UN terror list needs changes

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Switzerland and Liechtenstein told the Security Council on Tuesday to urgently improve procedures for adding and removing names on a sanctions list related to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Several European nations, including Germany and Sweden, have objected in the past to the council's confusing procedures should anyone challenge a name on the list. The roster of people and groups is set up by the council's so-called "1267 committee" and most entries from governments go unchallenged.

"The 1267 committee has been dealing with this issue for quite some time now, said Lichtenstein's U.N. ambassador, Christian Wenaweser. "In the meantime several studies have been produced on this question, which underline the need for urgent action by the Security Council." Wenaweser said United Nations bodies had to "respect international standards of human rights in a similar manner as states would have to." The 15-nation Security Council imposed sanctions against the Taliban in November 1999 for harbouring Osama bin Laden after the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The sanctions were then broadened to include al Qaeda.

Currently on the Security Council list are 142 individuals associated with the Taliban and 212 people and 122 businesses or groups linked to al Qaeda. A total of eight individuals and 11 groups have been removed form the list since its inception. All 191 U.N. member nations are required to impose the sanctions, including a travel ban, an arms embargo and a financial freeze, against those on the list. The roster also includes some misspellings and possible mistaken identities, according to a U.N. monitoring group. Swiss Ambassador Peter Maurer said the council should begin with a clear definition of what being associated with al Qaeda or the Taliban means, find ways to notify the suspects, review the lists at least every two years and develop a system for targeted individuals and organizations to ask for a review.


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Argentina's U.N. ambassador, Cesar Mayoral, chairman of the committee, said the panel had been briefed on the Watson report and was studying its recommendations, which will be reviewed by U.N. legal officials. But the complaints are not new. Sweden urged the committee in 2001 to review the case of two Somali Swedes put on the list by the United States. The U.S. Treasury, which has submitted the vast majority of organizations and individuals, removed the two nearly a year later. No independent review was possible.

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