Sixth Committee

STATEMENT BY MR WONG KANG JET, DELEGATE TO THE 64TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, ON AGENDA ITEM 106, ON MEASURES TO ELIMINATE INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, SIXTH COMMITTEE, 7TH OCTOBER 2009

Mr Chairman,

1. Allow me to congratulate you on your appointment as Chairman of the 6th Committee. We look forward to working under your able leadership. At the outset, I would like to align myself fully with the statements made by Vietnam, on behalf of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and by Iran, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Global Situation

2. The threat of terrorism is real and there is no lack of horrific terrorist attacks around the world to constantly remind us of the need to remain vigilant. The multiple attacks across India's financial capital Mumbai last year and the bombings of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta this year vividly demonstrated how terrorists have focused their attention on soft, civilian targets that include hotels, restaurants and public areas.

Relentless pursuit of terrorism

3. Such attacks and the resulting loss of life are why we must continue our relentless fight against terrorism. We know that terrorism is not circumscribed by political, geographic, religious or ethnic boundaries. Rather, its trans-national and asymmetric nature makes it imperative for all countries to continue working closely together to combat the scourge of terrorism. More importantly, we must look into eliminating all root causes of the problem rather than simply addressing the symptoms. That is why tackling terrorism will be a long-term challenge for all of us. On this note, there are three areas that I would like to touch on.

Emerging threat of self-radicalisation

4. First, in addition to the threats posed by terrorist organisations such as the Al-Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiah, we have to contend with the growing and dangerous phenomenon of self-radicalisation. This is how we describe a situation where individuals come across radical ideologies, especially on the Internet, and having read them, become enthralled and develop radicalized views. We find that such individuals then turn to what some have termed "Google terror": using the Internet for bomb recipes, training and moral support. What is needed is more in-depth research on this phenomenon and for the counter-terrorism strategies of all countries to also address such subversive threats. Community and religious leaders around the world must also continue to reach out to their youths to inoculate them from misguided and extreme ideologies, be it in the real or virtual world. Singapore has tried to match word with deed. As a pluralistic society, social cohesion across various ethnic and religious groups is an integral part of Singapore's national resilience. In this regard, coupled with institutional and legal safeguards to ensure racial and religious harmony, we rely heavily on members of all our religious communities to help counter any misrepresentations of religion, to build a society that is tolerant of diversity and is progressive and inclusive. For example, some Muslim religious leaders came together to form the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) to counter the radical ideologies that had emerged. Among their efforts to reach out to the wider community was to publish materials online to rebut the ideological misunderstandings in cyberspace. In addition, when three self-radicalised individuals were detained in 2007 for involvement in activities that posed a potential terrorist threat, twenty-seven members of the RRG helped to counsel the detainees and their families to correct their misinterpretation of Islam.

Resilience through community engagement

5. This brings me to my second point. While many countries have enjoyed years of peace and harmony, we cannot assume that they will not be affected by racial and religious misunderstandings and tension after a crisis. Various countries have experienced the havoc that terrorism can wreak on the fabric of social stability. Continued community outreach to strengthen understanding and develop trust among various ethnic communities and across faiths will go a long way in enhancing social resilience before and after any terrorist attack. Singapore has placed special attention to prevent a terrorist attack from inflicting irreparable damage on the multi-racial and multi-religious harmony that we have carefully built up over four decades. The Community Engagement Programme (CEP) was therefore launched in February 2006 as a long-term effort to bring together Singaporeans from different communities, to strengthen inter-communal bonds, and to put in place response plans to help deal with potential communal tensions should there be a terrorist attack in Singapore. One key component of the CEP is the formation of Inter Racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCCs). There are 84 IRCCs throughout Singapore and each serves as a regular platform for leaders of the local racial and religious communities to interact and build confidence, friendship and trust. These strong bonds will form the foundations to withstand any challenges and strains on our social cohesion during a crisis. In the wake of a crisis, the IRCCs will also serve as key links to disseminate timely and accurate information to the local community.

Implementation through the UN

6. Finally, unless every country comes together and commit to fight terrorism in tandem, a lot of what we discuss here today will simply be rhetorical. The UN is in a unique position to play an important role in sending a clear political signal of the international community's consistent and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations. In this regard, the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism strategy must remain a priority. On our part, Singapore welcomed a visit by the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) in March 2009 and we encourage Member States to work with the CTED and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force to further strengthen our collective counter-terrorism efforts. We should also strive to complete soon the long overdue negotiations on the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) as it can be a critical element in forging an international response to the scourge of terrorism.

Conclusion

7. In closing, the face of terrorism is dynamic and fluid and is capable of mutating to circumvent the counter-measures that we have put in place to combat it. The fight against terrorism must therefore be a long-term and constantly evolving one. We can, if we put our efforts together, create a more peaceful and harmonious future to live in for ourselves and for our future generations. Thank you.

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