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Russia against UN counter-terrorism committee morphing into pseudo ‘human rights’ tool

Russian diplomat Vladimir Safronkov says the United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee "should focus on actual pressing issues of counteracting incitement to terrorism"

Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Vladimir Safronkov EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Vladimir Safronkov

© EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

THE UNITED NATIONS, October 3. /TASS/. Russia has cautioned the United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and its Executive Directorate against mutating into a pseudo ‘human rights’ tool, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Vladimir Safronkov said on Wednesday at a session of the UN Security Council.

"It is utterly striking that the Executive Directorate’s attention - frequently at the expense of counterterrorism objectives - is shifting to matters of rehabilitating and reintegrating terrorists, strengthening the role of women, backing human rights and interaction with civil society," the diplomat noted. "Fundamentally, these issues are certainly very important but directly unrelated to this body’s mandate," he pointed out.

"It is essential that the committee focus on counterterrorism efforts, otherwise, it will might risk losing its key objectives," Safronkov warned. "We view the attempts to transform the CTC and its Executive Directorate with their unique array of tools into a pseudo human rights ‘defense’ tool as counterproductive."

What’s even more unacceptable for Moscow is that "the committee’s agenda is infiltrated with particular methods of work with violent extremists and violent extremist groups."

"We see this as a deliberate logical fallacy policy that undermines international legislation in the war on terror and which pursues a goal of shielding ‘pet’ terrorists from responsibility," the Russian ambassador stressed.

Safronkov suggested that the CTC and its Executive Directorate "should focus on actual pressing issues of counteracting incitement to terrorism."

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Foreign policy United Nations

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