The call was made byPham Quang Hieu, Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to theUnited Nations at the 6th Committee of the UNGA 68 Session on AgendaItem: 110 “Measures to eliminate international terrorism” in New York onOctober 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 ofthe Bureau for your elections to the leadership of the Committee. Itrust that under your leadership, the Committee will be successful inits work during this session. Vietnam would like to align with thestatements delivered by the Permanent Representative of Iran for theNon- Aligned Movement and Permanent Representative of Laos on behalfof ASEAN. We thank the Secretary–General for his Report A/68/180which, among other things, provides useful information on the measuresadopted by States and international organizations in the fight againstterrorism.
Mr. Chairman,
International terrorism constitutes the most serious threats to thesecurity and stability of States and the international community. Theworld today continues suffer from heinous terrorist acts, conducted indifferent forms and by sophisticated manner.
Vietnam shares the international community’s serious concerns onthe rise of this scourge. All perpetrators of terrorist acts, includingthose conducting incitement of terrorist acts, must be brought tojustice. We all also agree that no State can deal the threat ofterrorism without cooperation from other States and internationalorganisations. In recent years, the international community, with theUnited Nations playing as a central role, has made significant progressin fighting terrorism. States and international community should advanceformal and informal international cooperation at the global andregional levels. In this regard, Vietnam wishes to emphasise thatthe fight against terrorism must be carried out in accordance with thepurposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,international law, and grounded firmly on the rule of law. At the sametime, we would like to share the view that it is imperative to deal withall issues related to solve the root grounds for internationalterrorism, including the political, economic and social inequality andinjustice over the world.
Mr. Chairman,
Vietnam strongly condemns terrorism in all of its form andadopts an uncompromising attitude toward terrorist activities throughits consistent policy on counter-terrorism. In this regard, on 12 June2013 the National Assembly of Vietnam adopted the Law onCounter-terrorism. Coming into force on October 1, 2013, the Law setsout a legal framework for better combating terrorism in Vietnam andfostering Vietnam ’s international cooperation to this end.
At regional level, Vietnam joined efforts with other ASEANcountries in seriously implementing the ASEAN Convention onCounter-Terrorism (ACCT) which came into force in 2011. This year,with all of ASEAN Member States ratification, ACCT enhances the region'sstrategic role in the global strategy on counter-terrorism. In March2013, 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 andinitiatives in counter-terrorism and transnational crime and reviewedthe implementation of the ARF Work Plan on CTTC. In the last year,Vietnam also actively participated in counter-terrorism cooperationprojects and workshops initiated within the framework of ASEAN, APEC,ASEM, ASEAN-Japan Dialogue, ASEAN-Russia Cooperation, ASEAN-CTED etc...
Vietnam attaches great importance to thecounter-terrorism cooperation with the United Nations. Vietnam nowis a party to ten international instruments on counter-terrorism andconsidering the accession to three other international conventions,namely the International Convention against Taking of Hostages,International Convention on Suppression of Terrorist Bombing andInternational Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.Furthermore, during the 8th plenary session of the Global Initiative onCombating Nuclear Terrorist Acts (GICNT) held in Mexico in May thisyear, Vietnam has re-affirmed its support of activities andprogrammes carried out under the framework of GICNT and related WorkingGroup.
Mr. Chairman,
Wewould like to take this opportunity to renew our commitment to promotinginternational cooperation in the fight against terrorism. We supportthe United Nations’ leading role in this aspect and call for continuingfull implementation of the Counter-Terrorism Action Plan adopted by theUnited Nations General Assembly in the Global Counter-TerrorismStrategy. We encourage Member States to finalise and adopt the DraftComprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and look forward toworking more closely with the Counter-Terrorism Inter-agency Taskforceto improve the coordination within the United Nations for theimplementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy,in particular in Southeast Asia as well in Vietnam . Vietnamwelcomes and is ready to cooperate with the United Nations specializedagencies in implementing projects of technical assistance, capacitybuilding and strengthening the national legal framework againstterrorism.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.-VNA