Russia as G8 host advocates collective complaint against countries that neglect to submit anti-terrorism reports to UN

September 28 - Acting on behalf of the G8, Russia has initiated a collective complaint against countries that have neglected to submit anti-terrorism reports to the UN, Ilya Rogachev, Russia's deputy representative at the UN, said Thursday.

"Russia, as the presiding country of the G8, has initiated the process of sending to ‘debtor' countries a collective complaint from the Group," he said. "In our opinion, a study of the reports of all states is crucial to forming a comprehensive picture of the global situation with regard to national non-proliferation measures."

Rogachev spoke at the joint briefing of co-chairs of three subsidiary bodies - the Committees on Counter-Terrorism, Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Al-Qaida and the Taliban.

The expert report on countering terrorism made public the day before was based on data provided by only 69 member states. About a third of UN members had not submitted their reports.

"The low level of reporting has not brought the [Security] Council closer to an objective picture of the situation. This is especially alarming because next on the agenda is the more complicated part of the mandate, concerned with assisting states by providing them with a summary of advanced practices and information on legislative and other measures to counter the incitement of terrorism and ensure the implementation of other provisions of the resolution," Rogachev said.

He called on the countries that had not submitted their reports to do so without delay. Russia is prepared to help the "debtor" countries complete their reports, he said. On the whole, Russia has a positive view of the operation of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate.

"The efforts undertaken during the Committee's visits to countries are becoming more significant and thorough," he said. "Russia as the chair of the G8 is consistently pursuing a policy of using the Group's counter-terrorism opportunities to assist the visiting missions of the Counter-Terrorism Committee."