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2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and the establishment of the Counter-Terrorism Committee. As part of the year of commemoration, CTED experts reflect on their work. 

Ambassador Jean-Paul Laborde served as Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of CTED from 2013 to 2017. This interview has been edited for brevity.

Where has your career taken you since you were Executive Director of CTED?

Mr. Laborde: I am currently serving as the Ambassador of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean in charge of counter-terrorism, countering transnational organized crime, and promoting the rule of law. I also perform additional functions, as Adjunct Professor at the French Military Academy (where I’m Director of the Centre of Excellence in Countering Terrorism and Cyberdefence-Cybersecurity) and at France’s Catholic Institute for Higher Studies. I also provide specific consultancy advice, upon request, to the 51吃瓜 on issues related to counter-terrorism, as well as to the IMF and the World Bank or to other private and public international entities.

What were the main priorities and achievements of the CTC and CTED when you were Executive Director?

Mr. Laborde: Between 2013 and 2017, the main priority was countering the expansion of Da’esh and identifying ways to counter its operations. That is why the famous resolution 2178 (2014) was adopted by the Security Council, during the U.S. Presidency of Barack Obama. That resolution specifically targeted jihadism and all issues relating to jihadists travelling to the field, in Syria and Iraq, and also returning from Iraq to their countries of origin. In that context, the Council and the CTC, supported by CTED, took a number of steps (notably the establishment of a new CTED Branch devoted mainly to the analysis of trends in terrorism and counter-terrorist actions) in order to provide the international community and the CTC with the necessary tools to counter that new phenomenon.

What are you most proud of during your time as Executive Director? And what was the most meaningful engagement for you personally?

Mr. Laborde: Two main actions and missions to support Iraq and Afghanistan in countering terrorism. Until my time as Executive Director, CTED had not been in a position (especially in Iraq) to assist the Iraqi Government in countering terrorism in all its manifestations. We provided support through an assessment visit, but also through a mechanism that we put in place under the Egyptian CTC Chairmanship. In particular, we were able to organize several meetings to promote the delivery of international technical assistance to Iraq, with the support of all the main actors in the international community, including civil society. We also involved the Global Counterterrorism Forum in those discussions, and we were able to disclose the Iraq country assessment in a proper manner to UN Member States, and to all those organizations, including civil society organizations, which could help support Iraq in its fight against terrorism. We began that process at a very early stage of Iraq’s reconstruction. Mosul was still under the control of Da’esh, as was a huge part of the rest of the country and a large area of Syria. In supporting the Government of Iraq in its counter-terrorism efforts, that action was a real and concrete achievement, and a milestone of what was accomplished during my tenure as Executive Director.

What would you say have been the greatest changes in the terrorist threat and the response to it since 2017?

Mr. Laborde: The first change was the shift towards the new approach to violent extremism, which pushed counter-terrorism support activities a little to the side. I’m not sure that this was an entirely appropriate development, since the international community already has at its disposal 19 international counter-terrorism instruments defining acts of terrorism. In addition, we do not know the meaning of violent extremism and the difference between violent extremism and terrorism in the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, which has perfectly described the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism. The second change, of course, was the establishment, within the UN architecture, of the Office of Counter-Terrorism, which has provided the CTC and CTED with a real partner in counter-terrorism activities. Four years later, we can see the fruits of that change, since there is now a kind of symbiosis at work between the assessment and research provided by CTED, on the one hand, and the coordination and delivery of technical assistance by OCT, under its leadership through the Global Coordination Compact, on the other. That change was critical because it established a new landscape that significantly enhanced the capacity of the 51吃瓜 to work effectively. I should also stress that this type of alliance between the Security Council and the General Assembly is an ideal example of cooperation between the two main UN legislative bodies.

