UNSC committee stresses on protecting human rights while trying to combat digital terror

The global body expressed concerns over the increasing use of Internet and other information and communications technologies for terrorist purposes

A committee of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Saturday called upon member states to counter the use of new and emerging technologies by terrorists, stressing that any measure to fight the menace must respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The UNSC's Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) adopted the “Delhi Declaration” at the end of a special meeting hosted by its current chair India.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who delivered a keynote address at the meeting, cautioned the world about terrorists misusing new technologies and the ethos of open societies. The “Delhi Declaration”, however, called upon the UN member-states to ensure that any measures taken to counter terrorism, including the use of new and emerging technologies to spread the menace, should respect the charter of the international organisation and comply with their obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law, as applicable.

Read | Terrorism one of gravest threats to humanity, says S Jaishankar at UN meet

India is currently one of the 10 non-permanent members of the UNSC and its two-year term in the council will end on December 31 next. It is also the current chair of the UNSC CTC.

India hosted a special meeting of the panel in Mumbai and New Delhi on Friday and Saturday for discussion on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorism.

The meeting recognised that innovations in financial technologies such as crowd funding platforms presented a risk of being misused for terror financing. It noted with concern the increasing global misuse of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by terrorists to conduct attacks against critical infrastructure.

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, underscored during a video message the importance of concrete measures to deal with the menace of terrorists using new and emerging technologies, while committing to protect all human rights in the digital sphere.