Today, the United Nations’ Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) convenes a special meeting to discuss measures that could affect human rights organizations. On the agenda over the next two days is “the activity of charities.” Human Rights First urges the CTC to remind states of their obligations under international instruments to protect human rights while countering terrorism.
As U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has repeatedly reminded U.N. member states, human rights are essential tools in the war against terrorism. In a letter to the head of the Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate, Ambassador Javier Rupérez, Human Rights First stated: “Respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law is an essential antidote to the conditions that give rise to terrorism….Restricting the legitimate activities of human rights defenders has nothing to do with increasing public security and can only result in decreased safety for all.”
Since September 2001, counter-terrorism efforts have thrown up obstacles to the promotion and protection of human rights, often in the name of enhancing security, that risk having the opposite effect. In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, in particular, recent steps taken to silence the voices of those who monitor human rights abuses include broad controls on freedom of expression, association, and movement, as well as measures to intimidate, demonize, brutalize, imprison, exile, or murder individuals who stand up for human rights.
The Counter-Terrorism Committee was established to build international cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts on September 28, 2001, under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373.
