Security Council resolution 2322 (2016) [on international judicial cooperation in countering terrorism]
Symbol: S/RES/2322 (2016)
Date: 2016-12-12
Status: adopted
Agenda: S/71 [31] TERRORISM
S/ X Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.
Subjects: UN Office on Drugs and Crime|INTERPOL|UN. Security Council Committee Established pursuant to Resolution 1373 (2001) concerning Counter-Terrorism|UN. Security Council Committee Established pursuant to Resolution 1373 (2001) concerning Counter-Terrorism. Executive Directorate|UN. Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force|COUNTER-TERRORISM|LAW ENFORCEMENT|PROSECUTION|INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION|EXTRADITION
Votes in favour: 15
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 0
Voting record:
country: ANGOLA
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: yes
country: EGYPT
vote: yes
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: JAPAN
vote: yes
country: MALAYSIA
vote: yes
country: NEW ZEALAND
vote: yes
country: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
vote: yes
country: SENEGAL
vote: yes
country: SPAIN
vote: yes
country: UKRAINE
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: yes
country: URUGUAY
vote: yes
country: VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF)
vote: yes

               United Nations                                                                  S/RES/2322 (2016)
               Security Council                                                Distr.: General
                                                                               12 December 2016




               Resolution 2322 (2016)
               Adopted by the Security Council at its 7831st meeting, on
               12 December 2016

                    The Security Council,
                    Recalling its resolutions 1267 (1999), 1333 (2000), 1363 (2001), 1373 (2001),
               1390 (2002), 1452 (2002), 1455 (2003), 1526 (2004), 1566 (2004), 1617 (2005),
               1624 (2005), 1699 (2006), 1730 (2006), 1735 (2006), 1822 (2008), 1904 (2009),
               1988 (2011), 1989 (2011), 2083 (2012), 2129 (2013), 2133 (2014), 2170 (2014),
               2178 (2014), 2195 (2014), 2199 (2015), 2214 (2015), 2249 (2015), 2253 (2015) and
               2309 (2016),
                    Reaffirming its commitment to sovereignty, territorial integrity and political
               independence of all States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,
                    Reaffirming that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of
               the most serious threats to peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are
               criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever, wherever, and
               by whomsoever committed,
                    Reaffirming that terrorism should not be associated with any religion,
               nationality, civilization or ethnic group,
                     Condemning terrorists and terrorist groups, in particular the Islamic State in
               Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and associated
               individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities, for ongoing and multiple criminal
               terrorist acts aimed at causing the deaths of innocent civilians and other victims,
               destruction of property, and greatly undermining stability,
                     Deeply concerned by the increasing number of victims, especially among
               civilians of diverse nationalities and beliefs, caused by terrorism motivated by
               intolerance or extremism in various regions of the world, reaffirming its profound
               solidarity with the victims of terrorism and their families, and stressing the
               importance of assisting victims of terrorism and providing them and their families
               with support to cope with their loss and grief,
                     Gravely concerned that in some cases terrorists or terrorist groups, in
               particular ISIL, Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and
               entities continue to profit from involvement in transnational organized crime, and



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               expressing concern that terrorists benefit from transnational organized crime in
               some regions, including from the trafficking of arms, persons, drugs, and artifacts,
               and from the illicit trade in natural resources including gold and other precious
               metals and stones, minerals, wildlife, charcoal and oil, as well as from kidnapping
               for ransom and other crimes including extortion and bank robbery,
                     Expressing concern at the continuing use, in a globalized society, by terrorists
               and their supporters, of information and communications technologies, in particular
               the Internet, to facilitate terrorist acts, and condemning their use to incite, recruit,
               fund, or plan terrorist acts,
                     Expressing concern also at the continued flow of international recruits to ISIL,
               Al- Qaida, and associated groups, and recalling its resolution 2178 (2014) deciding
               that Member States shall, consistent with international human rights law,
               international refugee law, and international humanitarian law, prevent and suppress
               the recruiting, organizing, transporting, or equipping of foreign terrorist fighters and
               the financing of their travel and of their activities,
                     Particularly concerned at the growing involvement of terrorist groups,
               especially in areas of conflict, in the destruction and the trafficking in cultural
               property and related offences, and recognizing the indispensable role of
               international cooperation in crime prevention and criminal justice responses to
               combat such trafficking and related offences in a comprehensive and effective
               manner,
                     Reiterating the obligation of Member States to prevent the movement of
               terrorists and terrorist groups, in accordance with applicable international law, by,
               inter alia, effective border controls, and, in this context, to exchange information
               expeditiously, improve cooperation among co mpetent authorities to prevent the
               movement of terrorists and terrorist groups to and from their territories, the supply
               of weapons for terrorists, and financing that would support terrorists,
                     Stressing that terrorism can only be defeated by a sustained and
               comprehensive approach involving the active participation and collaboration of all
               States and international and regional organizations to impede, impair, isolate, and
               incapacitate the terrorist threat,
                     Underlining the importance of strengthening international cooperation,
               including by investigators, prosecutors and judges, in order to prevent, investigate
               and prosecute terrorist acts, and recognizing the persisting challenges associated
               with strengthening international cooperation in combating terroris m including in
               stemming the flow of FTFs to and returning from conflict zones, in particular due to
               the cross border nature of the activity,
                     Stressing that the development and maintenance of fair and effective criminal
               justice systems should be a fundamental basis of any strategy to counter terrorism
               and transnational organized crime,
                     Recalling that timely cooperation and action, in accordance with international
               obligations, can help States to prevent FTFs from travelling to conflict zones,
               develop effective strategies to deal with returnees, preserve through law
               enforcement and judicial authorities critical evidence for legal proceedings, and
               facilitate the implementation of procedures for prosecution,




