving country: for the receiving country it is a point of monitoring and detection, in addition to the fact that on a domestic level it could cause significant issues in the case that asylum seekers or refugees are present. This is due to the fact that they might be capable of escaping the state under the guise of refugees who are harmed by the unstable status of the state and the fact that said state may be considered to be an active war zone most of the time. While in regards of the states of origin these FTFs pose a threat (UN News Centre, 2017) in the sense that they are likely to commit further acts of terrorism in their countries of origin for the sake of disturbing the balance, and perhaps even begin recruiting militants to attract them to their cause of fighting for Allah. During this committee session we will be mainly discussing the ongoing threats in Syria due to the presence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). You are advised to focus on this topic in particular in addition to all previously mentioned points, in regards of bloc positions and what direction your state should be given that will be up for you to investigate and procure information in its regards. The Case of ISIS is not to be taken lightly and must be addressed in a way that will help come up with solutions by the committee in order to confront the risks of FTFs whether it be in their countries of origin or the countries that may deal with the brunt of their presence. II. Terrorist Financing as a Threat to International Security Financing terror is the process by which terrorists and groups involved with acts of terror are capable of procuring the finances necessary to maintain the course of their actions, and with the development of the modern banking system this has become quite an easy feat to undergo. There have become many ways to financially provide for a terrorist group, earlier days included direct money transactions and direct payments to weapons' providers and other individuals dealt with by the terrorists; however, nowadays with the development of banking systems and certain programs developed by banks-such as Hawala systems- it has become easier for individuals-regardless of whom- to transfer money from one place to another with minimal information provided and close to no chance of being detected (US department of State,2014). 6

7 Money is becoming harder to detect especially with the development of modern forms of currency which are completely undetectable by banking systems or members of the international community, one example of these currencies is that which is known as the bitcoin, this coin or currency is a digitized currency which has become rather popular to use especially during recent years. It is undetectable, fast, easy, and worth a significant sum of money. It is transferred mostly through varying forms of the dark web and could be used anonymously, this means that governments cannot trace it, its origins, or who the parties involved in the sending and receiving processes are; and this is considered to be extremely risky due to the fact that it cannot be stopped and governments would not be able to apprehend its users due to the advancement of it. This poses a great danger as it would mean that attacks of terror would become better financed-and with rather large sums of money-which would in turn likely lead to the attacks being more dangerous, more extreme, and would lead to higher rates of casualties and/or damages. Not only would it affect security, but it would also lead to economic instability and this is due to the fact that overcomes banks and disregards their existence to an extent, this could result in rather harsh hits to the economic systems of states which could lead to various forms of economic crisis such as bankruptcy, or market failure. Another point that could be addressed is that which was mentioned by(said &Barret, 2017) where they discussed that individuals who join terrorist groups from foreign states often donate their financial savings or whatever money they come across to the organization to which they are affiliated to, increasing the difficulty in tracing the trail of the money or any form of financial support and aid. There have been a few meetings conducted by both the CTC and the CTED during 2017 that were solely dedicated for the combat of terror financing, and the result was that there would be more methods of investigation introduced, as well further methods of tracking down financial transactions across borders as well as within regios where terrorist actions are known to be taking place these solutions are placed within resolutions: 1267,1989, and 2253 respectively. III. The Use of Communication Technologies by Terrorist Groups The use of technology, particularly, the use of the internet by terrorist groups is a growing phenomenon that Member States must proactively respond to. Terrorists and terrorists groups not only use communication technologies to commit acts of terror but also use it to radicalize, recruit, finance and more. 7

