Statement by H.E. Ambassador Koro Bessho
Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
At the Security Council Briefing on International Judicial
Cooperation in the Fight Against Terrorism
12 December 2016
Mr. President,
I would like to express my gratitude to Spain for convening today’s important and timely briefing. I would also like to thank the briefers for their informative briefings.
Mr. President,
Looking back on 2016, we recognize that terrorist attacks occurred all over the world, including in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America and Asia. I join others in offering condolences for the loss of lives in all these attacks, especially in Egypt, one of the most recent victims. The Security Council resolution that was just adopted calls upon Member States to enhance judicial cooperation to address global terrorism, and reaffirms that terrorists must be held accountable. Japan welcomes and supports this resolution.
Mr. President,
There are a number of key paragraphs that will enhance our judicial and police-to-police cooperation. However, today I would especially like to highlight paragraph 17. This paragraph encourages States to consider extending access to the INTERPOL I-24/7 network beyond National Central Bureaus to other national law enforcement entities at strategic locations, such as remote border crossings.
Terrorists use lost or stolen passports to travel freely around the world. To detect these false passports, INTERPOL gives National Central Bureaus access to its Stolen & Lost Travel Document Database, and helps them detect false identification. The database has records of more than 68 million lost or stolen passports. From January to September 2016, the database was searched more than 1.2 billion times, resulting in more than 115,000 hits, approximately 426 hits every day.
However, more than 100 out of 190 Member States do not use this powerful database to screen travelers at airports and border checkpoints. This means that even if National Central Bureaus detect the use of lost or stolen passports, delayed notice to front-line screeners may allow terrorists to sneak across borders unnoticed. Timely access to the database is critically important for front-line officers to prevent these breaches.
I therefore urge Member States to extend access to the INTERPOL I-24/7 network, including Stolen & Lost Travel Documents Database, to front-line law enforcement entities in accordance with this resolution, with the goal of restricting cross-border terrorist movements.
Mr. President,
In closing, I stress that simply adopting today’s resolution is not enough. We now must implement it.
Japan is always ready to closely cooperate with other countries to enhance their capacities. Only the international community’s collective efforts on judicial and police-to-police cooperation will bring terrorists to justice.
I thank you, Mr. President.