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                 Noting the significant increase in the requests for cooperation in gathering
           digital data and evidence from the Internet and stressing the importance of
           considering the re-evaluation of methods and best practices, as appropriate, in
           particular, related to investigative techniques and electronic evidence,
                 Calling upon Member States to continue exercising vigilance over relevant
           financial transactions and improve information-sharing capabilities and practices, in
           line with applicable international and national law, within and between governments
           through relevant authorities including judicial authorities and channels, including
           law enforcement, intelligence, security services, and financial intelligence units, and
           also calling upon Member States to improve integration and utilization of financial
           intelligence with other types of information available, such as that provided by the
           private sector to national governments, to more effectively counter the terrorist
           financing threats posed by ISIL, Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups,
           undertakings and entities, including through actions related to investigative
           techniques, evidence gathering and prosecution,
                 Calling upon Member States to continue information-sharing, through
           appropriate channels and arrangements, and consistent with international and
           domestic law, on individuals and entities implicated in terrorist activities, in
           particular their supply of weapons and sources of material support, and on the
           ongoing international counter-terrorism cooperation including among special
           services, security agencies and law enforcement organizations and criminal justice
           authorities,
               Welcoming the efforts by UNODC to upgrade its existing networks of Central
           Authorities to encompass the ones responsible for counter terrorism matters,
                 Recalling that the obligation in paragraph 1(d) of resolution 1373 (2001) also
           applies to making funds, financial assets or economic resources or financial or other
           related services available, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of terrorist
           organizations or individual terrorists for any purpose, including but not limited to
           recruitment, training, or travel, even in the absence of a link to a specific terrorist
           act,
                1.    Reiterates its call upon all states to become party to the international
           counter-terrorism conventions and protocols as soon as possible, whether or not
           they are a party to regional conventions on the matter, and to fully implement their
           obligations under those to which they are a party;
                 2.    Reaffirms that those responsible for committing or otherwise responsible
           for terrorist acts, and violations of international humanitarian law or violations or
           abuses of human rights in this context, must be held accountable;
                 3.     Calls upon States to share, where appropriate, information about foreign
           terrorist fighters and other individual terrorists and terrorist organizat ions, including
           biometric and biographic information, as well as information that demonstrates the
           nature of an individual’s association with terrorism via bilateral, regional and global
           law enforcement channels, in compliance with international and domest ic national
           law and policy, and stresses the importance of providing such information to
           national watch lists and multilateral screening databases;