8 And with the development of technology and the internet it is becoming more and more difficult every day for governments to track down forms of communication used by groups inclined to terrorist attacks. Nowadays, there is even more development in communication due to the widespread use of channels such as that of the deep web as well as satellite phones and encrypted data hubs. Additionally, it is highly related to developing methods of recruitment, as terrorist groups are now recruiting more individuals from western states, with high levels of education it is becoming easier for them to access new methods of communication. Another challenge faced by the global community in regards of communication technology being used by terrorists is the fact that internet is now available worldwide, with no zone free from communication and this facilitated the use of social networks such as facebook, twitter, and more; terrorists have seemingly begun to use all these websites and facilities for their own concerns and needs such as those of recruiting, radicalizing, training, planning, and collecting information, this is done in a way where terrorists or dangerous individuals use them in order to reach further geographical zones and more people across the world, it also a better platform for them due to the fact that it reaches varying age categories, this is exactly what they aim for. Terrorist organizations have been witnessing increased numbers of individuals between the ages of 16 and 23, which is the average age range for people who heavily access social networking websites and spend hours stranded within the digital concept of the world. Additionally, terrorists seem to be manipulating methods of communication technology to their own benefits, in a way where they have begun to use the internet to spread out their crimes such as the situation which took place when the Islamic State murdered a Jordanian pilot and murdered 12 Coptic Egyptians and decided to videotape the gruesome crime and publish it on social networking websites in order to project their actions to the entire world. Communication technology is making it easier to communicate on a constant level, without any fear of being detected or being put under surveillance for the cyberspace is an endless universe with no boundaries and rather difficult to trace through. It is becoming more and more difficult by the moment to keep track of all individuals involved in attacks of terror due to this, and the CTC despite forming interstates coalitions and creating resolutions and treaties to combat such developments, is facing various difficulties. The obvious solutions is to begin exploring and recruiting individuals who are capable of confronting the threats presented by newly emerging forms of communication and the ongoing development of technology. During recent years, the CTC has been addressing the issue of increased communication technology usage by terrorists through various resolutions such as: -SC resolution 1373 in (2001) calling on all Members to figure out ways to intensify and accelerate the exchange of operational information concerning the use of ICT by terrorist groups and to suppress terrorist recruitment. 8

9 -Security Council resolution 1624 (2005) calls for necessary and appropriate measures in accordance with Member States obligations under international law to prohibit by law incitement to commit a terrorist act and prevent such conduct. The resolution also recognizes the importance, in an increasingly globalized world, of cooperative action by Member States aimed at preventing terrorists from exploiting sophisticated technology, communications, and resources to incite support for criminal acts. -Security Council resolution 2129 (2013) directs the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) to continue to address the use of ICT in terrorist activities, in consultation with Member States, international, regional, and subregional organizations, the private sector, and civil society, and to advise the Committee on further approaches All the following have been resolutions created by the Security council Counter terrorism Committee as well as the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate in an attempt to limit the use and dangers of communication technology by terrorists and terror inclined groups Bibliography I.Addressing the Threats of Foreign Terrorist Fighters Interpol. ''Foreign Terrorist Fighters''. Interpol. Nov < United Nations. ''Security Council Adopts Resolution 2178 S/RES/2178 (2014).'' UNSC. 24 Sep

10 < United Nations. ''Security Council CTC Adopts Resolution 2396 S/RES/2396 (2017).'' UNCTC. 21 Dec < II.Terrorist Financing as a Threat to International Security International Narcotics Control Strategy. ''Money Laundering and terrorist Financing''. US Department of State. March < > Maxey, Levy. ''Terror Finance in the Age of Bitcoin''. The Cipher Brief. 11 June < > Scharia, David. '' SC briefing on Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by terrorist acts''. UNSC. 28 Sep < > III. The Use of Communication Technology by Terrorist Groups General Security. ''The Role of Technology in Modern Terrorism''. Info Science Institute. 3 Feb < > United Nations. ''Security Council adopts Resolution 1373 S/RES/1373 (2001). UNSC. 28 Sep < n%201373%20(2001).pdf> United Nations. ''Security Council adopts Resolution 1624 S/RES/1624. (2005). UNSC. 14 Sep < > United Nations. ''Security Council Adopts Resolution 2178 S/RES/2178 (2014).'' UNSC. 24 Sep < 10