At the last Security Council session of the year on Tuesday, the 15 member countries endorsed by consensus a resolution on ways to improve the working methods of the UNSC 1267 resolution sanctions committee. The committee is a subsidiary of the Security Council that is responsible for establishing and overseeing sanctions against individuals and entities affiliated with the Islamic State group.

“Through the adoption of this resolution, Indonesia will become the first nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council to successfully push for the adoption of a resolution related to the UNSC sanctions committee in the field of counterterrorism," Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said.

The resolution, which was co-drafted by Indonesia and the United States, highlighted the promotion of justice, and the effectiveness of the functions and methods of work of the committee.

Emphasizing the importance of respecting the UN Charter and International Law in countering terrorism, the resolution also commissioned a monitoring team to prepare recommendations that would be used to improve some of the rules and procedures governing the sanctions committee.

The new resolution encourages member states to more actively submit requests to list individuals, groups, undertakings and entities that meet the criteria laid out in another resolution adopted in 2017. This is meant to keep the UN sanctions blacklist of IS and Al-Qaeda affiliations reliable and up to date, according to a statement published on the UN website.

The new resolution also requests that an analytical support and monitoring team to study the exemption procedures set out in the 2017 resolution and make recommendations to the committee within nine months on whether exemptions should be updated.

Indonesia brought its experience countering terrorism to the Security Council when it begin its nonpermanent membership in 2019, chairing not only the 1267 sanctions committee but also two other committees, namely the Afghanistan sanctions committee and the committee on the nonproliferation of mass weapons. 

Retno said Indonesia's leadership had succeeded in raising the profiles of the three sanctions committees while maintaining the credibility and unity of their members.

"The adoption of this resolution is a gift for the end of the year of Indonesian diplomacy and marks the end of Indonesia's membership in the UN Security Council since 2019,” Retno said.

During Indonesia’s rotating council presidency, member states adopted in August of this year a UNSC resolution on women in peacekeeping – the first in Indonesia's diplomatic history. The main elements in the resolution included the need to increase the number of women on peacekeeping missions, the establishment of networks and databases for female personnel and enhanced safety and security for women.

Indonesia started its presidency with plans to push for the adoption of another resolution on counterterrorism, specifically about the prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). It was supported by the 13 other council members but eventually tanked after the US vetoed it, following developments in the permanent member’s attempt to trigger “snapback” UN sanctions on Iran.

Indonesian Ambassador to the UN in New York Dian Triansyah Djani said he welcomed the UNSC’s constructive negotiations and the successful adoption of the latest resolution.

“It is a very good ending to 2020,” he said, as quoted by the UN website.

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