Statement by H.E. Mr. Kenzo Oshima
Permanent Representative of Japan
At the Public Meeting of the Security Council
on Counter-Terrorism-Related Activities

25 April 2005

Mr. President,

My delegation would like to express its appreciation to you for convening this important meeting for a joint briefing from the counter-terrorism committees of the Council, and we wish also to thank Ambassador Mayoral, Ambassador Løj, and Ambassador Motoc for effectively guiding their respective committees. I also wish to extend appreciation to Ambassador Denisov for the important contribution he made as former Chairman of the CTC through March of this year, and to his staff.

Mr. President,

Today the scourge of terrorism is a matter of increasing concern to the entire international community. The threat of terrorism continues to grow, and so does the awareness of the need to fight it effectively. Hence the importance of a comprehensive strategy for counter-terrorism, as per the assessment in the High-level Panel report presented to the Secretary-General, and proposed more recently in his Madrid speech in March, as well as in his subsequent report, “In larger freedom”.

Japan welcomes and highly appreciates the comprehensive strategy developed in the Madrid speech, described succinctly as “the Five D's”. We also welcome the adoption of the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism on 13 April by the General Assembly, as had been urged by the Secretary-General. We expect that Member States will join and implement all the related international conventions and protocols, which now total thirteen, as soon as possible.

Mr. President,

Recalling the numerous tragedies caused by Al-Qaida and the Taliban to date, we fully support the work of the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee. My government appreciates the various activities undertaken by the Monitoring Team led by Mr. Richard Barrett, including the submission of its reports. We have actively participated in the work of the Committee to find ways and means of establishing more effective sanction measures, and we intend to continue our active involvement. In particular, it is important that the contents of the consolidated list prepared by the Committee be expanded and improved so that the list can be of greater practical use for Member States in implementing sanction measures.

Mr. President,

Concerning the CTC, one year after the CTED (Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate) was established pursuant to resolution 1535, my delegation would like to express its hope that it will become fully operational under Executive Director Javier Rupérez, with the completion of the selection of qualified experts as soon as possible, so that they may start their work as a team to deal with the full range of required activities at an early date. We wish to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to all those experts who have contributed a great deal to the work of the CTC to date and have recently departed from the Committee.

Visits to Member States by the CTC, the first to Morocco in March, represent progress in the work of the Committee, and we welcome that. Such visits are useful in strengthening the dialogue between the international community and the visited States, particularly for counter-terrorism capacity-building. The visits also serve to demonstrate to the world community the political will of those States to take part in the fight against terrorism. We hope that more States will agree to receive visits by CTC missions in the future.

As recommended by the High-level Panel report, the role of the CTED as a clearinghouse for the provision of technical assistance should be strengthened. We hope to see, for example, further development of cooperation between the CTED and the Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG) of the G8.

Preventing terrorists from gaining access to weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is a matter to be tackled with urgency, and Member States need to put in place or strengthen appropriate domestic legislation and law enforcement systems, in implementation of Security Council resolution 1540. National reports submitted to the 1540 Committee provide important materials to gauge the state of implementation in each State, and we welcome that the Committee has begun its work in a substantive way by examining the national reports. With the addition of the newly recruited experts, the examination of the reports by the 1540 Committee should be accelerated. Those Member States which have not yet submitted their national reports should be called upon to do so as soon as possible. Technical assistance should be extended to those Member States which require it in order to implement the resolution.

My government is engaged in focused efforts to strengthen the non-proliferation system in the Asian region through various cooperation and dialogue initiatives, such as export controls seminars and the Asian Senior-level Talks on Non-Proliferation. We intend to continue to strengthen such efforts.

Mr. President,

It is important to ensure that there is good coordination among the three Counter-Terrorism Committees in their respective activities, such as visits to Member States and needs assessments for technical assistance. This joint briefing today is therefore a welcome step. My government also attaches importance to cooperation with the Working Group established pursuant to resolution 1566.

It is also important that the Committees related to counter-terrorism cooperate and coordinate with one another in developing effective and efficient measures in the fight against terrorism, and Japan is determined to continue to extend its full cooperation in this political important area.

Thank you.