“No money for the terror.” This Thursday, the security Council of the united Nations unanimously adopted a resolution under the aegis of France, pushing the member countries of the international organization to significantly strengthen their arsenal against the financing of terrorism. Hailed as a “beginning” by the minister of hexagonal of foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, this is the first text adopted by the Council exclusively dedicated to this subject.
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The resolution states that “all States shall […] ensure that their laws and regulations allow us to prosecute and sanction of serious criminal offences, the provision or collection of funds, resources, and services intended to be used by organizations or individuals terrorists”. The member States of the UN must also “conduct financial investigations on issues related to terrorism” and prosecute proven cases of financing of terrorism, “in application of penal sanctions” if needed.
covering a number of aspects, the text application in conjunction with the “identify the economic sectors most vulnerable to the financing of terrorism” and to develop specialized units capable of tracking down the financial channels by which the transit fund. Nations must also act against the anonymity of transactions and to ensure better control of the tools regularly used by individuals linked to al qaeda to pass under the radar, such as prepaid cards, cash or cryptomonnaies.
This resolution takes place in the context of the defeat of the group islamic State in Syria. It was placed under chapter VII of the charter of the united Nations, which grants the security Council “to make recommendations” to maintain the peace in the world and gives him the right to “decide what measures not involving the use of armed force are to be taken to give effect to its decisions”. In other words, the Council may provide sanctions against member States that refuse to strengthen their legislation against terrorism. These penalties can range up to the suspension of economic exchanges with the countries concerned, as well as to the rupture of diplomatic relations.
The particular case of NGOS
The text has, however, generated the concern of NGOS, who fear that their work be prevented on the grounds that, indirectly, they would argue, on the ground, organisations or individuals with terrorist. The observer for the international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Robert Mardini, said to understand “the legitimate concerns of States”, but was concerned that some measures that have the potential to “criminalize and restrict the humanitarian action”: the association fears that some of its actions hindered, as the crossing of the front lines to visit the detainees “the other side”, to find the dead bodies and facilitate the exchange of prisoners. It therefore hoped that the different States would enter into discussion with NGOS so that they can give their opinion on the transposition of the resolution at the national level.
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On the long term, the resolution aims to stop the financial flows feeding of the groups considered as terrorists, have responded to the different countries, including France. “We need to stem the financing of terrorist groups”, has supported the new u.s. ambassador to the united Nations, Jonathan Cohen. Citing the example of Hezbollah, the representative of the White House has explained that this movement was using “shell companies” to “hide the purchase of weapons and hijack the control measures of money laundering”. Several countries, including Peru, Belgium and Germany, wished to reassure the NGOS, promising that the text was not intended to “hinder the humanitarian aid or to limit their access “to the funds in the regions of conflict”.
$ 150 million through ransoms from kidnappings
welcoming the adoption of the resolution, the head of the Quai d’orsay has called on the countries to keep their commitments, by adapting their law to the new realities of terrorism. “The challenge is great. Our resolve must be just as much”, he commented, stressing that the international community should isolate the terrorists by drying up their sources of funding. For France, the financial issue remains central: according to the estimates of French representatives to the united Nations, Daech still has 50 to $ 300 million of financial reserves, and the various terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and AQAP (its antenna in the arabian peninsula) have drawn several hundreds of millions of dollars of their ransom demands and actions on the ground.
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The adaptation of these principles at the national level and their effectiveness in the face of terrorism will, however, continue to explain: an expert in the field of combating money laundering, Mercy Buku stated that governments should ensure that new technologies, including online banks and money transfers by telephone, should not be used to finance terrorism. The president of the financial action task force (FATF), Marshall Billingslea, has called upon States to combat money laundering and all of the “fundamental problems” that have put in place a favorable basis to the development of terrorism, such as corruption or the absence of a government strong to be able to control their country.
