UN chief warns of spread of violent extremism

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Tuesday said that that the rise in the number of foreign terrorist fighters is a manifestation of the growing spread of violent extremism, which demands urgent international attention.

The UN chief made the statement in a video message to the Special Meeting of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee on foreign terrorist fighters, which opened here.

Ban said that although security measures and sometimes even military action may be necessary, "our response must always be based on human rights and the rule of law."

He added that counter-terrorism efforts that violate fundamental rights betray the values they seek to defend and can further fuel extremism.

"The meeting, hosted by the government of Spain, is expected to produce a set of strategies and techniques to guide member states in their efforts to address such threats," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

In May, the secretary-general told the 15-nation Security Council that since mid-2014, the flow of foreign terrorist fighters into the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as Da'esh, and other extremist groups, has swelled by 70 percent.

According to UN monitoring teams, more than 25,000 such fighters from more than 100 member states are estimated to have travelled to Syria and Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, Yemen and Libya.

That is a notable increase in numbers from the last release of such data in November when the world body observed that over 15, 000 fighters from more than 80 countries were flocking to join radical groups.

The secretary-general emphasized the need for international cooperation to stop the flow, while stressing it must be under full compliance with international law. When counter-terrorism efforts ignored the rule of law and violated fundamental rights, they "not only betray the values they seek to uphold, but can also end up fueling violent extremism," he said.

He said that effective, accountable and inclusive governance was an important element of preventive efforts, as was addressing the growing emphasis on the underlying drivers of radicalization, particularly concerning young men and women.