Innlegg på arrangement om anti-terrorisme

UN Secretary-General’s Symposium on International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation: Promoting human rights and the rule of law while countering terrorism, and the media roundtable side-event to highlight the Global Strategy and the UN’s role in international counter-terrorism efforts.

The minister based his remarks
on some of the following points
(check against delivery) 

• Expressing gratitude to the whole international community for your expressions of sympathy and offers of assistance following the terrorist attack in Norway in July. The events in Norway should be a reminder that all countries are threatened by terrorism, and that we can only deal with this threat through international cooperation. I would like to thank the Secretary General for taking the initiative for the symposium.

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• Terrorism is characterised by targeting innocent people, terrorism incites fear and constitutes a grave violation of human rights and international law.
• This discussion on international counter-terrorism efforts is very timely. 10 years since 9/11; terrorism lifted to the top of the international agenda. Since then, our understanding of terrorism has deepened. And we have learned that to counter this threat, we must integrate all our efforts, at the national and international level.
• I am firmly convinced that preventing terrorism involves much more than police work and security measures – and I do not like the concept of a kind of a “war against terror”, which gives the impression that it can be fought once and for all. However, make no mistake – we need intensified police cooperation, and we need military support.
• But we also need to understand what the causes and mechanisms of terrorism are. Not in order to justify or accept it, but to prevent it, to build resilient societies and to develop efficient capacities in counter-terrorism institutions, nationally, regionally and globally.

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• Let me make three points: Firstly, on Norwegian priorities. Norway has made the promotion of human rights and the rule of law a particular priority in our overall approach to counter-terrorism. We are convinced that democracy, freedom of speech, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law – our platform, our values, that is – as well as openness (transparency), understanding and tolerance, are all crucial to prevent the emergence of terrorism.
• The terrorist attack in Norway in July demonstrated that no society can take these values for granted. On the contrary, we must work resolutely to develop a society, at local, national and international level, where extremism and terrorism cannot thrive. A society where fanatic elements are not allowed to determine political discussions or outcomes. Democracy and dialogue are our best means of ensuring that the moderate majorities of this world set the agenda.
• Secondly, a broad approach to counter-terrorism is at the core of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. This is why we are fully committed to this Strategy, and I hope it will be implemented, fully and efficiently. The political will is clearly there, and the Strategy was unanimously adopted by the General Assembly in 2006. This unity of purpose is very encouraging, since it is only by means of a concerted global effort that we can counter international terrorism and its global effects.
• Thirdly, expressing our support to the UN system: The UN Counter-Terrorism Task Force, the CTITF, was established to coordinate the implementation of the UN Strategy by 31 UN entities and Interpol. The CTITF has functioned well. However, we need to continue to strengthen the CTITF’s role - in capacity-building, international coordination of efforts, and implementation of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Norway has worked very closely with the CTITF on de-radicalisation programmes and supported UNODC’ capacity-building activities in the legal sphere.
• Most of our support has been channelled through the “Integrated Assistance for Countering Terrorism” project, I-ACT. This project is seeking to coordinate UN counter-terrorism efforts at country-level and to build real capacities in the partnering countries, beginning with Burkina Faso and Nigeria.
• The terrorist attack on the UN headquarters in Abuja on 26 August, where many UN personnel – including a Norwegian woman – were killed, is a sad reminder that further work is called for. And we will respond – we will continue our support to the UN system, to the CTITF and to the Integrated Assistance project – in brief: to the very important work you are doing in the UN and on the ground – in West Africa and elsewhere.
• In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage the CTITF, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and its supporting Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the 1267 Committee, the 1540 Committee and all others involved on the UN side, to continue your work and to further strengthen the coordination of efforts. We will do our utmost to support you.

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• The first line of defence in our counter-terrorism efforts must – as always – be the promotion of human rights and the rule of law – our shared platform. That is: Improving education. Fostering cultural understanding. Promoting economic development. Ensuring freedom of speech. These are all critical measures to prevent and counter terrorism. Democracy, transparency and dialogue are needed to ensure that the moderate majority (and not (only) the extremists at the fringes), can have its voice heard and its political will realised.
• We must also seek to maintain and improve international police and judicial cooperation. We should all support the Financial Action Task Force’s efforts to prevent the financing of terrorism. And all relevant UN Security Council resolutions must be fully implemented.
• I do not accept the view that there is a contradiction between countering terrorism on the one hand and protecting human rights and the rule of law on the other. On the contrary, human rights and the rule of law are necessary tools in our joint struggle against terrorism. In line with this, the main objectives of Norway’s strategy for participating in the international struggle against terrorism are to ensure that all efforts are in keeping with international law and human rights.

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Generalsekretærens symposium om internasjonalt samarbeid mot terrorisme