United Nations Security Council Resolution 2253 – Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts

Resolution 2253 (2015)

The Security Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1267 (1999), 1333 (2000), 1363 (2001), 1373 (2001), 1390 (2002), 1452 (2002), 1455 (2003), 1526 (2004), 1566 (2004), 1617 (2005), 1624 (2005), 1699 (2006), 1730 (2006), 1735 (2006), 1822 (2008), 1904 (2009), 1988 (2011), 1989 (2011), 2083 (2012), 2133 (2014), 2170 (2014), 2178 (2014), 2195 (2014), 2199 (2015), 2214 (2015), and 2249 (2015),

Reaffirming that terrorism in all forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever, wherever, and by whomsoever committed, and reiterating its unequivocal condemnation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities for ongoing and multiple criminal terrorist acts aimed at causing the deaths of innocent civilians and other victims, destruction of property, and greatly undermining stability,

Recognizing that terrorism poses a threat to international peace and security and that countering this threat requires collective efforts on national, regional and international levels on the basis of respect for international law and the Charter of the United Nations,

Reaffirming that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, or civilization,

Expressing its gravest concern about the presence, violent extremist ideology and actions of ISIL, Al-Qaida, and their affiliates in the Middle East and North Africa and beyond,

Reaffirming its commitment to sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,

Recalling the Presidential Statements of the Security Council on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts of 15 January 2013 (S/PRST/2013/1), of 28 July 2014 (S/PRST/2014/14), of 19 November 2014 (S/PRST/2014/23), of 29 May 2015 (S/PRST/2015/11), and of 28 July 2015 (S/PRST/2015/14),

Reaffirming the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, including applicable international human rights law, international refugee law, and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, stressing in this regard the important role the United Nations plays in leading and coordinating this effort,

Recognizing that development, security, and human rights are mutually reinforcing and are vital to an effective and comprehensive approach to countering terrorism, and underlining that a particular goal of counter-terrorism strategies should be to ensure sustainable peace and security,

Reaffirming its resolution 1373 (2001) and in particular its decisions that all States shall prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts and refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, including by suppressing recruitment of members of terrorist groups and eliminating the supply of weapons to terrorists,

Stressing that terrorism can only be defeated by a sustained and comprehensive approach involving the active participation and collaboration of all States and international and regional organizations to impede, impair, isolate, and incapacitate the terrorist threat,

Emphasizing that sanctions are an important tool under the Charter of the United Nations in the maintenance and restoration of international peace and security, including in support of countering terrorism, and stressing in this regard the need for robust implementation of the measures in paragraph 2 of this resolution,

Recalling that ISIL is a splinter group of Al-Qaida, and recalling further that any individual, group, undertaking, or entity supporting ISIL or Al-Qaida is eligible for listing,

Condemning the frequent, recent terrorist attacks perpetrated by ISIL around the world resulting in numerous casualties, recognizing the need for sanctions to reflect current threats and, in this regard, recalling paragraph 7 of resolution 2249,

Reminding all States that they have an obligation to take the measures described in paragraph 2 with respect to all individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities included on the list created pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1333 (2000), 1989 (2011), 2083 (2012), and 2161 (2014) (now and hereunder referred to as the “ISIL (Da’esh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions List”), regardless of the nationality or residence of such individuals, groups, undertakings, or entities,

Urging all Member States to participate actively in maintaining and updating the ISIL (Da’esh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions List by contributing additional information pertinent to current listings, submitting delisting requests when appropriate, and by identifying and nominating for listing additional individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities which should be subject to the measures referred to in paragraph 2 of this resolution,

Reminding the Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) (“the Committee”) to remove expeditiously and on a case-by-case basis individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities that no longer meet the criteria for listing outlined in this resolution, welcoming improvements to the Committee’s procedures and the format of the ISIL (Da’esh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions List, expressing its intent to continue efforts to ensure that procedures are fair and clear, and recognizing the challenges, both legal and otherwise, to the measures implemented by Member States under paragraph 2 of this resolution,

Recognizing the importance of building capacities of Member States to counter terrorism and terrorist financing,

Welcoming again the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsperson pursuant to resolution 1904 (2009) and the enhancement of the Ombudsperson ’s mandate in resolutions 1989 (2011), 2083 (2012), and 2161 (2015), noting the Office of the Ombudsperson’s significant contribution in providing additional fairness and transparency, and recalling the Security Council’s firm commitment to ensuring that the Office of the Ombudsperson is able to continue to carry out its role effectively and independently, in accordance with its mandate,

Welcoming the Ombudsperson’s biannual reports to the Security Council, including the reports submitted on 21 January 2011, 22 July 2011, 20 January 2012, 30 July 2012, 31 January 2013, 31 July 2013, 31 January 2014, 31 July 2014, and 2 February 2015,

Welcoming the continuing cooperation between the Committee and INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in particular on technical assistance and capacity-building, and all other United Nations bodies, and strongly encouraging further engagement with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) to ensure overall coordination and coherence in the counter-terrorism efforts of the United Nations system,

