The Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee

Committee: The Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) Topic B: Establishing security measures to counter lone-wolf terrorism Written by: Ana Sofia de los Santos, Eugenio Villarreal Amparan and Melisa Vargas

I. Committee Background

The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) was established by the Security Council on September 28th, 2001. It was created in the wake of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States of America. The CTC is headquartered in New York City and is comprised of the Security Council’s 15 member states. The committee’s goal is the implementation of resolutions in order to fight against terrorism and its effects. The CTC is aided in its work by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), which helps by facilitating technical assistance and monitoring the implementation of resolutions. Right now, the committee is working on “denying all forms of financial support for terrorist groups, and the sharing of information between governments and countries about the planning and practicing terrorist acts”. Moreover, the committee aims to receive the “support of other governments in the investigation and arrest process of individuals involved, and criminalizing the passive and active reinforcement for terrorism in domestic law” (About the Counter-Terrorism Committee, CTC, 2018).

II. Topic information

A) History of Topic

By definition, terrorism is the “unlawful use of force and violence against people or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (ABC News, 2010). A

“lone-wolf” terrorist is defined as someone who plans and takes action in one or more violent attacks independently. Despite some attacks being executed by a group of terrorists or a large organization, lone-wolf terrorists act without support. The concept of lone-wolf terrorism first become a significant issue during the late 1970s in the United States when Theodore Kaczynski, also known as the “Unabomber”, created by himself a mail bomb that killed three people and wounded 24 others (FBI, 2018).

Lone-wolf activity has increased dramatically since the 1970s. In 2016, lone-wolf terrorism was seen universally like no other year. In the United States, attacked a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida killing 49 people, making it the second deadliest terrorism-related attack in the country’s history. In Europe, particularly the United Kingdom (UK) and France, there were several lone-wolf terrorist attacks involving vehicles and knives (Byman, Brookings, 2017). In addition, the average number of lone-wolf attackers were two in the 1950s, as opposed to the number of lone-wolf attackers in the which currently stands at 35. Not only are the number of lone-wolf terrorist attacks increasing but also the use of guns. All of the lone-wolf attacks in the United States have involved guns, making it a dilemma about whether is it going to become easier or harder to stop and prevent these types of attacks (Worth, Frontline, 2016).

In order to counter lone-wolf terrorism, governments and international organizations have taken action in order to primarily understand the causes behind it. “Classic lone-wolves often exhibited symptoms of mental illness and justified their actions by concocting an idiosyncratic ideology. But today’s lone-wolves are different. They usually do not suffer from a diagnosable condition, although they may have dysfunctional backgrounds and/or be motivated by a personal grievance,” explained Tom Mockaitis, an International Security Analyst (Mockaitis, Huffpost, 2017). Causes of recent lone-wolf terrorism include: militant Islamist ideology, having a sense of purpose

after a tragedy or thinking that by committing acts of terror they will become a hero. For instance, the brothers who carried out the Marathon bombing in 2013 had different reasons for committing the crime. The older brother, , was motivated to prove himself after his dreams of becoming an Olympic boxer did not come true; he thought that if he executed the bombing he would become famous. On the other hand, his brother, , committed the crime because he admired and feared his brother (Bergen, , 2016).

Lone-wolf terrorist attacks are becoming more common every year and law enforcement specialists are struggling to prevent them. In July 2016, a Tunisian man named Mohamed Lahouaiej drove a lorry into a group of people and fired shotguns in Nice, France, killing 86 people and injuring more than 200 (Nice, BBC, 2016). In the same month, Micah Johnson targeted police officers in downtown Dallas, Texas, killing five and wounding seven (Fausset, Fernandez and Blinder, The New York Times, 2016). Moreover, in May 2017, Salman Abedi detonated a homemade bomb in Manchester at the end of US singer Ariana Grande’s concert, killing 22 and injuring 116 (Manchester, BBC News, 2017). That same year, in October, lone-wolf terrorist Stephen Paddock started shooting people at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, killing 58 and injuring almost 500 in under 10 minutes. Law enforcement has had difficulty preventing these attacks because they are planned alone. The perpetrators usually do not publicize their actions before hand or do not belong to known groups or online chat rooms associated with terrorism (Las Vegas, BBC News, 2017).

