UN committee seeks info from members to blacklist individuals

The UN Security Council's sanctions committee has sought information from member states about individuals involved in supplying funds to terror groups like al-Qaeda or ISIS to blacklist them, saying freezing of assets are one area the "sanctions can really bite".

"It is crucial that member states, particularly those neighbouring Iraq and Syria, are vigilant in implementing the 1267 regime," Chair of the ISIL and al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Gerard van Bohemen of New Zealand said in a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday.

He said the movement of funds and fighters outside of ISIS controlled territory provides an opportunity for members states to prevent the wider spread of ISIS.

"This is where the sanctions measures can have the most impact. When effectively targeted and implemented, the sanctions can place pressure on ISIS and its affiliates, preventing dispersal of funds and disrupting further attacks on civilian populations," Bohemen said.

He said the "measures for freezing of assets are one area the sanctions can really bite" but for this, the committee needs targeted designations of individuals involved in the generation and movement of assets.

"Member states with information about these individuals and entities have an important role to play in putting forward new listing requests. It is also crucial that member states provide updated information to the monitoring team in the 1267 committee on the nature of the threat, listed individuals, entities and status of their implementation," Bohemen said.

Such information is fundamental to the operation of the regime, he said. "The Council and the international community can only target their response effectively if they have up to date information," Bohemen said.

Late in March, China had again blocked India's bid in the Sanctions Committee to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed chief and mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack Masood Azhar. After the attack on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in January, India had in February written to the UN, calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

However, China had blocked the bid by putting a technical hold. India had strongly slammed the use of the "hidden veto" in the Sanctions Committee, saying "the procedures of unanimity and anonymity of the al-Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS Sanctions Committees need to be revisited. The procedures of unanimity and anonymity result in a lack of accountability.