Recalling its resolutions 2199 (2015) and 2133 (2014) strongly condemning kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups for any purpose, including with the aim of raising funds or gaining political conc essions, expressing its determination to prevent kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups and to secure the safe release of hostages without ransom payments or political concessions in accordance with applicable international law, reiterating its call upon all Member States to prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or from political concessions and to secure the safe release of hostages, and welcoming the endorsement by the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) in September 2015 of the “Addendum to the Algiers Memorandum on Good Practices on Preventing and Denying the Benefits of Kidnapping for Ransom by Terrorists”,

Gravely concerned that in some cases ISIL, Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities continue to profit from involvement in transnational organized crime, and expressing concern that terrorists benefit from transnational organized crime in some regions, including from the trafficking of arms, persons, drugs, and artefacts, and from the illicit trade in natural resources including gold and other precious metals and stones, minerals, wildlife, charcoal and oil, as well as from kidnapping for ransom and other crimes including extortion and bank robbery,

Recognizing the need to take measures to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism, terrorist organizations, and individual terrorists even in the absence of a link to a specific terrorist act, including from the proceeds of organized crime, inter alia, the illicit production and trafficking of drugs and their chemical precursors, and recalling paragraph 5 of resolution 1452,

Recognizing the need for Member States to prevent the abuse of non-governmental, non-profit and charitable organizations by and for terrorists, and calling upon non-governmental, non-profit, and charitable organizations to prevent and oppose, as appropriate, attempts by terrorists to abuse their status, while recalling the importance of fully respecting the rights to freedom of expressi on and association of individuals in civil society and freedom of religion or belief, and welcoming the relevant updated Best Practices Paper issued by the Financial Action Task Force for the appropriate, risk-based implementation of the international standard related to preventing terrorist abuse of the non-profit sector,

Recalling its decision that Member States shall eliminate the supply of weapons, including small arms and light weapons, to terrorists, as well as its calls on States to find ways of intensifying and accelerating the exchange of operational information regarding traffic in arms, and to enhance coordination of efforts on national, subregional, regional, and international levels,

Expressing concern at the increased use, in a globalized society, by terrorists and their supporters, of new information and communications technologies, in particular the Internet, to facilitate terrorist acts, and condemning their use to incite, recruit, fund, or plan terrorist acts,

Expressing concern at the flow of international recruits to ISIL, Al-Qaida, and associated groups and the scale of this phenomenon, and recalling its resolution 2178 (2014) deciding that Member States shall, consistent with international human rights law, international refugee law, and international humanitarian law, prevent and suppress the recruiting, organizing, transporting, or equipping of foreign terrorist fighters and the financing of their travel and of their activities,

Reiterating the obligation of Member States to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of any individual about whom that State has credible information that provides reasonable grounds to believe that he or she is seeking entry into or transit through their territory for the purpose of participating in the foreign terrorist fighter-related activities described in paragraph 6 of resolution 2178 (2014), and reiterating further the obligation of Member States to prevent the movement of terrorist groups, in accordance with applicable international law, by, inter alia, effective border controls, and, in this context, to exchange information expeditiously, improve cooperation among competent authorities to prevent the movement of terrorists and terrorist groups to and from their territories, th e supply of weapons for terrorists, and financing that would support terrorists,

Condemning any engagement in direct or indirect trade, in particular of oil and oil products, modular refineries, and related materiel including chemicals and lubricants, with ISIL, ANF, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities designated by the Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011), and reiterating that such engagement would constitute support for such individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities and may lead to further listings by the Committee,

Condemning the destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq and Syria particularly by ISIL and ANF, including targeted destruction of religious sites and objects; and recalling its decision that all Member States shall take appropriate steps to prevent the trade in Iraqi and Syrian cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 1990 and from Syria since 15 March 2011, including by prohibiting cross-border trade in such items, thereby allowing for their eventual safe return to the Iraqi and Syrian people,

Recalling its resolution 2178 (2014) expressing concern with the continued threat posed to international peace and security by ISIL, Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities, and reaffirming its resolve to address all aspects of that threat, including terrorist acts perpetrated by foreign terrorist fighters,

Condemning in the strongest terms abductions of women and children by ISIL, ANF, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities and recalling resolution 2242 (2015), expressing outrage at their exploitation and abuse, including rape, sexual violence, forced marriage, and enslavement by these entities, encouraging all State and non-state actors with evidence to bring it to the attention of the Council, along with any information that such human trafficking may support the perpetrators financially, emphasizing that this resolution requires States to ensure that their nationals and persons within their territory do not make available any funds, financial assets or economic resources for ISIL’s benefit, and noting that any person or entity who transfers funds to ISIL directly or indirectly in connection with such exploitation and abuse would be eligible for listing by the Committee,

Welcoming the efforts of the Secretariat to standardize the format of all United Nations sanctions lists to facilitate implementation by national authorities, further welcoming the Secretariat’s efforts to translate all list entries and narrative summaries of reasons for listing available in all official languages of the United Nations, and encouraging the Secretariat, with the assistance of the Monitoring Team, as appropriate, to continue its work to implement the data model approved by the Committee,

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

Adopted by the Security Council at its 7587th meeting, on 17 December 2015.