UN Counter-Terrorism Experts Praise Kenya’s Cooperation
New York, May 3 2005 5:00PM
United Nations counter-terrorism experts today praised Kenya for its cooperation with UN efforts to fight the scourge,
noting that the East African country was considering setting up a unit to control the financing of terrorists.
Javier Rupérez, Executive Director of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Executive Directorate (CTED),
told a press briefing in Nairobi that Kenya has been forthcoming in telling the UN what it has and has not done with
regard to counter-terrorism.
“They have been honest in their reporting,” he said, referring to the reports that countries are required to provide to
the Council. “At the same time, we gather from their reporting that there are a number of deficiencies.”
Gijs de Vries, Counter-Terrorism Coordinator at the EU Council in Brussels, announced at the briefing that Kenya was
considering the creation of a terrorism financing unit, and that the EU was “ready to offer assistance to Kenya in this
regard.”
Mr. Rupérez also stressed the importance of having in place in Kenya “legislation for the criminalization of terrorism
as well as instruments to control the financing of terrorism.”
The CTED visit to Kenya is the second of its kind, following a trip in mid-March to Morocco, and is part of the unit’s
attempt to establish direct contact with Member States to assess how the obligations of Security Council resolution 1373
are implemented, as well as to evaluate the nature and level of assistance needed by countries to fulfil those
requirements.
According to resolution 1373, countries are obliged 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 practising or planning terrorist acts; and cooperate with other governments in the investigation, detection,
arrest and prosecution of those involved in such acts.
It also enjoins them to criminalize active and passive assistance for terrorism in domestic laws and bring violators of
these laws to justice, and to become party as soon as possible to the relevant international conventions and protocols
relating to terrorism.
The CTED delegation led by Mr. Rupérez – who was scheduled to head to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss cooperation with
the African Union (AU) – includes experts from Interpol, the World Customs Organization, the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Commonwealth Secretariat and the European Union.
ENDS