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                     4.    Recognizes the important role of national legislation in enabling
               international judicial and law enforcement cooperation on terrorist-related offences,
               and calls upon Member States to enact, and where appropriate, review their
               respective counterterrorism legislation in view of the evolving threat posed by
               terrorist groups and individuals;
                     5.     Calls upon States to consider, where appropriate, downgrading for
               official use intelligence threat data on foreign terrorist fighters and individual
               terrorists, to appropriately provide such information to front -line screeners, such as
               immigration, customs and border security, and to appropriately share such
               information with other concerned States and relevant international organizations in
               compliance with international and domestic national law and policy;
                    6.    Emphasizes the importance of States establishing as a serious criminal
               offence in their domestic laws and regulations the willful violation of the
               prohibition on financing of terrorist organizations or individual terrorists for any
               purpose, including but not limited to recruitment, training, or travel, even in the
               absence of a direct link to a specific terrorist act, and urges States to exchange
               information about such activity consistent with international and national law and
               emphasizes further the recent FATF guidance on Recommendation 5 on the
               criminalization of terrorist financing for any purpose, in line with resolutions 2199
               (2015) and 2253 (2015);
                     7.   Further encourages States to cooperate in the implementation of targeted
               financial and travel sanctions against terrorist groups and individual terrorists under
               resolution 1373 (2001) and the implementation of targeted financial and travel
               sanctions and arms embargo against those listed under 2253 (2015) by sharing
               information with other relevant States and international organizations about such
               individuals and groups to the greatest degree possible, consistent with international
               and national law;
                     8.    Recalls that all States shall afford one another the greatest measure of
               assistance in connection with criminal investigations or criminal proceedings
               relating to the financing or support of terrorist acts, includi ng assistance in
               obtaining evidence in their possession necessary for the proceedings, and urges
               States to act in accordance with their obligations under international law, in order to
               find and bring to justice, extradite or prosecute any person who suppor ts, facilitates,
               participates or attempts to participate in the direct or indirect financing of activities
               conducted by terrorists or terrorist groups;
                    9.    Calls upon all States to:
                    (a) Exchange information, in accordance with international and domestic
               law and cooperate on administrative, police and judicial matters to prevent the
               commission of terrorist acts and to counter the FTF threat, including returnees;
                    (b) Consider the possibility of allowing through appropriate laws and
               mechanisms, the transfer of criminal proceedings, as appropriate, in terrorist-related
               cases;
                     (c) Enhance cooperation to prevent terrorists from benefiting from
               transnational organized crime, to investigate and to build the capacity to prosecute
               such terrorists and transnational organized criminals working with them;




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                (d) Enhance cooperation to deny safe haven to those who finance, plan,
           support, commit terrorist acts, or provide safe havens;
                 10. Calls upon all States to ensure, in conformity with international law, that
           refugee status is not abused by the perpetrators, organizers or facilitators of terrorist
           acts, and that claims of political motivation are not recognized as grounds for
           refusing requests for the extradition of alleged terrorists;
                 11. Urges also as a matter of priority that Member States consider, as
           appropriate, ratifying, acceding to, and implementing other relevant international
           conventions to support international cooperation in criminal matters, such as the UN
           Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of 2000 and the Protocols
           thereto;
                 12. Urges States to develop, including, upon request, with the assistance of
           UNODC and in close cooperation with UNESCO and INTERPOL, broad law
           enforcement and judicial cooperation in preventing and combating all forms and
           aspects of trafficking in cultural property and related offences that benefit or may
           benefit terrorist or terrorist groups, and to introduce effective national measures at
           the legislative and operational levels where appropriate, and in accordance with
           obligations and commitments under international law and national instruments, to
           prevent and combat trafficking in cultural property and related offences, including
           considering to designate such activities that may benefit terrorist or terrorist groups,
           as a serious crime in accordance with article 2 of the UN Convention against
           Transnational Organized Crime;
                13.   Calls upon all States to:
                 (a) Use applicable international instruments to which they are parties as a
           basis for mutual legal assistance and, as appropriate, for extradition in terrorism
           cases, and encourages States, in the absence of applicable conventions or
           provisions, to cooperate when possible on the basis of reciprocity or on a case by
           case basis;
                 (b) Enact and, where appropriate, review and update extradition and mutual
           legal assistance laws in connection with terrorism-related offences, consistently
           with their international obligations, including their obligations under international
           human rights law, and to consider reviewing national mutual legal assistance laws
           and mechanisms related to terrorism and updating them as necessary in order to
           strengthen their effectiveness, especially in the light of the substantial increase in
           the volume of requests for digital data;
                (c) Consider strengthening implementation, and where appropriate,
           reviewing possibilities for enhancing the effectiveness of their respective bilateral
           and multilateral treaties concerning extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance in
           criminal matters related to counter-terrorism;
                (d) Consider ways within the framework of the implementation of existing
           applicable international legal instruments to simplify extradition and MLA requests
           in appropriate terrorism-related cases, while recognizing the need for due
           consideration, in light of the need to uphold relevant legal obligations;
                (e) Designate mutual legal assistance and extradition Central Authorities or
           other relevant criminal justice authorities and ensure that such authorities have




