Sanctions on terror groups unenforced in 100 nations
FOREIGN STAFF
thescotsman.co.uk
ALMOST 100 countries have failed to enforce United Nations sanctions against the al-Qaeda terror network and Afghanistan’s ousted Taleban.
Heraldo Munoz, the chairman of the committee overseeing sanctions, called for those countries to be named and shamed into taking steps.
Mr Munoz, the Chilean ambassador to the UN, revealed the committee’s uphill struggle to implement the asset freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo during a briefing to the Security Council on Monday.
Only 93 countries have submitted reports on measures being taken to implement sanctions - less than half the 191 UN member states, he said.
Mr Munoz said possible reasons for the failure to comply with the requirement to submit reports include lack of political will, "reporting fatigue", lack of resources and technical ability, and problems with national co-ordination.
"[The committee] intends to analyse and address the issue of why some states did not submit reports," he said. "I also feel that these states should be identified for their non-compliance with the Security Council resolutions."
Mr Munoz said it was not just a matter of "naming and shaming", but of closing loopholes, adopting tougher measures, and engaging directly with countries to tell them that compliance with the sanctions resolution is mandatory.
Chile, the United States and Russia are also working on a new resolution to strengthen sanctions which is expected to be adopted this month.
"You can expect stronger measures and possibly new sanctions," Mr Munoz said.
The council shifted sanctions from the government of Afghanistan to Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and remnants of the Taleban in January 2002, after a US-led force ousted the Taleban. But while 4,000 individuals linked to the two groups have been detained in over 102 countries, the UN list of individuals and entities subject to sanctions has only 392 names.
Algeria’s UN ambassador, Abdallah Baali, a new council member, suggested that countries might not be providing names for the UN list because of the reluctance of council members to accept their evidence of links with al-Qaeda or the Taleban.
Several countries complained of difficulty in enforcing the travel ban because of lack of information.
Pakistan’s UN ambassador, Munir Akram, said it was essential to ensure there was no stigma attached to admitting members of al-Qaeda were present in a country. |
