On 20 October, the newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Mr Ben Emmerson, made his first appearance before the General Assembly since assuming the mandate on 1 August 2011. Mr Emmerson paid tribute to the work of his predecessor, Mr Martin Scheinin, vowing to build on the ten areas of best practice in countering terrorism whilst respecting human rights identified by Mr Scheinin in his final report to the Human Rights Council.

On 20 October, the newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Mr Ben Emmerson, made his first appearance before the General Assembly since assuming the mandate on 1 August 2011. Mr Emmerson paid tribute to the work of his predecessor, Mr Martin Scheinin, vowing to build on the ten areas of best practice in countering terrorism whilst respecting human rights identified by Mr Scheinin in his final report to the Human Rights Council.

Mr Emmerson emphasised that the core priorities of his mandate remain the same; that is, the need to ensure that States are held accountable for any human rights violations committed while countering terrorism. He also stated that this scrutiny must extend to both national and international measures taken by States. He reminded the General Assembly that even those States who have a proud tradition of respecting the rule of law succumb to pressure to “abandon those core values on the pretext of defending them”. He also noted that the international community had accepted, at least formally, that “it is only through the strict adherence to international human rights standards that counter-terrorism strategies can ultimately succeed.”

Mr Emmerson also stressed his commitment to ensuring the rights of direct and indirect victims of terrorism. He welcomed the growing recognition of these rights, including in Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution 17/8 recommending the creation of an International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, the HRC resolution 18/7 establishing the mandate of Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, and the formation of the Working Group on Supporting and Highlighting Victims of Terrorism. Mr Emmerson stated his commitment to support these initiatives and to meet with victims of terrorism and representatives of victims’ associations during his country visits.

Closely aligned with the rights of victims is the issue of prevention of terrorism. Mr Emmerson cited Security Council resolution 1963 in support of his conviction that human rights violations create an atmosphere conducive to the perpetuation of terrorism, and that military force, law enforcement measures and intelligence operations alone cannot defeat terrorism. Mr Emmerson expressed his commitment to focus and build upon this principle, by looking seriously at the root causes of terrorism, including human rights violations.

A number of States welcomed Mr Emmerson's commitment to continue the work of Mr Scheinin (Tunisia and the EU) as well as the victim-focused approach to his mandate (the EU, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico and Liechtenstein). The US delegate stressed that no one approach will apply in all situations, but that Member States must agree on a set of best practices in this field. Without going into specifics, she expressed that the US did not agree with a number of specific human rights standards listed in Mr Scheinin’s final report that must be respected by States in their counter-terrorism measures. However, she voiced support for the promotion and protection of victims of terrorism.

In response to questions from the EU and the US concerning perceived challenges and hopes for the mandate, Mr Emmerson’s stated that these are one and the same: to further integrate a human rights based approach to this extremely difficult issue. He reminded the Third Committee that experience has shown that counter-terrorism efforts that violate human rights are not only less effective, but contribute to the spread of terrorism.

Two requests for specific studies were made from the floor to the Special Rapporteur. Liechtenstein queried whether the Mr Emmerson would be looking at Security Council sanctions and their compatibility with human rights and Algeria asked about a study on ransoms in the protection of victims of terrorism. Mr Emmerson confirmed that Security Council sanctions are on his agenda and called on States to engage with the Security Council Ombudsman. He also took note of Algeria’s request, but was not in a position to give a definitive answer from the podium.

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