UN to discuss use of technology by terrorists
New Delhi, Oct 26 (EFE).- The United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, during a special meeting in India this week, will discuss the growing threat of the use of new technologies by terrorists and the need for a global and coordinated response to mitigate risks.
The meetings will be held on Friday in the western city of Mumbai and on Saturday in New Delhi, and will focus on three areas used by terrorists – the Internet and social networks, their funding, and drones, the organizers announced Wednesday at a press conference in the Indian capital.
The head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, David Scharia, while underlining the beneficial side of new technologies, warned that they are so “powerful” they become “such a threat when they are misused or weaponized.”
Thus, the three areas that will be addressed have been misused by terrorists for illegal financing, communication and propaganda, cyberattacks, 3D printing, espionage and attacks.
“And the risk of the terrorists using it is only growing,” said Scharia, underlining that “it is time to act” and focus on a global response.
However, the UN official clarified that the attempt to “mitigate the risks” of the terrorists using new technologies should not come at the cost of “freedom of expression, the right to privacy and other fundamental rights.”
The meeting, which will bring together representatives of different governments and experts, will be the first in seven years to be held away from its headquarters in New York, after Madrid 2015, according to India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj.
In a veiled reference to neighboring Pakistan, Kamboj stressed that there was no room for “double standards” with a need for distinguishing between “good and bad terrorists.”
“Those who propagate this distinction have an agenda and those who cover up for them,” he said.
“Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security and any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations,” said Kamboj.
The selection of Mumbai to host some of the meetings is intended to honor the city, which suffered a multiple attack by terrorists from Pakistan in 2008 that caused 166 deaths in a train station, a Jewish center, several restaurants and hotels, among them the iconic Taj Mahal hotel. EFE
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