PRESS RELEASE
UN Department of Public Information
Contact: Information Officer Armine Halajyan
Yerevan Office (Armenia)
Tel.: (374 10) 560 212
Fax/Tel.: (374 10) 561 406
Mobile: (374 91) 20 37 25
Press Release

UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Visits Armenia

(24 to 28 September 2007)

The United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) is
visiting Armenia this week as part of its practical and technical
assistance work to strengthen the ability of countries to fight terrorism.

The 11-person delegation includes members of the Committee’s Executive
Directorate (CTED) as well as representatives from the Council of
Europe’s MONEYVAL, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), Interpol, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Armenia is located in a region that has experienced conflict, and
therefore weapons trafficking and border security are concerns that
could be exploited by terrorists. Moreover, Armenia is in a highly
geostrategic position, which could serve as a bridge between the Middle
East and Europe.

The purpose of country visits is to precisely monitor, on location and
in practice, how Member States implement Security Council resolution
1373 (2001), as well as to evaluate the nature and level of assistance
that a particular country may need in order to fulfil the terms of the
resolution.

The resolution – which also established the CTC – calls on countries to
put into practice a number of measures to enhance their legal and
institutional capacity to be in a better position to counter terrorist
activities nationally, regionally and globally.

Onsite dialogue with Member States is a key aspect of the Committee’s
work and began in March 2005 with a visit to Morocco, followed by trips
to Kenya, Albania, Thailand and Algeria. The CTC carried out 10 visits
last year, and the mission to Armenia represents the sixth of 2007,
coming after visits to Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Viet Nam and Georgia.

The Committee and its expert body, CTED, which was established in 2004,
have been collecting written reports from Member States on how the
various anti-terrorism measures set out by resolution 1373 are being
implemented. Those periodic reports have served as the basis of an
active dialogue between the CTC/CTED and the respective Member State.
The country visits are a follow-up to that dialogue in a more focused,
practical manner with the national authorities that have the
responsibility to implement the different aspects of resolution 1373.
Such visits are conducted with the full consent and cooperation of the
national authorities.

Since 2001 Armenia has submitted five reports to the Committee – all of
which are accessible by the general public through the CTC website
().

Following each visit the counter-terrorism experts compile a report
based on their observations, which may also include the assistance needs
of the country. It is based on those needs and in full cooperation and
consent with the respective Member State that CTED then works with donor
countries and international organizations to help meet those assistance
requirements.

Background

Security Council resolution 1373, adopted on 28 September 2001, calls on
Member States to: deny all forms of financial support for terrorist
groups; suppress the provision of safe haven, sustenance or support for
terrorists; share information with other governments on any groups
practicing or planning terrorist acts; cooperate with other governments
in the investigation, detection, arrest and prosecution of those
involved in such acts; criminalize active and passive assistance for
terrorism in domestic laws and bring violators of these laws to justice;
and become party as soon as possible to the relevant international
conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.

The resolution established the Counter-Terrorism Committee comprising of
all 15 members of the Security Council to monitor implementation of the
resolution. The monitoring work was further enhanced on 26 March 2004
when the Security Council, through resolution 1535 (2004), established
the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) to assist
the CTC. The Executive Directorate is working to strengthen coordination
and collaboration among governments and national, regional and
international bodies. CTED is expected to help the CTC to broker
technical assistance for those Member States that have insufficient
capacity to meet their obligations. Resolution 1535, and subsequent
resolutions of the Security Council on the subject (such as Resolution
1566 (2004)) have specifically recognized the importance of conducting
country visits.

In order to monitor the implementation by Member States with the
obligations of resolution 1373, the CTED experts during country visits
focus their attention on various counter-terrorism areas. Those areas
may include:

– anti-terrorism legislation (offences; penalties; competence of the
courts; criminal procedure; special investigation measures; legislation
on weapons, explosives and dangerous substances; legislation on asylum
and immigration);
– measures against assets used for criminal purposes
(anti-money-laundering legislation; legislation against the financing of
terrorism; supervision of the non-financial sector; structures for
oversight of the financial system; mechanisms for the freezing, seizure
and confiscation of the proceeds of crime as well as of funds intended
to finance terrorist acts);
– effectiveness of law enforcement services (counter-terrorism
machinery; coordination of services; early warning system; methods for
combating and preventing criminal activities linked to terrorism);
– international cooperation (machinery for international cooperation in
criminal matters; status of ratification of anti-terrorism conventions;
modalities and effectiveness of judicial cooperation; modalities and
effectiveness of police cooperation; modalities of cooperation with
regional and international organizations); and
– territorial control (control of trans-border movements of persons;
control of cargo; mechanisms for issuance and control of identity and
travel documents; methods for the prevention and detection of forgery
and fraud).

For more information on the work of the CTC/CTED (including the periodic
reports of Armenia), you can visit the Committee’s website at
; or contact Mitch Hsieh, CTED public
information officer, tel: +1-212-457-1712 or e-mail: hsieh@un.org; or
Janos Tisovszky of the UN Department of Public Information, tel:
+1-917-367-2068 or e-mail: tisovszky@un.org.