B) Current Issues

Germany: Recently, Germany has been a victim of several lone-wolf and group terrorism attacks. In a range of seven days, three terrorist attacks were carried out. On July 18th, 2016, a teenage refugee stabbed five people in a train. Four days after this attack, a German teenager shot dead nine people before shooting himself. On July

22nd, another refugee killed a woman with a machete and wounded five. That same day, he wounded 15 others and shot himself. As a result, the German government concluded that, in the future, better communication between each intelligence agency and police force could prevent attacks. In addition, the government has chosen to monitor refugees more closely and to increase screenings on who is granted asylum in the future (Germany, BBC, 2016).

Libya: Libya has mainly had problems with terrorism related to groups such as the Islamic State (IS). Bernardino Leon, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in the country has called terrorism in the country “horrific and brutal.” In response, the UN has held two rounds of political talks in Geneva, Switzerland to address the causes of terrorism in order to reach a peaceful resolution (UN, 2015). On the other hand, Mohamed Elhadi Dayri, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Libya, said that the terrorism problem is so strong that the country needs to strengthen the Libyan National Army in order to fight the terrorists. However, neither of these courses of action have been put into place due to political divisions within the nation (Council on Foreign Relations, 2005).

Saudi Arabia: Lone-wolf terrorist attacks are not common in Saudi Arabia. In October 2014, a single gunman killed a US contractor and wounded another at a petrol station in the city of Riyadh (Swaine and Roberts, , 2014). In order to fight all types of terrorism, Saudi Arabia established the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism. The alliance consists of 23 countries, including Jordan, Kuwait and Pakistan. Its aim is to protect the nations from terrorist organizations and lone-wolf terrorism through negotiation, information sharing and dialogue. Moreover, the country has started to tackle terrorist postings online, although it admits that lone-wolf terrorism is more difficult to track in online chatrooms and on social media due to the fact that the perpetrators rarely publicize their planned actions (Khan, Arab News, 2017).

United States: Lone-wolf terrorism in the United States (US) has been on the rise. As mentioned previously, with attacks in Orlando, Las Vegas and Boston to name a few, the government and law enforcement agencies have begun to examine the causes behind it (Las Vegas, BBC News, 2017). Mental illness has been attributed as the main cause in many cases, however, feelings of disillusionment, isolation, failure and anger have also been found as reasons (Bergen, The New York Times, 2016). Race has also played a role, especially in the attack in Dallas which targeted white police officers (Fausset, Fernandez and Blinder, The New York Times, 2016). The availability of guns and automatic weapons is another factor. Unlike in many other countries, large weapons can be sold on the open market and criminal background checks are not always performed by licensed gun sellers. In February 2018, the US government banned gun modifications that turn legal firearms into machine guns. It believes that this step will make it more difficult for lone-wolf terrorists to kill large amounts of people in a short period of time (The Irish Times, 2018).

Syria: Syria is another country that has been impacted by group terrorism and not lone- wolf attacks. Some of the biggest groups operating in the country are IS and Jabhat Fateh al Sham. Syria is currently in a civil war with many factions being part of the fighting, including terrorist organizations. They have taken over large parts of land and recruited many new followers from around the world via social media. Throughout the years, the fighting and terrorist attacks have led to a humanitarian crisis with more than 4.5 million people fleeing their homes in Syria. People who had fled their homes have mainly gone to Lebanon, Turkey or parts of Europe. Videos and messages posted from terrorist groups in Syria have been used as inspiration for some lone-wolf attacks in Europe and North America (BBC, 2016).

