VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #7575 1270609
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060601Z MAY 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0000
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY 0000
RUEATRS/TREASURY DEPT WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 047575 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN KTFN PREL PTER UNSC
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR USUN FOR THE SECURITY COUNCIL JOINT 
MEETING ON THE COUNTER-TERRORISM COMMITTEE, 
AL-QAIDA/TALIBAN COMMITTEE, AND 1540 COMMITTEE 
 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request.  Please see paragraphs 3 
and 4. 
 
---------- 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
¶2.  (U) On Tuesday, 6 May, the Chairman of the 1267 
(al-Qaeda/Taliban) Sanctions Committee (Belgian PermRep 
Johan Verbeke), the Chairman of the Security Council 
Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (Costa 
Rican PermRep Jorge Urbina), and the Chairman of the 
Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) (Croatian PermRep Neven 
Jurica) will brief the UNSC on their ongoing efforts to 
cooperate and coordinate activities, where appropriate. 
This meeting presents an opportunity to recognize the fine 
work of all three committees, and to underscore key 
challenges that lie ahead. 
 
 
-------------- 
ACTION REQUEST 
-------------- 
¶3.  (U) Department requests USUN deliver the following remarks 
in response to the statement for the Security Council 
Joint Meeting on the Counter-Terrorism Committee, 
Al-Qaida/Taliban Committee, and 1540 Committee: 
 
Mr. President, I would like to thank the Chairmen for 
their briefings and for their joint statement on the 
cooperation among the three Security Council committees 
that deal with the issues of terrorism and 
non-proliferation.  The Chairmen's dedicated leadership is 
central to the effectiveness of these three subsidiary 
bodies.  Amb. Verbeke, since this is your last briefing, I 
would like to wish you the best and thank you for your 
service to the 1267 Committee.  You served with 
distinction and we will miss your leadership in the 
Committee. I also would like to thank the three 
committees' experts' groups for their invaluable support 
to the committees. 
 
Today's briefing is timely, given the recent renewal of 
the Counter-Terrorism Committee and 1540 Committee 
mandates and the upcoming considerations of the 1267 
Monitoring Team's mandate.  All three are now well 
established and ready to begin a new phase of their work. 
I would like to focus on several ways in which the 
committees can help counter the dual scourges of terrorism 
and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, 
which represent the preeminent threats to international 
peace and security today. 
 
In this regard, a concentration on capacity building is 
essential.  Reports have been received and analyzed.  It 
is time to act on the findings of these evaluations. 
Security Council Resolution 1805 rightly stresses the 
CTC's important mandate in this area.  We welcome the new 
tools the CTC has developed, such as the technical 
assistance matrix and directory of assistance on the CTC's 
website.  We urge the CTC to continue its coordination 
with the G-8 Counter-Terrorism Action Group and to 
organize regional meetings for States seeking and offering 
assistance.  The 1267 Committee also has a key role in 
this area.  To that end, it should continue to share with 
the CTC information concerning States' technical 
assistance needs. 
 
The 1540 Committee should work with States as an effective 
clearinghouse (using the information it has collected from 
States).  It then should set about the work of building 
capacity.  The Committee should proceed with its efforts 
to post its 1540 implementation matrices on its website, 
subject to States' consent.  By doing so, the Committee 
can help States seeking to provide assistance to plan and 
execute assistance programs.  We also hope that States 
will use the 1540 Committee's new technical assistance 
template to submit requests to the Committee.  States 
should also submit action plans to the Committee, as the 
United States has done, so the Committee can use those 
plans to match requests and offers for assistance. 
 
The United States is pleased to play its part in 
addressing States' technical assistance needs.  Last year, 
for example, the U.S. Antiterrorism Assistance Program 
(ATA) trained over 4,500 participants from 64 countries. 
ATA's courses emphasize law enforcement under the rule of 
law and respect for human rights.  In an effort to address 
the conditions that terrorists exploit for recruitment and 
ideological purposes, U.S. assistance programs 
administered through USAID and other agencies are 
increasing access to education, improving health care, and 
focusing on democratic and economic reform.  To support 
1540 implementation, the United States has provided over 
$2 billion annually for assistance or other programs. 
 
We look forward to the completion of specific 
projects mentioned in the briefings.  In particular, the 
1267 Committee must continue to give priority to updating 
the Consolidated List to ensure that it accurately 
reflects the current threat posed by Al-Qa'ida and the 
Taliban.  We encourage other Member States to contribute 
to this effort by providing information for further 
listings and delistings.  The Committee should also 
continue its efforts to update the Taliban portion of the 
List by designating new Taliban who are responsible for 
the upsurge in violence in Afghanistan.  Similarly, the 
Committee should delist former Taliban who have severed 
their ties to the organization and add new and updated 
biographical information to the List so States can better 
implement the sanctions. 
 
