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Iftikhar Ali
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 01 (APP):Pakistan has called for addressing the root causes of terrorism as a crucial step in effectively combating the menace at a meeting held to consider the reconfiguration of the UN’s counterterrorism architecture.
“The UN’s counterterrorism discourse must not only address the response factors but also the underlying and preventive factors,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said during Ambassadorial-Level Consultations on UN80 and the future of the UN counterterrorism architecture.
The UN80 Initiative, unveiled in March by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, is a system-wide push to streamline operations, sharpen impact, and reaffirm the UN’s relevance for a rapidly changing world.
The Pakistani envoy said that the underlying and preventive factors include resolution of prolonged unresolved conflicts, ending foreign intervention and occupation, addressing injustice, oppression and violations of international law under the pretext of counterterrorism.
“We must also clearly distinguish between terrorism and the legitimate struggle against foreign occupation and the right to self-determination,” he said.
Underscoring that the UNOCT (Counterterrorism Office) must also integrate respect for human rights and rule of law to prevent abuse of counterterrorism actions by member states, the Pakistani envoy said, “The more we shy away from addressing these issues, the more prolonged our counterterrorism efforts will be.”
The UN’s counterterrorism architecture needs reform from within, with adequate changes to the sanctions regimes to incorporate new and emerging threats and an end to the stigmatization of Islam and Muslims, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar said.
Referring to the surge in the emergence of right wing, extremist and fascist movements in several countries leading to terrorist violence, he said, “Yet, we see a strong inclination to see non-Muslim acts of terrorism as just violent crime.”
Highlighting that there are no non-Muslim terrorist in the Security Council’s “terrorism” lists, he stressed, “This must change”.
In this regard, the Pakistani envoy called for a balanced approach towards the full implementation of United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS).
Pakistan, he reminded the delegate, is a principle victim of terrorism, having lost more than 80,000 lives and billions of dollars of losses to its economy.