IRELAND/US: Human rights must be fully respected and should never be violated in the conduct of the global struggle against terrorism, Ireland's UN ambassador, Mr Richard Ryan, has told the Security Council in New York.
Acknowledging that decisive action must be taken at the legal and security level, he also highlighted the need to tackle the wider economic and social conditions which fostered terrorism.
He was speaking at a special public meeting of the Council called to discuss the progress made in implementing the anti-terrorism measures in Resolution 1,373. Adopted unanimously by the 15-member Council, including Ireland, on September 28th, this resolution obliged member-states to take a wide-ranging series of measures, especially in the financial area, to combat terrorism. A counter-terrorism committee was established to monitor their implementation.
"Resolution 1,373 is an agenda for action but this agenda must not, ever, be at the price of any state violating the human rights of its citizens or of any human being," Mr Ryan said.
In the context of the international struggle against terrorism he wished to emphasise "the importance of full respect by all States, at all times, for the full body of international law, including the conventions on universal human rights".
He also drew attention to a statement made to the Council by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, last November. Mr Cowen said that, in addition to vigorous action against terrorism, "we must also tackle the wider conditions - and there are such conditions - that allow it to survive and even flourish".
Mr Ryan said the events of September 11th "were an attack not only against the United States but against the entire international Community and the values we cherish". The UN had responded decisively: "In resolution 1,373, we placed the United Nations where it belongs, at the centre of the international struggle to combat terrorism."
Resolution 1,373 imposed "clear and explicit obligations" on all states to combat and suppress international terrorism. The response so far showed that the international community was setting a "firm pace" in addressing the requirements.
"Ireland attaches particular importance to strong regional co-operation in the struggle against terrorism." Noting that Resolution 1,373 required many states to put in place complex legislative and administrative frameworks especially in their financial and banking systems, he urged the Council to take "a pragmatic, reasonable and open approach" in this regard.
"The economic systems in many developing countries, in large measure because of their exclusion from the benefits of the globalised economy, need support and assistance in putting in place more formal financial structures. This support must be generously given."
Mr Ryan said Ireland strongly supported the "pivotal role" of the UN in the struggle against terrorism and hoped that agreement could be reached "as soon as possible" on a comprehensive convention against terrorism. The meeting heard a progress report from the UK envoy to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who chairs the counter-terrorism committee.
Syria's deputy UN ambassador, Mr Fayssal Mekdad, used his country's maiden speech to compare the destruction of the World Trade Centre and the more recent demolition of Palestinian houses by the Israeli army. His claim that Israel was practising "state terrorism" was rejected as "outrageous" by the US and Israel.