The committees have accomplished much, UN member states 
have frozen $150 million in terrorist assets by 
implementing 1267 sanctions.  But we must not lose sight 
of the remaining challenges.  Al-Qa'ida has expanded its 
operations, and the Taliban is resurgent.  Finally, the 
prospect of terrorists gaining access to weapons of mass 
destruction remains the gravest threat imaginable.  To 
counter terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction, the committees must continue to focus on 
practical, concrete activities that can promote States' 
capacity to implement the respective resolutions.  We 
pledge our support in this essential fight. 
 
¶4.  (U) Department further requests USUN draw from the 
following points, if needed, should the case of Luis 
Posada Carriles and five Cuban Spies be raised (likely by 
the Governments of Cuba and/or Venezuela), following the 
SC joint briefing.  Cuba and Venezuela have been placed on 
speakers' list for the Tuesday 6 May Joint Public Meeting 
on the CTC, 1267, and 1540 Committee Security Council 
briefing, and have used such opportunities in the past to 
raise such issues.  Begin remarks: 
 
The Council is here this morning to review the work of the 
1267 Committee, the CTC, and the 1540 Committee. 
 
Most speakers have engaged constructively in discussing 
ways to increase cooperation and advance the work of the 
three committees, and we appreciate those contributions. 
 
It is disappointing, therefore, that two representatives 
departed from the focus of the debate to introduce 
allegations that distort the facts of two cases being 
adjudicated in the United States. 
 
In the case of Mr. Luis Posada Carriles, the United States 
has taken a number of legal actions with respect to Mr. 
Posada. 
 
In taking these steps the United States has acted 
consistent with international law as well as our domestic 
legal framework, which provides various constitutional 
safeguards to protect individual rights. 
 
As with all democracies around the world that follow the 
rule of law, as opposed to other systems of governance, 
these safeguards provide that an individual cannot be 
brought for trial or extradited unless sufficient evidence 
has been established that he committed the offense 
charge.  In the United States, this standard is described 
as "probable cause." 
 
Let me give you a brief overview of steps the United 
States has taken with respect to Posada within this legal 
framework: 
 
Posada entered the United States illegally in early 2005. 
 
Posada was detained by immigration authorities in the 
United States on May 17, 2005, and he was, in accordance 
with U.S. law, placed in removal proceedings. 
 
On September 27, 2005, an immigration judge ordered 
Posada's removal from the United States, but granted a 
deferral of removal as to Cuba and Venezuela under the 
regulations implementing the Convention Against Torture. 
The court ordered that Posada be "deported and removed 
from the United States to any country, other than Cuba and 
Venezuela, willing to accept him." 
 
This order remains in effect.  The United States has been 
seeking ways to implement it consistent with the terms of 
the order and U.S. regulations that implement the 
obligations of the United States under the Convention 
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading 
Treatment or Punishment. 
 
Moreover, the United States sought and obtained a criminal 
indictment charging Posada with violations of our 
immigration laws.  The U.S. district court handling that 
case dismissed the indictment.  As is well known, our 
judges are wholly independent of the Executive Branch. 
They enjoy tenure for life, and are fiercely independent. 
This federal judge, sitting not in Florida but in Texas, 
reached her decision according to her reading of the law. 
In our system, as in all those that respect the rule of 
law, a decision by the courts must be obeyed unless and 
until it is overturned by a higher court.  The United 
States filed a notice appealing the district court's 
decision dismissing the case on June 5, 2007, but that 
appeal has not yet been decided. 
 
Posada also remains under investigation for past 
activities. 
 
In the meantime, Posada remains subject to the order of 
removal issued by the immigration judge and is without 
legal status in the United States. 
 
He is also subject to an Order of Supervision from the 
Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement (ICE), which imposes certain restrictions on 
Posada, including reporting and monitoring requirements. 
 
In sum, the United States continues to be engaged in an 
ongoing series of actions, consistent with our legal 
requirements, due process, and the rule of law, with 
respect to Posada. 
 
In the case of the five Cubans accused of spying, in 2001 
the individuals in question were convicted in U.S. Federal 
Court of conspiracy to commit espionage, among other 
charges that included conspiracy by one of those 
individuals to commit murder, having supported and 
implemented a plan to shoot down United States civilian 
aircraft. 
 
On October 31, 2005, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals 
vacated a previous ruling by a three-judge appellate panel 
that had ordered a new trial.  On rehearing, the 11th 
Circuit Court of Appeals as a whole affirmed the propriety 
of the trial on the challenged ground, and returned the 
rest of the appellate issues to the three-judge panel for 
decision.  The remaining appellate issues await decision 
by the court.  The five convicted spies are serving their 
prison sentences while the case is processed in the U.S. 
judicial system. 
 
The United States has always provided the five defendants 
with all the guarantees of due process inherent in the 
independent and impartial U.S. judicial system.  Despite 
the frustration expressed by the two speakers who raised 
these cases, we assure them that U.S. courts and 
administrative proceedings are independent and that they 
fairly and impartially interpret and apply the law. 
 
¶5.  (U) Department appreciates Mission's assistance. 
RICE