United Nations Security Council Resolution 1566 – Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts

Resolution 1566 (2004)

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its resolutions 1267 (1999) of 15 October 1999 and 1373 (2001)of 28 September 2001 as well as its other resolutions concerning threats to international peace and security caused by terrorism,

Recalling in this regard its resolution 1540 (2004) of 28 April 2004,

Reaffirming also the imperative to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nationsand international law,

Deeply concerned by the increasing number of victims, including children,caused by acts of terrorism motivated by intolerance or extremism in various regions of the world,

Calling upon States to cooperate fully with the Counter-Terrorism Committee(CTC) established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001), including the recently established Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the“Al-Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Committee” established pursuant to resolution 1267(1999) and its Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, and theCommittee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004), and further calling uponsuch bodies to enhance cooperation with each other,

Reminding States that they must ensure that any measures taken to combatterrorism comply with all their obligations under international law, and should adoptsuch measures in accordance with international law, in particular internationalhuman rights, refugee, and humanitarian law,

Reaffirming that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one ofthe most serious threats to peace and security,

Considering that acts of terrorism seriously impair the enjoyment of humanrights and threaten the social and economic development of all States and undermine global stability and prosperity,

Emphasizing that enhancing dialogue and broadening the understanding among civilizations, in an effort to prevent the indiscriminate targeting of different religions and cultures, and addressing unresolved regional conflicts and the full range of global issues, including development issues, will contribute to international cooperation, which by itself is necessary to sustain the broadest possible fight against terrorism,

Reaffirming its profound solidarity with victims of terrorism and their families,

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

1. Condemns in the strongest terms all acts of terrorism irrespective of their motivation, whenever and by whomsoever committed, as one of the most serious threats to peace and security;

2. Calls upon States to cooperate fully in the fight against terrorism,especially with those States where or against whose citizens terrorist acts arecommitted, in accordance with their obligations under international law, in order tofind, deny safe haven and bring to justice, on the basis of the principle to extraditeor prosecute, any person who supports, facilitates, participates or attempts toparticipate in the financing, planning, preparation or commission of terrorist acts orprovides safe havens;

3. Recalls that criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with theintent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purposeto provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or aninternational organization to do or to abstain from doing any act, which constituteoffences within the scope of and as defined in the international conventions andprotocols relating to terrorism, are under no circumstances justifiable byconsiderations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious orother similar nature, and calls upon all States to prevent such acts and, if notprevented, to ensure that such acts are punished by penalties consistent with their grave nature;

4. Calls upon all States to become party, as a matter of urgency, to the relevant international conventions and protocols whether or not they are a party to regional conventions on the matter;

5. Calls upon Member States to cooperate fully on an expedited basis in resolving all outstanding issues with a view to adopting by consensus the draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism and the draft international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism;

6. Calls upon relevant international, regional and subregional organizations to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and to intensify their interaction with the United Nations and, in particular, the CTC with a view to facilitating full and timely implementation of resolution 1373 (2001);

7. Requests the CTC in consultation with relevant international, regional and subregional organizations and the United Nations bodies to develop a set of bestpractices to assist States in implementing the provisions of resolution 1373 (2001)related to the financing of terrorism;

8. Directs the CTC, as a matter of priority and, when appropriate, in closecooperation with relevant international, regional and subregional organizations tostart visits to States, with the consent of the States concerned, in order to enhance the monitoring of the implementation of resolution 1373 (2001) and facilitate theprovision of technical and other assistance for such implementation;

9. Decides to establish a working group consisting of all members of the Security Council to consider and submit recommendations to the Council onpractical measures to be imposed upon individuals, groups or entities involved in orassociated with terrorist activities, other than those designated by theAl-Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Committee, including more effective proceduresconsidered to be appropriate for bringing them to justice through prosecution orextradition, freezing of their financial assets, preventing their movement through theterritories of Member States, preventing supply to them of all types of arms andrelated material, and on the procedures for implementing these measures;

10. Requests further the working group, established under paragraph 9 toconsider the possibility of establishing an international fund to compensate victimsof terrorist acts and their families, which might be financed through voluntary contributions, which could consist in part of assets seized from terrorist organizations, their members and sponsors, and submit its recommendations to the Council;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to take, as a matter of urgency,appropriate steps to make the CTED fully operational and to inform the Council by15 November 2004;

12. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Adopted by the Security Council at its 5053rd meeting, on 8 October 2004.