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               adequate resources, training and legal authority, in particular for terrorism related
               offences;
                     (f) Take measures, where appropriate, to update current practices on MLA
               regarding acts of terrorism, including considering, where appropriate, the use of
               electronic transfer of requests to expedite the proceedings between Central
               Authorities or, as appropriate, other relevant criminal justice authorities with full
               respect to existing treaty obligations;
                    (g) Consider providing UNODC with information for its repository database
               with contacts and other relevant details of designated authorities;
                    (h) Consider developing and participating in regional mutual legal assistance
               cooperation platforms and developing and enhancing arrangements for expeditious
               cross-regional cooperation for terrorism related offences;
                     14. Encourages Member States to act cooperatively to prevent terrorists from
               recruiting, to counter their violent extremist propaganda and incitement to violence
               on the Internet and social media, including by developing effective counter
               narratives, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms and in
               compliance with obligations under international law, and stresses the importance of
               cooperation with civil society and the private sector in this endeavor;
                     15. Calls upon all States, in conformity with international law, to consider
               establishing appropriate laws and mechanisms that allow for the broadest possible
               international cooperation, including the appointment of liaison officers, police to
               police cooperation, the creation/use, when appropriate, of joint investigation
               mechanisms, and enhanced coordination of cross-border investigations in terrorism
               cases, and also calls upon States to increase, where appropriate, their use of
               electronic communication and universal templates, in full respec t for fair trial
               guarantees of the accused;
                     16. Recognizes the proven effectiveness of I-24/7, INTERPOL’s secure
               global communication system, as well as its array of investigative and analytical
               databases, and its system of notices in the framework of the fight against terrorism,
               encourages States to increase the capacity of their National Central Bureaus to
               utilize them and to designate a 24 hour/seven days a week point of contact for this
               network and to take the necessary measures to ensure its adequate training in its use
               to counter terrorism and foreign terrorist fighters, including illicit international
               travel;
                    17. Encourages also States, to consider extending access to, and where
               appropriate, integrate into their national systems, the INTERPOL I -24/7 police
               information network beyond the National Central Bureaus to other national law
               enforcement entities at strategic locations such as remote border crossings, airports,
               customs and immigration posts or police stations;
                     18. Encourages Member States, international, regional and sub-regional
               organizations to consider the possibility of developing 24/7 networks to counter
               terrorism while taking into account their existing arrangements for cooperation, and
               in this regard, takes note of the creation of a 24 hours seven days a week point of
               contact cooperation network in the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe




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           Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (May 2015) to combat terrorism, in
           furtherance of the implementation of resolution 2178 (2014);
                19.   Directs the Counter Terrorism Committee, with the support of CTED to:
                 (a) Include in its dialogue with international, regional and subregional
           organizations and Member States their efforts to promote int ernational law
           enforcement and judicial cooperation in counter-terrorism matters and to work
           closely with international, regional and subregional organizations and relevant UN
           bodies that have developed relevant networks and cross regional cooperation in
           order to facilitate international cooperation to counter terrorism and foreign terrorist
           fighters, including returnees, particularly by providing analysis on capacity gaps
           and recommendations based on CTED’s country assessments;
                 (b) Identify gaps or trends in current international cooperation among
           Member States, including through CTC briefings to exchange information on good
           practices, and facilitate capacity building, including through sharing good practices
           and exchange of information in this regard;
                  (c) Work with CTITF entities, in particular UNODC, to identify areas where
           it is appropriate to deliver technical assistance to Member States, upon their request,
           to implement this resolution, including through the training of prosecutors, judges
           and other relevant officials involved in international cooperation, particularly by
           providing analysis on capacity gaps and recommendations based on CTED’s country
           assessments;
                 (d) Identify and raise awareness on good practices on international judicial
           and law enforcement cooperation in counter-terrorism matters;
                 20. Requests UNODC to further enhance, in close consultation with the
           Counter-terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate, its provision of
           technical assistance to States, upon request, to facilitate the implementation of the
           international conventions and protocols related to the prevention and suppression of
           terrorism and of relevant United Nations resolutions and further requests UNODC,
           together with Member States, to continue to promote, inter alia, international
           cooperation in criminal matters related to terrorism, including foreign terrorist
           fighters, especially with regard to extradition and mutual legal assistance;
                 21. Requests the Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate, with the
           assistance of UNODC and in consultation with CTITF office to prepare a report on
           the current state of international law enforcement and judicial cooperation related to
           terrorism, identifying major gaps and providing the Counter Terrorism Committee
           with recommendations to address them within ten months;
                22. Requests CTC to update the Council in twelve months on the
           implementation of this resolution.




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