France: France has recently been a target for many group and lone-wolf terrorist attacks. In November 2015, terrorists used bombs in Paris to attack a concert hall, a

major sports stadium and restaurants, leaving 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. Also, in July 2016 in Nice, a truck drove through a busy crowd, killing at least 84 people. All of these attacks were related to terrorist groups from the Middle East and Africa, areas of the world in which the French government is highly involved. It has sent military forces or support to countries such as Mali and Syria. According to Al Jazeera, the French parliament has taken steps to increase security through new anti- terrorism laws. These provide the police with the ability to enter homes and detain people without a warrant or judicial permission. These new laws have been very controversial since human rights activists say that they go against basic human rights (Nice, BBC, 2016).

C) UN Action

The United Nations has dedicated itself to countering terrorism, including lone- wolf terrorism. It mainly does this through the Counter-Terrorism Committee, although other committees also play a role such as the Disarmament and International Security committee and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Moreover, the on September 8th, 2006, the General Assembly enhanced the organization’s Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. This strategy requires that all the UN members states have a strategy and structured plan to combat terrorism. The aim of the Counter-Terrorism Strategy is to increase regional, national and international efforts to impede terrorism. It is also composed of four main areas. Pillar l has the intention of addressing the conditions that spread of terrorism such as poverty and inequality. Pillar ll is preventing and combating terrorism. Pillar lll focuses on building the state capacity and strengthening the role of the United Nations. Finally, Pillar lV promotes the respect for human rights, as well as the following of the rule of law. The strategy is revised every two years by the General Assembly, making this project one of the top counter- terrorism priorities of the United Nations (CTITF, 2018).

III. Conclusion

Lone-wolf terrorism has been increasing year after year. It is caused by main factors, including mental illness, belief in extremist ideas and social circumstances. No matter the causes, lone-wolf terrorism must be countered in order to save the lives of innocent civilians. Recent attacks across Europe and North America have involved lone- wolf terrorists driving vehicles into large crowds, using automatic weapons and homemade bombs. Due to their huge impact on the lives of so many people, governments, law enforcement organizations and institutions such as the United Nations must come together to find ways to address this issue and its main causes. Strategies established to prevent attacks from organizations may not always work in cases of lone-wolf terrorism, making it a unique and challenging problem that does not look to be ending anytime soon without urgent intervention from relevant authorities and organizations.

IV. Essential Questions

1. What is lone-wolf terrorism?

2. How are lone-wolf terrorists different from terrorist organizations?

3. Has your country been the target of lone-wolf terrorist attacks? If so, when? How did your delegation’s government react to the attack?

4. What is the UN doing to address this issue?

5. What motivates lone-wolf terrorists?

6. What other international organizations are working on this issue? Is your country collaborating with any of them? If so, which ones?

7. Do the intelligence agencies and police forces in your nation have a plan to combat lone-wolf terrorism? If so, has it been effective? Why or why not?

8. What is the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy? How can it be used to combat lone- wolf terrorism?

V. Resources

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Byman, Daniel L. “About the Counter-Terrorism Committee.” Brookings. Brookings Institute, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .

“Comprehensive Strategy to Combat Terrorism in Libya Critical, Special Representative Tells Security Council.” United Nations (UN). United Nations, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .

Fausset, Richard, Manny Fernandez and Alan Binder. “Micah Johnson, Gunman in Dallas, Honed Military Skills to a Deadly Conclusion.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 09 Jul. 2016. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .

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“Manchester attack: What we know so far.” BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation, 12 Jun. 2017. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .

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“Nice attack: What we know about the Bastille Day killings.” BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation, 19 Aug. 2016. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .

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Swaine, Jon and Dan Roberts. “US security contractor shot dead in Saudi Arabian capital.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .

“Trump directs US justice department to ban gun modifications.” The Irish Times. The Irish Times, 20 Feb. 2018. Web. 21 Feb. 2018. .

“Unabomber.” Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2018. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .

“UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.” Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). United Nations, 2018. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .

Worth, Kate. “About the Counter-Terrorism Committee.” Frontline. Public Broadcasting Service, 14 Jul. 2016. Web. 19 Feb. 2018. .