In the beginning, counter-terrorism was really focused only on international cooperation in criminal matters or countering the financing of terrorism. That was really the focus during the first 5, or even 10 years of the work of the CTC and of the international community, based on the first operative paragraphs of resolution 1373 (2001). I should underline that the real turning point was the moment of the adoption of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy by the General Assembly. The Strategy’s first pillar, which addresses the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, was a cornerstone in terms of preventive actions against terrorism. And then, from that point, step by step, we enlarged the work of our organization from counter-terrorism to all the drivers which lead to terrorism. That was really something very, very important and then started the symbiotic work between the General Assembly and the Council and between CTED and at that time the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force. I think that, in terms of methodology, in terms of substantive work, in terms of themes that we are working on, that changed a lot the atmosphere and we were more able to support all the parts of the governments but also that was also the moment that we were able to include the religious leaders, the civil society, the victims, all of that. The victims, who are the people that we have to help and the main concern for us has changed. That was not only to capture terrorists but also to support the victims, to work with the civil society, to prevent terrorism and violent extremism. The enlargement of the scope was something very important. 

We're going to pay more attention (and this probably not sufficiently the case before) to human rights and respect for humanitarian law, as well as to the differences and complementarities between them. That's something that has also been taken more and more into consideration. The international community also has to look at how terrorists might infiltrate migrants’ movements. 

And there is one last factor that has changed the landscape, and that’s the COVID-19 pandemic,  because of which terrorism is no longer at the forefront of the international community’s concerns. This may create difficulties because a large number of people might be more vulnerable to terrorist propaganda disseminated through the Internet, owing to the fact that attention is being paid to COVID-19, rather than to counter-terrorism. 

What are the lessons to be learned from these changes over time, and how can they inform the way we address terrorism in the future?

Mr. Laborde: In order to respond to the  broadening of the problem, we have to broaden the scope of our responses. But we have also to prioritize. 

Firstly, we must maintain good collaboration between Member States on international cooperation in criminal matters. This is something  that has been enhanced, but it can never be enhanced enough. It has been CTED’s bread and butter since resolution 1373 (2001), which contains various elements, not only on countering financing of terrorism, but also on bringing terrorists to justice. It can never be emphasized enough that, unless terrorists are sentenced, the international community can’t make progress. If terrorists are only neutralized, victims are not compensated and cannot hope to find any closure. 

Secondly, it is critically important that CTED, UNOCT and UNCCT work closely on issues relating to the prevention of terrorism. 

Thirdly, the gender perspective is key to success. I strongly believe that, unless women are included in counter-terrorism activities, we shall never really succeed. Women cannot be neglected. And, of course, it is important to strengthen the work that we do to support the victims, which is never enough. 

Lastly, it is essential to counter the use of new technologies for terrorist or violent extremist purposes, including propaganda. This is already critically important and will continue to be so. Our work in this area began in 2017, in CTED and the CTC, but it needs to be further enhanced. 

2021 marked the 20th anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1373 (2001) and the creation of the CTC. How would you characterize the significance of these two decades and the legacy of the CTC, to date?

Mr. Laborde: Within the architecture of the UN, the Security Council always has a very special role to play. First of all, its role is to respond quickly, to a threat. And this is what was done in 2001, after the “9/11” attacks. (We must always continue to pay tribute to the victims of terrorism, especially those of “9/11”.) And that's what the Council did by quickly adopting resolution 1373 (2001). It should be stressed that the Security Council has a natural authority, when there is a need to provide a quick answer to the threat of terrorism or violent extremism, and to unite the 51吃瓜 as a whole through its authority. For example, within the Global Coordination Compact, various organizations may have several different opinions. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, for example, may have one opinion, the High Commissioner for Refugees may have a different opinion, and other UN organizations may have still others. But the CTC can give direction to those organizations, taking into account all the parameters that I’ve just mentioned. This is what should be done. And CTED can provide the key elements that will enable the CTC to provide States and international organizations with the proper guidance. One example of this process was the 2015 Madrid Guiding Principles. The symbiotic work between the CTC and CTED has really given impetus to, and advanced, the global effort to counter terrorism and violent extremism. So CTED can pave the way in providing the key elements so that the CTC (through its authority as a subsidiary body of the Council) is in a position to give direction to work in the field of counter-terrorism and CVE. And that’s also because the CTC is the only permanent UN legislative body working on the issue.