UN Security Council Open Debate on Linkages between International Terrorism and Organized Crime

United Nations Security Council

Statement delivered by H.E. Mr. Richard Arbeiter
Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations

New York, 9 July 2019

Thank-you Mr. President and thank-you to Peru for organizing today’s debate.

As your concept note indicates, the UN Security Council has repeated expressed concern over the linkages between organized crime and terrorism. However, these linkages continue to both widen and deepen.  Without a coordinated response by the international community, we will be less effective on all fronts. But this response also needs to be inclusive and gender-responsive in order to address the drivers of insecurity that perpetuate terrorism and organized crime.

Canada believes that a key actor in this response is the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF). The GCTF is an informal coordinating body that supports UN efforts to advance the implementation of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and relevant resolutions.  

This work helps sustain the international commitment to our obligations to fight terrorism under international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law, and international humanitarian law.

For example, the GCTF Initiative on the Nexus between Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism organized four regional meetings in 2018. These meetings included diverse representatives from the United Nations, member states, international and regional organizations, and international experts, practitioners, and academia to review knowledge and share information about the regional contexts and variations of this threat. Under the Netherland’s leadership, the GCTF-developed non-binding Good Practices and a related practical Policy Toolkit to disrupt this nexus.

In our future role as GCTF Co-Chair with Morocco, Canada plans to further strengthen the GCTF’s relationship with the UN, its collaboration with other multilateral and regional organizations and UN Member States. It is this type of partnership-driven response that we would also emulate if elected to a term on the UN Security Council.

Opportunities to confront the criminal-terrorist linkage also flow from work in regional bodies. Canada, prioritizes enhancing security in the Americas and we chair the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Committee against Terrorism or CICTE (pronounced Sik’tay) in 2019-20 and provide more than half its budget. At the recent meeting of CICTE, which was focused on building resilience, the Office for Counter-Terrorism and other key UN counter-terrorism entities were invited to share their perspectives.

We see the value of establishing standards, best practices and measures to improve border, port and document security, and are encouraging this work within the hemisphere. Doing so provides the dual benefit of making the hemisphere more resistant to the spread of terrorism, CICTE’s core mandate, while also impeding transnational organized crime.

Mr. President,

Another important tool for the international community is the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).  FATF’s 40 recommendations form the basis for co-ordinated global action to counter the abuse of the financial system by criminals and terrorists.

However, the effectiveness of the FATF framework, as with other counterterrorism and organized crime initiatives, lies in implementation by Member States. Recognizing this, Canada provides $55 million for training, equipment, and technical assistance to build capacity to prevent and respond to terrorist and criminal activities. For example, Canada has funded INTERPOL projects strengthen the ability of front line border officers to use INTERPOL databases, like the INTERPOL Foreign Terrorist Database.  The use of smuggling routes by returning foreign terrorists fighters has the potential to make vulnerable migrants even more so. For this reason, Canada supports projects that consider and address these specific risks.

In summary, Canada remains strongly committed to tackling transnational organized crime and terrorism.  By working together, the United Nations and Member States can not only disrupt terrorist groups and criminal organizations, but also prevent linkages between them from developing.

Thank you.