Vietnam calls for int’l cooperation in terrorism fight

A Vietnamese representative has hailed the central role played by the United Nations in combating terrorism and called on states and the international community to advance formal and informal international cooperation in this fight.
A Vietnamese representative has hailed the central role played by the United Nations in combating terrorism and called on states and the international community to advance formal and informal international cooperation in this fight.

The call was made by Pham Quang Hieu, Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations at the 6th Committee of the UNGA 68 Session on Agenda Item: 110 “Measures to eliminate international terrorism” in New York on October 7-8.

Following is the full text of his statement at the session.

Mr. Chairman,

First of all, I would like to congratulate you and other members of the Bureau for your elections to the leadership of the Committee. I trust that under your leadership, the Committee will be successful in its work during this session. Vietnam would like to align with the statements delivered by the Permanent Representative of Iran for the Non- Aligned Movement and Permanent Representative of Laos on behalf of ASEAN. We thank the Secretary–General for his Report A/68/180 which, among other things, provides useful information on the measures adopted by States and international organizations in the fight against terrorism.

Mr. Chairman,

International terrorism constitutes the most serious threats to the security and stability of States and the international community. The world today continues suffer from heinous terrorist acts, conducted in different forms and by sophisticated manner.

Vietnam shares the international community’s serious concerns on the rise of this scourge. All perpetrators of terrorist acts, including those conducting incitement of terrorist acts, must be brought to justice. We all also agree that no State can deal the threat of terrorism without cooperation from other States and international organisations. In recent years, the international community, with the United Nations playing as a central role, has made significant progress in fighting terrorism. States and international community should advance formal and informal international cooperation at the global and regional levels. In this regard, Vietnam wishes to emphasise that the fight against terrorism must be carried out in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, international law, and grounded firmly on the rule of law. At the same time, we would like to share the view that it is imperative to deal with all issues related to solve the root grounds for international terrorism, including the political, economic and social inequality and injustice over the world.

Mr. Chairman,

Vietnam strongly condemns terrorism in all of its form and adopts an uncompromising attitude toward terrorist activities through its consistent policy on counter-terrorism. In this regard, on 12 June 2013 the National Assembly of Vietnam adopted the Law on Counter-terrorism. Coming into force on October 1, 2013, the Law sets out a legal framework for better combating terrorism in Vietnam and fostering Vietnam ’s international cooperation to this end.

At regional level, Vietnam joined efforts with other ASEAN countries in seriously implementing the ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism (ACCT) which came into force in 2011. This year, with all of ASEAN Member States ratification, ACCT enhances the region's strategic role in the global strategy on counter-terrorism. In March 2013, Vietnam also hosted the 11th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Inter-Sessional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC). The Meeting acknowledged the progress of ARF cooperation and initiatives in counter-terrorism and transnational crime and reviewed the implementation of the ARF Work Plan on CTTC. In the last year, Vietnam also actively participated in counter-terrorism cooperation projects and workshops initiated within the framework of ASEAN, APEC, ASEM, ASEAN-Japan Dialogue, ASEAN-Russia Cooperation, ASEAN-CTED etc...

Vietnam attaches great importance to the counter-terrorism cooperation with the United Nations. Vietnam now is a party to ten international instruments on counter-terrorism and considering the accession to three other international conventions, namely the International Convention against Taking of Hostages, International Convention on Suppression of Terrorist Bombing and International Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. Furthermore, during the 8th plenary session of the Global Initiative on Combating Nuclear Terrorist Acts (GICNT) held in Mexico in May this year, Vietnam has re-affirmed its support of activities and programmes carried out under the framework of GICNT and related Working Group.

Mr. Chairman,

We would like to take this opportunity to renew our commitment to promoting international cooperation in the fight against terrorism. We support the United Nations’ leading role in this aspect and call for continuing full implementation of the Counter-Terrorism Action Plan adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. We encourage Member States to finalise and adopt the Draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and look forward to working more closely with the Counter-Terrorism Inter-agency Taskforce to improve the coordination within the United Nations for the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, in particular in Southeast Asia as well in Vietnam . Vietnam welcomes and is ready to cooperate with the United Nations specialized agencies in implementing projects of technical assistance, capacity building and strengthening the national legal framework against terrorism.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.-VNA

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